If You Recollect Turntables, You Likely Remember 1960s Rock

By Author: Seth Frank
Total Articles: 17
Comment this article

You might have to look extra carefully to find a record turntable these days, but they surely do exist, and they were once the most popular way to play the music you wanted to hear. Younger individuals likely don’t remember the home stereo, which was at one time ubiquitous, but now looks and performs quite differently than does modern day sound equipment.

You might not accept this, but once, music lovers were compelled to go to certain stores known as “record shops,” and there they obtained large vinyl records that contained recorded music. When you laid a vinyl disc on your turntable, through the magic of electronics, music would pour out of your speakers and fill the room with tunes.

The needle on the tone arm was a sensitive instrument that could detect all of the furrows and grooves on the surface of the record, causing music to play from it. These LP records, which many individuals called “albums,” were quite popular in the 1960s, and a great deal of music was recorded during that decade.

Not only are older people still listening ...
... to the music of the 1960s, for instance Neil Young vinyl albums, but a younger audience that wasn’t born when the original records were released has become interested in that music, as well. Vinyl records were the vehicle that first allowed people the world over to hear some of the most significant rock musicians’ studio and live concert recordings.

You might expect that music of various artists proliferated during the 1960s, and certainly The Beatles vinyl recordings became extremely popular just about everywhere. We still see the Beatles’ influence on popular music today, long after their original recordings were released to a giddy public.

So vital was the effect of their music that the Beatles helped bring about an entirely new perception of the world, albeit one that was steeped in unbridled optimism and built upon utopian ideals. Along with the profound alterations they made to the popular music of the day, the Beatles also presented a new look and style, including their long hair, which was widely imitated by youths everywhere.

The Beatles’ energetic pop would give way to other groups of long-haired, colorfully dressed musicians who would proffer a harder, more raucous type of pop. In the years following the Beatles’ introduction, other acts played music with a heavier beat, and they turned the volume up high to further exploit the promise of the electric instruments that became central to rock music.

Fans of “psychedelic” rock, known for its exotic, mind-blowing improvisational instrumental solos, might want to invest in some Jimi Hendrix vinyl. Hendrix put the blues back in rock music, distinct from what anyone before him had ever done, and with his attraction to over-driven amplification, he gave his music a psychedelic edge.

If it hadn’t been for Jimi Hendrix, rock music would certainly be a good deal less electrified than it ultimately became, and probably also a lot less intriguing.