For The Record

We look back on the 1960s as a convulsive era of civil rights and antiwar protests, of civil disobedience, of generational divisiveness, as the decade not only of the miniskirt, the Mustang, and the lava lamp but also of LSD, draft card burning, and assassinations. However, the 1960s also were characterized by remarkable creativity in popular music. Freed from the conventions of traditional crooning and formulaic big-band tunes, a new breed of composers and musicians drew upon an eclectic sphere of influences encompassing gospel, blues, jazz, folk, and country music to evolve a new musical architecture expressing the concerns of young people. For the Record, Volume 2 is a window into the lives of 26 recording artists who topped the national record charts during the late 1950s and '60s - performers who were household names. Many of them pursued other interests in the decades that followed. This authorized biographical book pays tribute to them and their enduring imprint. The pages of this book reveal the aspirations, trials, triumphs, and life's lessons learned by the musical pied pipers of the remarkable period between the late 1950s and late '60s. These talented individuals helped galvanize a restless youth generation and articulated the torrent of emotions that young people experienced as they came of age in a turbulent world. We explore how serendipitous musical success plucked these individuals from anonymity and thrust them into the spotlight; we describe how fame at such a young age influenced their decisions about how they would lead their lives; and we chronicle the professional and personal pursuits of those performers following the 1960s. Through conversations with musicians, singers and their family members, we share fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses into the lives of these talented performers: The Association ("Cherish"), Herman's Hermits ("There's a Kind of Hush"), the Kingston Trio ("Tom Dooley"), Chris Montez ("Let's Dance"), the Spiral Starecare ("More Today Than Yesterday"), Bobby Vee ("Come Back When You Grow Up"), and the Zombies ("Time of the Season"). For the Record, Volume 2 is the product of five guiding principles: (1) We obtained information about all artists we profiled from conversations we had with the performers themselves (and with family members of some of the deceased performers); (2) We collaborated with the performers, who reviewed and authenticated our manuscripts; (3) All performers profiled were soloists or members of vocal groups or bands whose recordings scored on the national pop music singles and/or album charts during the late 1950s and '60s; (4) We placed an emphasis on achievement, celebrating the personal and professional triumphs of performers within and outside the music industry following the 1960s; (5) We intentionally selected artists who are representative of the widely divergent musical styles that distinguished the 1960s from all the other decades of the 20th century - musical diversity encompassing and influenced by rockabilly, rhythm and blues, surf music, jazz, folk standards, calypso, pop ballads, the British Invasion, novelty tunes, folk-rock, art rock, psychedelia, and country music. For the Record, Volume 2 affords many new insights into the personal lives of these creative individuals. Their collective goal was to gain a recording contract, to perpetuate their music in vinyl grooves for the record. And our goal in writing this book was to explore the paths they followed in pursuing their dreams - professional as well as personal - and to document that for the record. The 320-page paperback edition contains 60 photos. The e-book edition contains seven photos.