If you want to hook a listener, you can hurry up and get to the chorus within the first minute of the song. Or you can write a great verse. Typically, a song’s plot details lie in the verses. This is where you set the stakes, what just happened, how so-and-so did you wrong, and the like. In 1964, as Beatlemania was crossing the Atlantic from the United Kingdom to the United States, rock music seemed to be evolving at a rapid pace. And as these songs prove, many classic rock verses in 1964 were as memorable as their iconic hooks.
“No Particular Place To Go” by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry’s joyriding anthem begins innocently enough while recycling his 1957 hit “School Days”. He’s smitten by a girl, they drive nowhere in particular, he cranks the radio, and he steals kisses. As the drive continues, Berry tells her how he feels, and she reciprocates, and they continue driving, but slowly. Under a bold moon, they pull over and decide to go for a stroll. But he can’t unfasten her belt. He tries again, but no luck. So they drive home, Berry’s frustrated, with no particular place to go.
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“I Get Around” by The Beach Boys
Speaking of getting around town, The Beach Boys’ summery tune opens with a catchy, doo-wop chorus before a banger of a verse begins. Singer Mike Love wants to cure his boredom, and to do that, he must find hipper kids than these dweebs on the strip. Meanwhile, Love, aptly named, appears to be a ladies’ man, though he might owe much credit to his fast car. But the real magic remains Brian Wilson’s complex arrangement lying beneath a deceptively simple pop song. The stop-and-start track echoes Love and his friends cruising the town, revving the engine, and impressing the girls.
“All Day And All Of The Night” by The Kinks
The Kinks’ proto-punk classic begins with the band’s most ferocious guitar riff this side of “You Really Got Me”. Ray Davies, as smitten as Chuck Berry though without the seatbelt issue, shouts the verses in a staccato melody mimicking his brother Dave’s stabbing power chords. The track is utterly unhinged and what it must have sounded like to listeners, brand new, in 1964. The Doors allegedly nicked the riff to write “Hello, I Love You”, but Ray’s part was so good, they used it for the hook. That’s a pretty good verse!
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