By Dale “Diamond” Hansen
What were you doing in 1966? Were you what was called a love child, you know part of the hippie generation with love beads, tie-dye and sandals? Were you in Vietnam or in college? Was it before your time? Maybe it is something that you have heard about but did not experience? Whatever happens to be the situation, 1966 was an interesting year. 1966 was a big part of the Hippie Generation, Vietnam Conflict, Protests, Drugs and of course music. You heard about Haight Ashbury and the flower children in San Francisco, you heard a lot about psychedelic music and yes the British Invasion which was underway. Music was changing, long hair was huge, there were strobe lights, light shows and concerts in places like the Fillmore and Avalon and many others not just in the San Francisco area but across this country. It was a time of change and music was played a big part.
Let’s look at the year 1966 and what was really happening:
First let’s look at the top 40 songs for that year:
- The Ballad Of The Green Beret Sgt. Barry Sadler
- (You’re My) Soul and Inspiration Righteous Brothers
- Reach Out I’ll Be There Four Tops
- Poor Side of Town Johnny Rivers
- Paperback Writer Beatles
- California Dreamin’ Mama’s and The Papa’s
- Lightnin’ Strikes Lou Christie
- Kicks Paul Revere and the Raiders
- Ain’t Too Proud to Beg Temptations
- Good Lovin’ Young Rascals
- Devil With A Blue Dress Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
- Good Vibrations Beach Boys
- The Pied Piper Crispian St. Peters
- Last Train To Clarksville Monkees
- Summer in The City Lovin’ Spoonful
- Can’t Hurry Love Supremes
- We Can Work It Out Beatles
- Little Red Riding Hood Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs
- Wipeout Safaris
- Barbara Ann Beach Boys
- These Boots Are Made for Walkin Nancy Sinatra
- 96 Tears ? and The Mysterians
- Monday Monday Mama’s and The Papa’s
- Born Free Roger Williams
- Cherish Association
- When A Man Loves A Woman Percy Sledge
- Paint It Black Rolling Stones
- B-A-B-Y Carla Thomas
- Hanky Panky Tommy James and the Shondells
- Just Like Me Paul Revere and The Raiders
- Strangers In The Night Frank Sinatra
- Sunshine Superman Donovan
- You Keep Me Hangin’ On Supremes
- Sweet Pea Tommy Roe
- I’m Your Puppet James and Bobby Purify
- Bus Stop Hollies
- Lady Godiva Peter and Gordon
- See You In September Happenings
- I Fought The Law Bobby Fuller Four
- You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me Dusty Springfield
The music industry went through some very interesting things in 1966, the British bands were strong and had their styles although some moved a bit toward the heavier side, some of the well known acts in the US that had been big on the charts for a long while began to feel overshadowed by both the British Invasion and the onslaught of psychedelic music from the bands like Iron Butterfly, Moby Grape, Vanilla Fudge, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and others so they tried to make changes to how they looked, performed and the music they released so they would not be squeezed out by the others new found and growing popularity.
In many cases Radio Stations began changing formats, some to include the heavier sounds, others to switch completely to the heavier psychedelic music or acid rock as many called it. Still others stuck with the more commercial sounds that were frequently on top 40 radio. To sum up the changes, what used to be top 40 radio now was taking on a new meaning and mix, it was really a different time that had to be worked with. The time saw radio station programmers making changes in hopes of keeping their listeners and ultimately their advertisers. This was the challenge that brought on changes in most larger cities.
In 1966 the popular TV show Shindig broadcast its final show on January 8th with special guests The Kinks and The Who. On January 14th David Jones changes his last name to Bowie to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
In February Brian Wilson started recording “Good Vibrations” with The Wrecking Crew and that continued for several months. This was an effort for a different more in tune with the times’ style for the Beach Boys. The Animals made their fifth appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to perform their iconic Vietnam era hit, “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”. Also, in February Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin performed together at the Filmore with an outstanding light show.
In March The Byrds released the psychedelic single “Eight Miles High” in the United States which was banned in a number of states because of the lyrics advocating drug use. Even with that going on the song reached number 14 on the Billboard 100 chart. On March 15th country singer Roger Miller won six Grammy Awards, five of them related to his hit King of the Road. The Statler Brothers won two awards for their country hit Flowers On The Wall.
In the month of April Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass set a record by placing five albums simultaneously on Billboard’s Pop Album Chart, four of them went top 10. April 12th was the day that Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, crashed his Corvette into a truck that was parked on Whittier Boulevard. After the crash Berry was in a two-month long coma and suffered total physical paralysis for over a year and extensive brain damage.
In May the Rolling Stones released “Paint It Black” which became the first number one hit single in the US and UK to feature a sitar. Then in May, Bob Dylan and the Hawks (who were later known as the Band) played a concert at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England. Dylan got booed by the audience because of his decision to tour with an electric band, those boos culminated in the famous “Judas” shout. At the end of May the group Them of Gloria fame, led by Van Morrison, began a three week gig as the headliner act at the Whisky A Go-Go on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. On the last night of that stay they were joined on stage by the weeks opening act, The Doors with Jim Morrison. It was a rare moment in music history when Morrison and Morrison sang “Gloria” together. The crowd went nuts.
In June Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention released their debut album Freak Out.
In July The Beatles became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. The performance met with protests from many local citizens who felt it was not proper for a rock and roll band to play there. Later that month the super group Cream featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on bass guitar and lead vocals did their first concert at the Windsor in the UK at the Jazz & Blues Festival.
In August The Beatles released the Revolver album. On the 29th of August The Beatles performed their last official concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Beatles took the stage at 9.27pm and performed 11 songs. The group knew it was to be their final concert and because of that John and Paul took a camera on the stage with which they took pictures of the crowd, the rest of the group, and themselves at arm’s length. Before one of the last numbers George said that they set the camera up on an amplifier and Ringo got off the drums, the whole group stood with their backs to the crowd and posed for a photograph, a memory for them of their last concert.
The Monkees first TV Episode was broadcast by NBC on the 12th of September. On September 23rd, The Yardbirds debuted their new twin lead guitar lineup, featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, at Royal Albert Hall in London, opening for the Rolling Stones 1966 UK Tour. The day after that concert Jimi Hendrix arrived in London to record with producer manager Chas Chandler.
On October 8th radio station WOR-FM in New York City became the first FM rock music station under the leadership of DJ Murray The K. Later in October The Supremes with their album Supremes A’ Go-Go became the first all female group to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 chart wich was a very exciting achievement. On the 15th of October Billboard increased the length of its Hot Country Singles chart to 75 positions as country music’s popularity began to grow.
November 9th is when John Lennon met Yoko Ono. It was when he attended a preview of her art exhibition at the Indica Gallery in London. Later in November The Yardbirds announced that Jeff Beck had left the band, leaving Jimmy Page as the sole guitarist in the group and it was soon after that the beginnings of Led Zeppelin started to take place.
In December of that year The Who released their second album, “A Quick One” which included a nine minute “mini-opera” called “A Quick One While He’s Away”. Also in December The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their first single in the UK, “Hey Joe”.
In 1966 Mississippi was the last state to repeal prohibition on alcoholic beverages after the national prohibition which had actually ended in 1933. That same year saw car prices like the Oldsmobile 98 Town Sedan selling for $3,399.00. A desktop calculator cost over $1000. Stephanie Kwoleck invented Kevlar, pound for pound, five times stronger than steel. Top movies were Hawaii and The Bible. Bonanza was rated the number 1 TV show. This was the year the first ATM machine came to be.
The Watts Riots happened in Los Angeles, CA. In January of 1966 the Road Safety Act was passed and that lead to the use of the Breathalyzer. On January 12 President Lyndon Johnson announced that the US should stay in South Vietnam until the communist aggression was ended. In March the US announced about 8,000 more U.S. soldiers landed in South Vietnam bringing the number of troops to a total of 190,000. On January 29th the first of a total of 608 performances of the play, Sweet Charity opened at the Palace Theatre in New York City it was a great play and a long run.
1966 was a big year for Paul Van Doren. He established his small shoe company that is still going strong today. It was Van Shoe Company in California. The Van’s brand is still very large and very well known.
This was the year that Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb became the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon. She is recognized by the Boston Athletic Association as the pre-sanctioned era women’s winner in 1966, 1967 and 1968. This pre-sanctioned era covered the years from 1966 to 1971 when women were banned from entering the Men’s Division Race because of their gender, but ran and finished the race
Gibb’s run in 1966 challenged prevalent prejudices and misconceptions about women’s athletic capabilities
In February the Soviet space probe Luna 9 was the first artificial satellite to land on the moon. Then the following month they launched Luna 10 and that became the first space probe to orbit the moon.
March 16th NASA spacecraft Gemini 8 (David Scott and Neil Armstrong) conducted the first docking in space with an Agena target vehicle.
In May, Fidel Castro announced martial law in Cuba because of a possible US attack.
In June the Gemini 9 with Gene Cernan completes the second US spacewalk it was 3 hours and 7 minutes. On June 8th in 1966 Topeka, Kansas was devastated by a tornado that registered a F5 on the Fujita scale. The magnitude of this storm was so powerful that it traveled from the southwest of the city to the northeast, causing the deaths of 17 people and more than $104 million in damage. The tornado was on the ground for 34 minutes and damaged an area 21 miles long and one-half mile wide. The campus of Washburn University suffered catastrophic damage. On June 30th The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in Washington DC.
On July 4th President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act which was to go into effect after the first of the year. On July 11th British Motor Corporation and Jaguar Cars announced plans to merge as British Motor Holdings.
In August Martin Luther King Jr lead a civil rights march in Chicago, during which he was struck by a rock thrown from an angry white mob. In Las Vegas Caesars Palace hotel and casino opened. On August 7th race riots erupted in Lansing Michigan. Also in August Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the moon, was launched
On September 8th Star Trek the television series, debuted on NBC Television in the United States with its first episode, titled “The Man Trap”. On the 11th Gemini 11 with Richard F Gordon, Jr and
Pete Conrad docked with an Agena target vehicle. On September 18th the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum opened to the public.
In October the State of California made LSD illegal in California and it was also in October that LSD was made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only were possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the US were shut down.
On October 16th Grace Slick performed for the first time with the Jefferson Airplane giving the group a new and exciting sound. This is also the month that Toyota introduced the Toyota Carolla car a version of which is still in production today. President Lyndon B Johnson signed a bill creating the United States Department of Transportation.
In the world of sports October of 1966 was when the US Congress approved the merger of AFL-NFL.
In November The National Football League awarded the league’s sixteenth franchise to the city of New Orleans. Actor Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. On November 15th Gemini 12 with James A. Lovell and Buzz Aldrin splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean close to the Bahamas.
In December we lost Walt Disney who died during the production of The Jungle Book. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, premiered on the CBS network, beginning an annual Christmas tradition in the United States.
The World Series Champions in 1966 were the Baltimore Orioles. NFL Champs were the Green Bay Packers while in the AFL Kansas City Chiefs were dominate in their division. Boston Celtics were the NBA Champions and the Kentucky Derby was won by Kuaui King.
The 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series was won by David Pearson with 15 wins during the season. This was the year that NASCAR allowed the return of the Chrysler Hemi engine and it was the year that Ford decided to boycott NASCAR for the season. Second place went to James Hylton
I hope you enjoyed our nostalgic look back to the year 1966. I can assure you that we enjoyed putting it together for you. Remember to check out our web site www.dalescollectibles.com often as it does change, new and interesting additions are frequently taking place, we hope you enjoy it.
