Year In Review: 1964
Clichéd but true: in February, the Beatles appeared on the Ed
Sullivan Show, setting off the British Invasion of the USA and
revitalizing rock and roll. Besides topping the charts with their 1963
releases, the Fab Four released two new LP's, the strong A Hard Day's Night and the hurried
Beatles For Sale. But the US
wasn't giving up without a fight: our highest rated records for the
year are the Beach Boys' All Summer
Long,
two
impressive releases from Dionne Warwick,
Anyone Who Had A Heart and
Make Way For Dionne Warwick,
and the Supremes' breakthrough Where
Did Our Love Go?.
Motown also produced Mary Wells' finest effort, My
Guy, and Bob Dylan dumped protest music on Another Side of Bob Dylan.
A host of Brit bands tried to cash in on the Beatles' success, but most
of them weren't ready: the
Yardbirds and Kinks released
lackluster efforts, and even the Rolling Stones weren't much
better. Back in the USA, corporate greed led to several Beach Boys
cash-ins; the worst was Concert.
It was an excellent year for jazz recordings; the best were Herbie
Hancock's Empyrean
Isles and Eric Dolphy's
Out To Lunch. (DBW)
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