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The British Invasion

The British Invasion:   No one since Elvis Presley made a bigger impact on Rock and Roll than the Beatles.  They were part of the British Invasion and stayed together for ten years.  They had over 30 top-ten songs.   Twenty of their songs made it to the number one spot on the charts, even more than Elvis Presley's 17 chart-toppers!  They are considered the most important group in Rock and Roll history.  Other groups from England included the Rolling Stones and the Byrds. 

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The Motown Sound

Motown:   This was the name of a record company based in Detroit, Michigan.   The Motown sound was popular during the early 1960's.  This is music that is sung by black artists for white audiences.  Diana Ross and the Supremes were a big part of the Motown sound.  

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The Surfer Sound

The Surfer Sound: Another successful regional sound was the surfer sound.  The Beach Boys were the second most popular band in the 60's, behind the Beatles.   Their music sang about fast cars, pretty girls, and surfing.

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Protest Songs

Folk Rock and Protest Songs:  Songs of social protest were becoming more popular during the 1960's.  President Kennedy and Martin Luther King were murdered during the 60's.   Racial conflict was growing worse.  Viet Nam was proving to be an unpopular and costly war.  Songs by Bob Dylan sang of the problems of our society.  His music defined the mood of his generation in a style that combined rock and folk music. 

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Drugs Take Their Toll

 Psychedelic Rock: By 1966 drugs were becoming more popular with young people who listened to this kind of rock.   People like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Janice Joplin, Carlos Santana, and Jimi Hendrix (pictured) experimented with their music by playing long, made-up sections called jams.  Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janice Joplin would later die from drug use. 

The decade of the 1960's  started off with sweet, innocent love songs and ended with psychedelic rock and a massive concert called Woodstock.   America lost its innocence during this troubled and tragic decade.  Our country would never be the same.