"All of these artists had to struggle in the beginning but in the end changed the face of music forever."

Recently I have become enthralled with the ‘oldies.’ I am taking a Rock and Roll class and the music which I have heard for the past twenty years suddenly has a new meaning.

I have always been interested with the 60s - the Beatles, John F. Kennedy, the outfits - but never really listened or learned what was going on in music. I did not take seriously how music changed from jazz to rock and roll to soul and funk. A lot of the music I thought were just pretty pop songs actually had a huge influence on the industry.

 In 1961, The Marvelettes released their song ‘Please Mr. Postman’ on the Motown label. The album cover was released as just a mailbox because the singers were African American and the white audiences at the time would not buy it. This song is incredibly popular and has been covered by The Beatles, The Carpenters and has been sampled by Lil Wayne.

This song showed audiences that popular music did not just have to be sung by white singers and that African American artists were very talented as well.

In 1964, Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song called ‘The Sound of Silence.’ At first the song was marketed as a folk song and led to dismal sales. This led to Simon and Garfunkel’s parting of ways. It wasn’t until the studio, without telling either Simon or Garfunkel, dubbed in drums, electric bass and electric guitar and the song became a huge hit.

Without this we would not have Simon and Garfunkel.

In 1965, Bob Dylan performed at the Newport Folk Festival and not to the best reception. Prior to this he was only doing folk with a guitar and a little harmonica but at this festival he decided to change things up. Dylan, influenced by The Beatles, went electric, backed by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. This changed how people saw both folk and rock and roll music.

The Beatles, who were influenced by Bob Dylan, changed from their 1963 African American influenced sound to a more socially minded sound. They expanded their musical style, lyrics and vocals with each album until they broke up. Their influence upon other bands and singers is extraordinary.

This gives me hope for the future. All of these artists had to struggle in the beginning but in the end changed the face of music forever. Listening to these songs shows the strong relevance of this music today, which is unbelievable. I wonder if the music of our generation will still have this kind impact on the future generations?