The Gary Lewis & the Playboys’ tune “This Diamond Ring” song took a labyrinthine path to №1 in 1965.

As drug use became more prevalent in the 1960s, pop music reflected the times. Songs that glamorized getting high flooded the airwaves. The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” and “Purple Haze” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience had some of the more obvious references to drugs; others, like the Association’s “Along Comes Mary,” were more oblique.

Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps recorded “Be-Bop-a-Lula” in 1956. Like many songs of the era, there are several versions of how “Be-Bop-A-Lula” was written. “I started composing ‘Be-Bop’ when I was in the Navy, and on my final trip back to the US,” Vincent told Disc magazine in 1959.

When the Zombies arrived at London’s Abbey Road studios in August 1967, their creativity was high but success was in the past. The British Invasion band had two innovative hits, 1964’s “She’s Not There,” followed the next year by “Tell Her No.”

1. He played lead guitar on “Grease”

In 1973, “Cum On Feel the Noize” was a №1 hit in the UK for glam rock band Slade but the song barely eked out a spot in the US on the Billboard Hot 100. “Cum On Feel the Noize,” which encouraged audience participation at concerts, was written by Slade’s Jim Lea and Noddy Holder.

In The Beatles Anthology, Paul McCartney said he considered writing an “answering song” to “Forget Him.” “John and I wrote ‘She Loves You’ together. There was a Bobby Rydell song out at the time and, as often happens, you think of one song when you write another.”

In 1966, the Left Banke featured flute, harpsichord and string orchestration in their debut hit single, “Walk Away Renée.” The haunting sound of the record was so unusual for its time that its style earned its own names: “Bach-Rock” or “Baroque ’n’ Roll.”

Bill Danoff and his then-wife Taffy were a struggling folk duo known as Bill and Taffy in 1974. The Danoffs recorded two albums for RCA Records that failed to sell. Bill thought their fortunes might change as a vocal group by adding vocalist Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman.

In 1967, Dave Mason founded Traffic with Steve Winwood, Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi. The British band’s debut album that year, Mr. Fantasy, made them international stars. Despite their instant success, Mason left the band after the album was released, then returned for a few months in 1968.

The Singer-Songwriter Was 79 Frank Mastropolo It is sad to note the passing of Dave Mason, the co-founder of Traffic who performed with many of the superstars of his generation. Mason died April 19, at his home in Nevada. Mason was 79. “Dave Mason lived a remarkable life devoted to the music and the people he loved,” read a statement about his passing. Dave Mason published a cornucopia of backstage stories and unresolved feuds in his 2024 book Only You Know and I Know, also t

New York’s Fillmore East closed its doors after its last show on June 27, 1971. Randy Bachman, songwriter and lead guitarist of the Guess Who, played his final show with the band at Fillmore East in May 1970. He returned with Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) when it reopened as the New Fillmore East (N.F.E.) in 1974.

Novelty songs first appeared in the late 19th century and were popular on the radio into the 1980s. One of the weirdest and most successful was 1966’s “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV.

Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty abhorred the recording industry. His first success as a member of Stealers Wheel, 1972’s “Stuck in the Middle With You,” was a parody of Bob Dylan’s style that poked fun at an industry cocktail party.

In this excerpt from the book Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever, two people who worked at promoter Bill Graham’s historic concert hall describe for the first time the night Paul McCartney — in disguise — and future wife Linda Eastman attended a show.

Bob Dylan said, “Everything you need to know about love is in ‘A Teenager in Love’” in the liner notes of Dion’s album, Blues with Friends.

Pacific Gas & Electric formed in Los Angeles in 1967 and was named after the West Coast power company, which forced the band to change its name to PG&E in 1971. The New York Times at the time called them “among the best and most underexposed talent in the country.”

“Disco Inferno” was first recorded as the title track of the Trammps’ 1976 album. Released as a single, “Disco Inferno” only reached №53. When the Philadelphia group’s tune was included in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, “Disco Inferno” was re-released and shot up to №1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart.

Billboard magazine called Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” the №1 single of 1967. Critics have disputed The King’s contribution to the song, though Presley and Otis Blackwell are listed as its songwriters.

For their final album Goodbye the members of Cream — bassist Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker and guitarist Eric Clapton — decided each would contribute one studio track; the rest of the album would be live cuts. The guitarist said in Conversations with Eric Clapton that The Band’s debut album inspired him to pursue a new direction for his last song.