The 1960s were known for music. You had Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. It was a boom. Not to mention Woodstock in 1969.
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But while there were about a bajillion big names, there are many more who had significant impacts but who are not so ubiquitous today. Indeed, there are some artists and bands that fell through the proverbial cracks.
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These are six artists you likely forgot from the 1960s. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
1. The Turtles
We’re not talking Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello here. No, we’re talking the Los Angeles-born 1960s group known for blissful and deep harmonies. The group’s most famous song is “Happy Together” but they also released popular covers of songs like Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” The band formed in 1965 and worked until 1970. More recently, the band got back together and is still going in some form or another today.
2. The Byrds
Formed a year before the Turtles, the Byrds got started in Los Angeles in 1964 and continued until about 1973. The band later got together for some reunions in the later decades of the 20th century. But its golden era was the ’60s. The band was known for its harmonies and for reinterpreting rock songs of the era to more a more folk style, including Dylan songs like “Mr. Tambourine Man.”
3. Merrilee Rush
The Seattle-born songbird rose to fame in the Pacific Northwest even before groups like Heart. She was on tour in Memphis one day when she cut a few demos. That led to her recording “Angel of the Morning” in 1968, which has gone on to earn praise and be covered many times. It was Rush who gave voice to the song in a major way, encouraging sexual and feminine power in an era not necessarily famous for it.
4. Dave Van Ronk
Known as the Mayor of MacDougal Street for his ubiquity in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s, the same scene that gave rise to artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk was a folk musician who rose to popularity playing in coffee houses all over New York City. He even famously showed Dylan how to play “House of the Rising Sun” in an alternative tuning. Van Ronk, who passed away in 2002, garnered an ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
5. The Kingsmen
This Portland, Oregon band is famous for recording the signature version of the early rock hit, “Louie, Louise,” which was originally written by Richard Berry. The song became a hit on the west coast and many groups, including the Sonics, tracked versions. But it’s the Kingsmen’s whose offering remains most famous today.
6. Paul Revere & The Raiders
Originally from Boise, Idaho, this was the band Merrilee Rush was on tour with in Memphis when she got her big break. But for Paul Revere & The Raiders, they were known for their own version of “Louie, Louie” and later their song “Just Like Me,” which hit No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group became even bigger stars thanks to songs like “Kicks” and “Hungry.” Listening to the group today is a true rock blast from the past.
Photo by Kai Shuman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
