ERA · KNOWLEDGE GUIDE

1960s

Explore 1960s through technology, music industries, regional scenes and representative recordings—and hear why this decade differs from those around it.

Recordings: 191
Albums and releases: 65
Regions: 9

THE DECADE IN CONTEXT

What happened in this decade?

Civil-rights movements, counterculture, global media and studio experimentation gave popular music a larger social and artistic role.

Sound and technology

Multitrack recording and effects made the studio part of composition.

People and circulation

Touring, television and political movements connected musicians and audiences across borders.

Listen by comparing

Compare a single with an album track and notice how arrangement supports a larger artistic statement.

Soul, rock and the folk revival expandedStudio experimentation intensifiedJamaican and Brazilian music reached wider audiences

The decade's key question

Why were popular recordings increasingly treated as complete artworks?

Songs addressed social change and personal experience more directly, while multitrack recording enabled dense arrangements and sound experiments. The LP also let artists organize songs into a sustained theme rather than a sequence of unrelated singles.

MAJOR GENRES

Major genres of the decade

Subgenre · ROCK

Modal Jazz

AROUND THE WORLD

Sounds from different regions

Middle East and North AfricaExplore local scenes and recordings EuropeExplore local scenes and recordings Continental EuropeExplore local scenes and recordings North AmericaExplore local scenes and recordings United StatesExplore local scenes and recordings Los AngelesExplore local scenes and recordings United States SouthExplore local scenes and recordings United KingdomExplore local scenes and recordings Latin AmericaExplore local scenes and recordings

ARTISTS

Representative artists

Artist·afrobeat

Hamza El Din

Artist·Modal Jazz

Francy Boland

Artist·Soul

Yvonne Baker

Artist·Gospel Blues

Reverend Gary Davis

Artist·Latin Jazz

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

Artist·Afrobeat

The Meters

Artist·Psychedelic Rock

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Artist·Nueva Canción

Inti‐Illimani

Artist·Free Jazz

John Coltrane

LISTENING PATH

Hear the decade through these recordings

REFINE THIS VIEWFilter recordings from the 1960s

Genre and region are combined; only options with recordings from the 1960s are shown.

01Simón Bolívar1969 · Nueva Canción · latinOpen in new tab 02Carta al Che1969 · Nueva Canción · latinOpen in new tab 03La gaviota1969 · Nueva Canción · latinOpen in new tab 04Cueca de Balmaceda1969 · Nueva Canción · latinOpen in new tab 05Patrón1969 · Nueva Canción · latinOpen in new tab

ALBUMS

Representative albums and releases

Album·1967

Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree

Album·1968

Electric Ladyland

Album·1961

Pure Religion and Bad Company

Album·1962

Green Onions

Album·1965

Soul Dressing

Album·1967

Are You Experienced

DECADE GRAPH

1960s relationship map

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CURRENT NODE · Era

1960s

Follow the connected recordings, people and styles to understand this node.

Why they connect

era stylePsychedelic Rock1960s and Psychedelic Rock are connected in the catalog.
era styleSoul1960s and Soul are connected in the catalog.
era styleBlues1960s and Blues are connected in the catalog.
era styleCountry / Folk / Americana1960s and Country / Folk / Americana are connected in the catalog.
era styleSalsa1960s and Salsa are connected in the catalog.
era styleLatin1960s and Latin are connected in the catalog.
era styleRock1960s and Rock are connected in the catalog.
era styleLatin Jazz1960s and Latin Jazz are connected in the catalog.
era styleModal Jazz1960s and Modal Jazz are connected in the catalog.
active artistHamza El Din1960s and Hamza El Din are connected in the catalog.

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