It was the era of free love and flower power. It was the 1960s in America and folk music, sit-ins, bell-bottoms, long hair and two-finger peace signs were all the rage. In the decade prior, Elvis Presley and Little Richard had lit up the stage. Now, there was a little room to breathe.
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Acts like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were now all the rage. Delivering a message of poetry and peace, that was the hope. You didn’t need to do that through big amps and a lot of muscle. No, just an acoustic guitar and a bit of harmony.
So, to honor that slice of American music history, here are six soft rock songs from the 1960s.
1. “I Got You Babe,” Sonny & Cher (1965)
Not only was this song made infamous decades later in the 1993 movie, Groundhog Day, but this tune is one of Sonny & Cher’s most famous. Released in 1965, this soft rock classic is closer to ASMR than to KISS, for example. It was also the duo’s first single from their album, Look at Us. The track was No. 1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release, ‘ta boot.
2. “Happy Together,” The Turtles (1967)
Written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon and recorded by the ’60s soft rock band The Turtles, this song has lived over the years, well, happily. Upon its release, the song also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
3. “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Bob Dylan (1963)
From the 1963 album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, this song put the Minnesota-born folk singer on the map. It marked the true beginning of his rise as a voice of a generation and a songwriter of a poetic and timeless nature. It’s also been covered myriad times. Just an acoustic, a harmonic and a dream come true.
4. “Crying,” Roy Orbison (1965)
From Roy Orbison’s album of the same name released in 1965, this song hit No. 2 on the Billboard singles charts. Since Orbison has one of the greatest singing voices in the history of rock ‘n’ roll music, he doesn’t ever have to do too much when cutting a track. And this song is an example of less is more.
5. “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” The Byrds (1965)
Originally a Pete Seeger song from 1959, the soft rock band The Byrds covered it and released their own version in 1965. But even before Seeger turned it into a song, the lyrics stem from the Bible and the Book of Ecclesiastes. Regardless, The Byrds made it well-known given their satin-like harmonies.
6. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” Joan Baez (1965)
Joan Baez was one of the most well-known folk artists of her time. In fact, she may have been the most important person when it comes to helping to make Dylan a star. Here, though, she takes his 1965 hit rock single and gives it a mellow twist. Something many artists, from The Byrds to The Turtles, also did in their careers. Baez knocks it out of the park.
Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images
