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When I Was Sixteen…
A few songs from the paleolithic era. Plethora of Pop challenge.
I was born at the end of 1950, which means that as a 16-year old, I didn’t benefit from most of the wonderful music most people take for granted today. But 1966 was such a revolutionary point in rock music that I can’t complain (of course, a number of amazing jazz, blues, and country western songs existed before 1966, but at the time, I didn’t know them). Here are seven milestones of my youth (five songs and two albums), works that almost 60 years later still resonate with me.
The first three songs below illustrate how guitar solos would later define rock music. There were earlier guitar greats (e.g. Django Reinhart, Robert Johnson, Les Paul, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Merle Travis, Scotty Moore, et al.), but it would take me several decades to appreciate their significance.
Singles
- Byrds, “Eight Miles High.” Fifth Dimension was the first rock album I bought, largely because of the mesmerizing single “Eight Miles High.” Jim (Roger) McGuinn’s raga-esque solo (influenced by John Coltrane) and the bleak, surrealistic lyrics were like nothing I had ever heard.
- Yardbirds, “Shapes of Things.” Jeff Beck extended the raga influence and in a 24 second solo invented psychedelic music.
