550 Del Shannon (1934-1990) “Runaway” 1961

“He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up in the nearby small town of Coopersville. He learnt to play the ukulele and guitar and listened to country music, citing Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Snow as particular favourites. During the late 1950s, before he became an international pop star, Del played in various bands around Battle Creek, Michigan. Adopting the name Charlie Johnson and fronting the Big Little Show Band, he would play a mix of country, pop, and rock’n’roll songs” (Maverick, April 2010). 

Del Shannon (1934-1990) “Runaway”

549 The Revels “Comanche” 1961

“While The Sentinals and The Impacts were probably the best-known surf bands from the [San Luis Obispo] county, local surf music began with The Revels…The Revels started out of San Loui Obispo High School in the mid-1950s. And while they are often considered a ‘pre-surf’ band, decades later, they would gain surf music notoriety when their song ‘Commanche’ appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s movie ‘Pulp Fiction’” (Patrick Pemberton, The Tribune, www.sanluisobispo.com, 3/1/2012). 

The Revels “Comanche”

548 The Regents “Barbara Ann” 1961

“A rock ‘n’ roll vocal group from the Bronx, New York, USA. The Regents were part of the explosion of Italian-American vocal groups from the New York area who made their impact during the early 60s, before the British invasion and the rise of self-contained bands made them passé…They first recorded a demo of ‘Barbara-Ann’, but when no company showed interest in the song they broke up” (The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 2006). 

The Regents “Barbara Ann”

547 Jimmy Reed (1925-1976) “Bright Lights, Big City” 1961

“Dazzled by the streetlights of many a Southern city while he was on a brief tour, Reed was struck with lyrics; words and images just seemed to manifest. He could hardly see in front of him as he sped down the road in his car, saying ‘these lights sure is bright.’ And the basis of a song emerged…The fascination with Wolf, Muddy, and even John Lee Hooker is their mannishness, the inherent meanness in their delivery. In short, they presented themselves as badasses, whether this was true or not. Conversely…Reed could have been the guy who sidled up to the bar and drank a couple of beers with you—and often was” (Will Romano, Big Boss Man: The Life and Music of Jimmy Reed, 2006). 

Jimmy Reed “Bright Lights, Big City”

546 Jimmy Reed (1925-1976) “Big Boss Man” 1961

“Because Reed’s epilepsy medicine was a depressant, when combined with alcohol it made the poor man dazed at times. Many Reed fans had no knowledge of his medical problem; they thought some of his whacky behavior could be chalked up to alcohol abuse, or worse. The truth is, Reed preferred to stay drunk most of the time because he thought it would keep his epileptic seizures at bay” (Will Romano, Big Boss Man: The Life and Music of Jimmy Reed, 2006). 

Jimmy Reed “Big Boss Man”

545 Elvis Presley (1935-1977) “Can’t Help Falling in Love” 1961

“After seeing Blue Hawaii, moviegoers left theaters talking about ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love.’ The number immediately became the favorite of hundreds of thousands of fans. Most were unaware that it had been designated the lesser of the two songs on Elvis’s latest record” (Ace Collins, Untold Gold: The Stories Behind Elvis's #1 Hits, 2005). 

Elvis Presley “Can’t Help Falling in Love”

544 Elvis Presley (1935-1977) “Little Sister” 1961

Presley’s RCA recording engineer, Bill Porter, said the song was a classic even before they finished the final take. Competition from Presley’s films and from the other side of the song’s record (“His Latest Flame”) lowered projected sales (by Presley’s standards) (Ernst Jorgesen, Elvis Presley: A Life in Music, 1998). 

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) “Little Sister”

543 The Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me” 1961

The song was recorded by Phil Spector, who along with the Paris Sisters expected generous royalty checks when the song became a hit. However, record owner Lester Sill told them that the production costs were too high. When the Sisters vehemently objected, Sill said “the Paris Sisters destroyed themselves, because they got very salty with me and no one else wanted to record ‘em. I loved the Paris Sisters but I don’t think anyone could’ve made hits with ‘em but Phil” (Mark Ribowsky, He’s a Rebel, 1989). 

The Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me”

542 Roy Orbison (1936-1988) “Crying” and “Running Scared” 1961

“Lacking the charismatic good looks of Elvis Presley or the other teen idols of the early 1960s, he increasingly adopted a solitary and mysterious posture, often dressing in black outfits on stage and wearing dark glasses for most public appearances. In the mid-1960s, he had a featured role in the film The Fastest Guitar Alive but made no further attempts to pursue a film career” (American National Biography, 2010). 

Roy Orbison “Crying”

Roy Orbison “Running Scared”

541 Ricky Nelson (1940-1985) “Travelin’ Man” 1961

Father Ozzie Nelson “unconsciously invented the conceptual music video…Instead of having Rick and the band simply stand up and sing the song on the TV program, Ozzie went to work in the editing room and superimposed some stock travelogue footage over Rick’s face as he sang ‘Travelin’ Man,’ a rudimentary model of music videos twenty years before they exploded on the music scene” (Joel Selvin, Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation, 1990). 

Ricky Nelson “Travelin’ Man”

540 Ricky Nelson (1940-1985) “Hello Mary Lou” 1961

“His guitarist, James Burton, wrote himself into the vocabulary of his instrument…The musicianship of Rick’s early band was renowned among other musicians. When Bob Dylan first looked for a band to back his electric folk rock, he sought out Rick’s old musicians” (Joel Selvin, Ricky Nelson: Idol for a Generation, 1990). 

Ricky Nelson “Hello Mary Lou”

539 The Marvelettes “Please Mr. Postman” 1961

“When The Marvelettes appeared on American Bandstand, all of Inkster, Michigan was watching. Inkster High School even cancelled its football game, for once shining a light on the girls instead of the boys. Nervous to be talking to Dick Clark, Wyanetta [Cowart], when asked about the group’s origins, told him that ‘Detroit is 30 miles outside of Inskster’” (Gayle Wald, Journal of Popular Music Studies, Sept. 2012). 

The Marvelettes “Please Mr. Postman”

538 The Mar-Keys “Last Night” 1961

The band, originally called the Royal Spades, was formed by a group of students at Messick High School in Memphis, Tennessee. After their hit, “Last Night,” debuted, the name was changed to Mar-Keys, a modification of “Marquis” when a band member pointed out that “People around here don’t read French.” The record became the basis for “what became known as the Stax sound” (Rob Bowman, Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, 1997).

The Mar-Keys “Last Night”

537 The Marcels “Blue Moon” 1961

Tenor “Bingo” Munday “and his friends formed the Marcels, named after a stylist haircut, in 1959 while students at Allegheny High School on the North Side, inspired by groups like the Harptones, the Cadillacs and the Spaniels…As legend has it, the day he heard it, New York DJ Murray the K played ‘Blue Moon’ 26 times in a four-hour show. In March 1961, the song knocked Elvis Presley off the top of the Billboard chart, becoming the first No. 1 rock n’roll hit out of Pittsburgh” (Scot Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/24/2017). 

The Marcels “Blue Moon”

536 Bobby Lewis (1933- ) “Tossin’ and Turnin” 1961

“One of the realities of the emergence of the rock and roll genre in 1955 or 1956 was the pace of rise to stardom and fall to nonentity was much more frenetic than in the Big Band era of the forties and the adult pop sound of much of the fifties…The much more adolescent-based rock audience was far more fickle, and even top stars who did not die in plane crashes or car wrecks saw their popularity diminish in an amazingly brief time frame. Thus many of the most successful artists during the summer of 1961 had almost totally disappeared by the summer of 1963” (Victor Brooks, Last Season of Innocence: The Teen Experience in the 1960s, 2012). 

Bobby Lewis “Tossin’ and Turnin”

535 Curtis Lee (1939-2015) “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” 1961

“Handsome and photogenic, Lee had a vocal approach close to the teen idols of the period.” His top hit was a result of producer Phil Spector’s “deft handling of the instrumental support” and incorporating “strong doo-wop riffing from an R&B vocal group, the Halos.” Lee never had another hit after Spector was dropped from Dune Records (The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 2006). 

Curtis Lee (1939-2015) “Pretty Little Angel Eyes”

534 Gladys Knight (1944- ) and the Pips “Every Beat of My Heart” 1961

“Her parents were singers in the Wings Over Jordan gospel choir. She began singing gospel music at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church and had her first recital in 1948...In 1952, Gladys entertained her family by singing with ten-year-old brother Merald (known as ‘Bubba’), sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest at Bubba's 10th birthday party. Another cousin, James ‘Pip’ Wood later suggested that they turn professional. He lent the group his nickname to The Pips” (Marilyn Williams, Linda Paulson, Contemporary Musicians, 2005). 

Gladys Knight and the Pips “Every Beat of My Heart”

533 The Kingston Trio “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” 1961

Pete Seeger’s song was inspired by a Ukrainian folk song in the novel And Quiet Flows the Don. He “sang it once in a medley of short tunes (released on a fascinating though obscure disc, ‘Rainbow Quest’) and forgot about it. But a song is like a child; once it gets out into the world on its own, it often surprises the parent” (David Dunaway, How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger, 1981).  

The Kingston Trio “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”

532 The Kingston Trio “Pastures of Plenty” 1961

“They had the perfect combination of charm, wealth, security, and modesty…professionals yet with youthful zest; a refreshing alternative to the scruffy, rebellious, lewd rock and roll singers, according to the mass media. Thrilled by their style and songs, teenage fans consumed their records and packed the auditoriums” (Ronald Cohen, Rainbow Quest, 2002). 

The Kingston Trio “Pastures of Plenty”

531 Freddie King (1934-1976) “Hide Away” 1961

“As far as he’s concerned, he’s just a straight blues singer and liked nothing better than reminiscing about the good old Chicago days when there was a blues joint on every corner…He once liked nothing better than the chance for a guitar battle, but became notorious for the speed with which he dispatched opponents. This caused lesser men to hurriedly leave the stage as soon as they saw his bulk heave into sight” (Mike Leadbitter, Blues Unlimited, 1974). 

Freddie King “Hide Away”