FUTURA: In 1961 a Musician Predicts What Will Be Popular in 1970

Part 1: Bernie Green looks toward the future, and gets many (but not all) things right.

Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash

If easy listening music had its own Sergeant Pepper, Bernie Green’s 1961 album Futura would be the hallmark.

At the beginning of the new year , we look back at the best music of the past and forward to speculate on what forms of new music may emerge.

This is what Bernie Green’s pathbreaking album Futura did in 1961, but because it had one foot too far forward and the other foot too far backward, many listeners have yet to hear this prophetic classic of mid-century instrumental music.

From my boomer’s perspective, the 1960’s were one of the most revolutionary decades for popular music since the beginning of the 20th century. Music is always evolving, but few decades before or after have experienced the pace and degree of change or the number of new genres established.

At the beginning of the 60's, composer / arranger / bandleader / humorist (check out “Concerto for Two Hands” from his Musically Mad album) Bernie Green — no doubt aware that change was in the air — set out to create an album that would predict what music would be like in 1970. Some of his guesses were on target; others missed…