A lively chronicle of the year that shaped popular music forever, with
an all new Spotify appendix!
More than half a century ago, friendly rivalry between musicians turned
1965 into the year rock evolved into the premier art form of its time
and accelerated the drive for personal freedom throughout the Western
world.
The Beatles made their first artistic statement with Rubber Soul. Bob
Dylan released Like a Rolling Stone, arguably the greatest song of all
time, and went electric at the Newport Folk Festival. The Rolling
Stones's Satisfaction catapulted the band to world-wide success. New
genres such as funk, psychedelia, folk rock, proto-punk, and baroque pop
were born. Soul music became a prime force of desegregation as Motown
crossed over from the R&B charts to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Country music reached new heights with Nashville and the Bakersfield
sound. Musicians raced to innovate sonically and lyrically against the
backdrop of seismic cultural shifts wrought by the Civil Rights
Movement, Vietnam, psychedelics, the Pill, long hair for men, and
designer Mary Quant's introduction of the miniskirt.
In 1965, Andrew Grant Jackson combines fascinating and often surprising
personal stories with a panoramic historical narrative.