Continuing with songs from my iTunes from 1962:
Song to Woody ~ Bob Dylan
Green Onions ~ Booker T. & The MG's
Miserlou ~ Dick Dale & His Deltones
Up On The Roof ~ The Drifters
Big Girls Don't Cry ~ Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ~ Gene Pitney
James Bond Theme Song ~ The John Barry Orchestra
Boom Boom ~ John Lee Hooker
You Need Love ~ Muddy Waters
She's Got You ~ Patsy Cline
I Stand Stop Loving You ~ Ray Charles
Dream Baby ~ Roy Orbison
I Stand Stop Loving You ~ Ray Charles
Dream Baby ~ Roy Orbison
I'm going with Dick Dale's Miserlou as my favorite, though I have absolutely no memory of it at the time, nor any of the others. Memory didn't stick for me until 1963 or so.
I put Bob Dylan's Song To Woody from his first album there, not at all because it's my favorite (I don't really care much at all for Dylan's first album) but because I find it historically interesting.
Also of interest:
Elvis Presley, having made a comeback after his Army stint in Germany, released three more hits that year though none of them make my favorites list.
The years 1960 to 1962 were a period of conception and gestation for Rock 'N' Roll. Events overseas passed almost unnoticed here: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones in 1962 at a London blues club. The Beatles released their first single "Love Me Do" (in the UK only) in 1962. I'm old enough recall the dichotomy of liking either the Stones or the Beatles, but I couldn't tell you where or how that attitude arose.
Also in 1962, James Marshall Hendrix was serving in the Army and stationed at Fort Campbell KY, coincidentally about 10 years after my father was there.
So what's your favorite from 1962?
Obviously, I love Miserlou greatly...but in fairness, I didn't come to it until much after 1962... So, staying true to my memory of '62, I'll go with Green Onions.
ReplyDeleteWhich, BTW, has been done to death in movies....
Here's a list of the top 100 songs of 1962, for more choices (none of yours was my favorite, though I think I liked "Miserlou"). Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender." "Up on the Roof" by the Drifters. The Four Seasons had both "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry." I loved "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals, at the time. (I'm, um, older than you.) My favorite, though, may be "Tell Him" by the Exciters (if that's the one that ends "but it's easier...easier said than done"). Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Mary Wells, Roy Orbison, Marvin Gaye . . . what a year!!
ReplyDeleteNo, that isn't the "Tell Him" I was thinking of. That's apparently "Easier Said than Done," by the Essex, who were Marines at Camp Lejeune (who knew!) in 1963. Here it is on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteAt the first link there, a lot of relatives and spouses of the singers show up and say they are still alive.
ReplyDeleteSome excellent contenders in this bunch! Hard choice, but I'll go with Up on the Roof. The one song I probably heard most often at the time was Liberty Valance.
ReplyDelete@Amba
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list. You are obviously at an advantage having a memory of all those songs at the time. My actual memories for music don't kick in until 1963 and especially 1964. I'm familiar with many of those others on the list but I'm trying to be honest here and cherry pick favorites from things I actually have. But now I'm going to give more of them a listen thanks to your suggestions! :)
@Randy. You think this is hard? Wait until 1966!
ReplyDelete@KngFish Yeah I didn't hear Miserlou until later either but I;ve always been a sucker for guitar heroes.
ReplyDeleteDid I tell you lately that I'm going to see Dick Dale on Saturday?
I'm going with Up on the Roof and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance though, once again, I prefer the remakes by James Taylor over the originals. (Not that I'm such a James Taylor fan. I am, I guess, but if you're not, the fact he thought enough of these songs to record them himself should bring him up a notch or two.)
ReplyDeleteNineteen SiddyTwo had a richness of pop music. I remember some of the best songs, coming over a static-filled AM radio in my bedroom, or an even more static-y transistor radio, single earpiece hung on one ear.
ReplyDeleteUnchain My Heart; I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles
Twistin' the Night Away - Sam Cooke
Return To Sender - Elvis Presley
The Monster Mash - The Crypt Kickers
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Gene Pitney
Next Door To An Angel; Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Neal Sedaka
And of course, these two:
Old Rivers - Walter Brennan
Ahab the Arab - Ray Stevens