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Details & Help!


20/20 UPDATE:
Version 2 has siginficantly updated the release dates. See the 20/20 Update page for details.

 


You've proabably figured things out by diving in and just looking around. However, here is your Help! page in case you need clarification

Details—Season Pages
Each Season page has a montage of albums released during that time frame, with a listing below that shows the album and a link to that artists' page. Each page has a series of three roll-over buttons that will bring up lists of Top Hits (based on WABC or NME charts), a review of world-wide events, and movies: all things that happened during this particular Season. There is an Easter Egg hidden in each these photo montages. When you find them, click to access an unlisted page with interesting (to me, anyway) information (see the Easter Eggs) page.

There are three "Overview" pages that show where all the fun started (64—66). Without these key formative years (early Beatles, electric Dylan, Zappa, Mayall, Collins [Judy, not Bootsy], etc) none of the following years would have developed. These pages have only the WABC Top Hits and a simple listing of the artists and their albums. Adding events and movies to these pages was impractical (but it would be nice).

At the bottom of the montages, you'll find links to the music festivals that occurred during that season. Click on the name of the event and off you go! Each month on the page has a link to the appropriate concerts page so you can see who was playing where (only SF and NYC venues).

Each month has a listing of the records issued that are found on this web site. Click on the album graphic or title to go to that artist/group page.


Details—Artist Pages

Each artist page has a listing of the records that were issued, both 45s and LPs (and a few that weren't). As part of the listing, there are 45 picture sleeves and album jackets. Slide your pointer over the cover art and you will see a much larger version of that image. Most albums will have a golden 8th note next to the album that, when rolled over, will show a larger version of the back cover, gatefold, a reissue, or the UK version (if there were substantial differences). Note: don't strain your eyes trying to read the text on these images. For larger sizes, or more information, I've included links on each page to the main artist to Discogs, 45cat, and Wikipedia (see Links page). If there is a blue note, click it for a text note (in a separate window).

Although these artists primarily planned and recorded full albums, having a hit single would have helped promote the record and gain a few more fans. All the singles are listed as well, with some special notations included:
   ¹ indicates that the song was never released on an album (during this time-frame) aka non-lp B-side.
   ² indicates a different mix or take than what appeared on the album.
   ³ indicates an edited version of the album track (major edits, not just quicker fadeouts).
If you forget what they mean (like I constantly did!), just roll your little mouse pointer over the number for a refresher! Try it—go ahead try it right now!

I tried to keep families of artists together. For example, The Beatles page has both the band and solo works listed together, as does CSN&Y, Faces/Rod Stewart, and others. Major group comings and goings are noted, most with corresponding links.

Some album links are "dead"—those released before the 67-71 time frame, or those that didn't make the main "Season" page (either because the month is unknown or to keep the "Season" page size manageable). All artist pages have links to official, fan-based, or related websites. Some of these links might not actually still be in existence.

I have strived to use only vinyl album (or single) notations (right or wrong) and cover art (some covers were changed from their initial release—like Randy Newman and Neil Young). CD reissues occasionally correct things and the artwork is modified. CDs also offer a way to hear the vision the artists where striving for, and more often than not include hard-to-find singles or previously unreleased tracks. An early version of this project had links to currently available CDs, but they changed too much to be worthwhile. Version 2 will have every track linked so that you can make your own "sets" to listen to as you wander around (hah, wouldn't that be nice!) [3/2020: Dint happen!].

Some of the artists will also have listings of singles that they appeared on when they were a part of an earlier group [20/20 Update: Now separated and titled "Gotta Start Somewhere...]. Kinda a short history lesson as it were to show where they started. You won't find "Greatest Hits" albums—way too much clutter. A few do appear if they contain a substantial number of otherwise unavailable tracks, like B-sides. Likewise, only select "hey, they're popular now—let's package up this old stuff and make a buck!" records are listed.

A few of the artists also have a section on "Covers"—their songs recorded by other artists (again, in this time-frame mainly). An asterisk next to the artist name on the pull-down menu indicates those who have this feature. The Beatles and Bob Dylan have their own "Covers" page.


UK versus US releases
When the British Invasion started in the early 60s, record companies on both sides of the pond had different approaches to selling their wares. In the UK, singles, EPs and albums were separate items. Rarely would you find a "hit single" on an English album. The theory being that you'd already bought the single, so there was no need to put it on an album. Likewise for EPs. And most pop albums had 14 tracks.

In the states, however, we're all about the all mighty dollar. So US record companies would gladly sell you a "hit single" and then stick that song on an upcoming album (to boast sales, they said). EPs? A few were made, not very many sold. And, American pop albums generally had 12 tracks. Now they had all these "extra" tracks to put somewhere, so American-specific albums became the norm.

It's become a real sticking point. The British Beatles albums, for example, were different from the American versions (up to Revolver). They were carefully mixed (in mono, too) and set in a particular order. That was disregarded here by Capitol records (and others). But, they were the versions we American grew up with. And that's the way they're presented here.

To help with the conversion, we show the UK version of the US album (brg notes) and have put together a simplified listing of tracks showing where they originated for both the US and UK. It's not a definitive listing, just a quick look-up table. No distinction is made between edited or alternate mixes (with very few exceptions). These listings show only tracks pertinent to the 1964-71 time frame. Not listed are the "live" albums (with one very essential exception) and "hits" albums except for those odd tracks. These "Apha List" PDFs will only be found on certain English-based groups (Beatles, Stones, Kinks, and a few others, where necessary). Look for the PDF logo (shown below).

March 2021: Will be adding UK release dates to as many albums as possible. That info will be on the same line as the US release date and will look like this: [UK: 9/66]. Martin C Strong's amazing discographies will be the key source for this data.

Chart Info
Chart success seemed to mean much more to the bean counters than the these artists. Sure, a top selling record was cool and made you some bucks (which your shady manager would steal), just as long as you didn't "surrender to the man," man. But, it's still interesting to see where the great albums and singles from this time zone really did perform on the Billboard Charts. Some "big hit" records from the 60s really weren't—it's just they stood the test of time better. And many of the #1s of the day are now WTF?

So all singles and albums have a little indicator next to the release date (blue or green for 45s, orange for LPs). Slide the pointer over the T20 or BB to see how well it performed in the Top 100 and when it peaked. Blue or Green indicate which county. If both sides of a 45 became a hit, both numbers are listed. UK chart indicators are for the A-side, unless noted. For albums, it's the peak number of the Top 200 and the date that that was accomplished (a work in progress).

If it hit #1, the indicators will say so:  #1  for US 45s,  #1  for UK 45s, or  1  for US LPs. Even albums on the Easter Egg pages have chart numbers (like David Peel—yup, surprised me, too)! If the single/album was rated #1 for more than one week, the number of weeks are included in the rollover.

All chart numbers and dates are from the Pop charts are copyrighted by Billboard and/or Joel Whitburn. Leave me alone.

I got bored one afternoon and decided to add Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 edition of their Top 500 Albums, like this: RS500. Of course, lists like these just serve as fodder to start arguements (All Things Must Pass #437??), but thought it'd be interesting nonetheless. As an aside, the seven years featured here (1964-1972) account for 1/3 of those 500 albums—which just goes to show how important these records are.

December 2022: Changed singles chart notifications—Blue for US singles, Green for UK singles. See the regular update file for further info.

Links
There several styles of links used here (but note that they might not be consistent—I'm trying, I'm trying). If it looks like a link and nothing pops up when you put the pointer on, then click away!:
  • Regular blue text/White on blue hover: Internal link to an artist page, similar to a movin' link (but in a text block)
  • Bold blue text/White on blue hover: Internal to a non-specific page—could be an artist or a special page (click, overwrites current view), or even a picture (pop up)
  • Bold blue specials: ??   !!  or  ...  /White on blue hover: Internal link to an Easter Egg page (click, overwrites current view). Could be fun, if you've never seen it before (then try to find it again)!
  • Purple text /White on purple hover: A link to an outside page (opens in new tab—could be dead, too)
  •     go directly to the main artist page on Discogs, 45 Cat, Wikipedia, or the movie page on IMdB (opens in new tab).

Post Seasons Live Issues
Quite a few concerts recorded during the Seasons time-frame have been released recently. You'll see this:
 ➜ Live: 5/3-4, Fillmore East; released 1998: Live At The Fillmore East 
in the listing that shows venue and date for that recording, the CD issue year and title. Note that not all of these post-Seasons issues will be listed—only those are worthy. If you think I'm gonna mess up this beautiful website by listing ALL of Jimi's or The Dead's released concerts, you're nuts! Check the links.
Also check the myriad of super-duper extree special this year only CDs for bonus live tracks (No, not listed here. I gave up on trying to keep CDs up-to-date here. Check Discogs—they're the experts!).

Icons
There several styles of links used here (but note that they might not be consistent—I'm trying, I'm trying). If it looks like a link and nothing pops up when you put the pointer on, then click away!:
Click on the link to go to that section on the Movie page
Select Ed Sullivan shows. Click link to go to a "complete" listing of our artists on stage with Eddy (with pictures!).
A BLUE link goes to more details on the Tell-a-vision page; A PURPLE link goes to a Youtube clip
On the Tell-a-vision page, roll over to see a screen grab or publicity still from the show
Also on the Tell-a-vision page, roll over to see a scan from
"T V Guide" about that show (close-up, listing and/or ad)
NEW! Very brief look at the artists' (or group) post 1971/2. Go to the Wiki link for further details.
A lot of artists recorded under a variety of names early in their career. Rather than add all these singles, use this link to explore 45cat and the lists that forum members have created, Don't blame me if your afternoon is shot, though!
Due to confusion 'twixt UK and US releases for groups like The Beatles and The Kinks, an Alpha List (PDF format) of songs and where they appear is linked at the top of the page.
Click on the link to go to that sidebar page

Musicians coming or going (only big moves—no room for any more trees in this forest)
"Golden" note—roll over for larger image
"British Racing Green" note—roll over for UK release covers
"Blue" note—click for text box

Calendar Style Pages
Two sets of pages are based on an old calendar template that I've used for an auto racing calendar since 2005. The code is old and was recycled for "Seasons." Therefore, they look a little different from the rest (and are likely to stay that way).

Vitals: These pages show over 800 musicians, producers, etc. from our time frame. Most of this data comes from Wikipedia . Births are in green, deaths in red. If there's a Click Me! in the blue header (birth dates only), click it to go to that person's main page—not all people have this feature. In the example, Gram Parsons goes to The Flying Burrito Brothers page.

Here's an explanation of what you see when you roll your pointer over the name:

Concerts: These pages show concerts from major SF & NY venues. Data from Chicken On A Unicycle covering the Bay Area's venues/artists, SetList with a growing database of hundreds of venues/artists, Jerry Lucky's book The Psychedelic Rock Files, and on Rolling Stone magazine advertising. Most of these shows probably happened as announced, but you never know. Cancellations or other events that we know happened are noted. Most of the listing assume two shows per night (Sundays in SF was usually afternoon and night). Only rare distinctions are noted (someday I'll fix that).

Venues listed for San Francisco: the big ones: Carousel Ballroom, Avalon Ballroom, Fillmore Auditorium, Fillmore West, Winterland, and Berkely Community Theatre
For New York City: Besides the obvious—the Fillmore East (which started as The Village Theatre) and non-rock theaters, and some whose name changed over the years. A real mix: Academy Of Music (in the 80s it was The Palladium, punk haven), Anderson Theater, Madison Square Garden and it's smaller adjunct Felt Forum, and the big boys: Town Hall, Philharmonic Hall, Carnegie Hall.

Of course, the local music scene was extremely active with smaller venues in these two towns. The Matrix, Cafe A Go Go (and other names that are straight from the history books on music of the mid-to-late 60s) were the cauldrons that brewed our heady blend of music. Listing them here would be an overload. Check out the Chicken.. blog noted above for local SF happenings and It's All The Streets You Crossed Not So Long Ago for our version.

Here's an explanation of what you see when you roll your pointer over the venue (or festival name):


Bonus Calendar Info
Being a die-hard space cadet, I took the opportunity to put all of the Apollo flights during our "Season" time-frame on the calendars, with tiny pictures! Music related to Apollo 11 is discussed on an Easter Egg page (with a give-away on the Easter Egg page).


Doesn't Work Right On My...
Tested on latest Firefox and Chrome. Tried it on Microsofts's latest version of Internet Explorer. Guess what? Some things (like album cover roll overs) don't work—take it up with them. Phones, tablets, Android...? Go ahead and try it (Tried on a Win10 tablet—looks good, but the rollovers are kinda funky). If it doesn't work, I'm sorry. I can't fix it.


Mistakes?
You betcha! With all the copy/pasting and typing, not to mention changing my mind about certain layout features (apparently on a whim), there's bound to be some typos and errors. I welcome your suggestions, especially if you have source for accurate release data (see the Help Requested page).

Note: Updated 3/15/2020
 

 


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