3 Forgotten Rock Artists From the 1960s You Need To Rediscover Today

Some of the greatest rock artists of the 1960s couldn’t compete with the British Invasion or the big-name bands that were dominating the charts at the time. Many of those greats of 1960s rock have been forgotten by today’s young listeners. And I think they deserve more reverence for how they influenced rock as we know it today. Let’s revisit a few underrated icons in rock from the 1960s that deserve more love!

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Terry Reid

Best known for his work in the late 1960s and 1970s, Terry Reid was the rock megastar that could have been. The English musician and guitarist, aptly nicknamed Superlungs, had a voice unlike any other. He found some success as a soloist. But he is often remembered by fans and contemporaries alike for turning down the chance to be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin. Graham Nash even said that Reid should have become a “gigantic star.” I recommend Move Over For Terry Reid from 1969 to get a taste of that incredibly underrated talent.

Skip Spence

When I think of uniquely strange and immensely talented individuals from the 1960s era, I think of Syd Barrett and Skip Spence. Spence, sadly, never received the retrospective love that Barrett did, and I think that’s a real shame. 

Skip Spence is best known for co-founding the band Moby Grape, whom he played guitar for until 1969. He only released one solo album, titled Oar, that same year. It was a commercial flop, sadly, but it has gotten some cult classic treatment from fans in the years since its release. Spence was one of the most talented psychedelic rock artists of his time. Sadly, drug abuse problems and mental health struggles played a part in him never making it to bigger heights.

Link Wray

Among his many accolades, Link Wray has always stood out to me for two things: He is one of the earliest pioneers of guitar distortion that would become standard in punk, heavy metal, and modern-day rock; and he recorded one of the very first instrumental tracks to be banned for being too ahead of its time. 

That song was “Rumble”, released in 1958. “Rumble” was a hit in the US, but it was banned by many radio stations for having a then-provocative title that “encouraged” fighting and power chords that were too intense for the time. It’s a shame that Wray is on our list of forgotten rock artists from the 1960s. His recordings from the 1950s and 1960s are on a totally different level. A true rock and roll icon, I’d say.

Photo by David Warner Ellis/Redferns