So here we are in 1963. I turn 9 years old and the music is amazing. Of course I didn’t hear all the songs listed below in that same year. The beauty of being a music lover is always discovering both new and old songs.

If you talk to any musician that plays the Hammond they will invariably mention Jimmy Smith as an influence. His Bobliness makes an appearance. Phil Ochs was one of the stand-outs of the early sixties folk scene of Greenwich Village. I never say Johnny Copeland play but I have seen his fabulous daughter Shemekia play up a storm.

(Booker T. Washington)”Bukka” White (November 12, 1906 – February 26, 1977) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer who was a tremendous influence on his cousin Mr. B.B.King. Eric Bibb released the album Booker’s Guitar in 2010 “The genesis of this deeply moving album was in an almost chance encounter at a London hotel, where Eric Bibb had just played a set. He was approached by a fan with a beat-up guitar case, which turned out to contain a 1930s National steel guitar that had been owned and played by legendary Delta blues legend Bukka White. Bibb was inspired to write a half-spoken, half-sung ode to White, which he then recorded in London using that guitar“***.

The great Sonny Boy Williamson II “Help Me” is such as intense pleading song about obviously getting help from a lover. Why is he named the second Sonny Boy Williamson . Because there was another of the same name. John Lee Curtis “Sonny Boy” Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and singer-songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of recordings by many pre–World War II blues artists. Under his own name, he was one of the most recorded blues musicians of the 1930s and 1940s. Williamson’s harmonica style was a great influence on postwar performers. Later in his career, he was a mentor to many up-and-coming blues musicians who moved to Chicago, including Muddy Waters. In an attempt to capitalize on Williamson’s fame, Aleck “Rice” Miller began recording and performing as Sonny Boy Williamson II in the early 1940s, and later, to distinguish the two, John Lee Williamson came to be known as Sonny Boy Williamson I or “the original Sonny Boy”****. How confusing it that Sonny Boy the second was born earlier that Sonny Boy the first. Both of them died very early.

Those four Liverpudlians now enter the charts. The Beatles were a huge influence on my music life and I followed them relentlessly. They revolutionized songwriting and recording techniques, elevating the album to an art form, popularizing new genres like folk rock and psychedelic rock, and profoundly influencing pop culture and fashion. They moved beyond simple pop songs to incorporate complex arrangements, classical music, and non-Western sounds, pushing rock and pop into new creative territories. And I went along for the ride with them. The great singer-songwriter Glen Cardier released his album “Wild at Heart” in 2019. It included the song “Are You Beatles, Are You Stones“, in my formative years I was definitely Beatles! Interesting to note that the release of “Please Please Me” on the first American release misspelled their name as The Beattles!

The New Orleans Gospel icon Mahalia Jackson’s song “If I Can Help Somebody” is listed. I never saw Mahalia sing (more the pity) however I did have an epiphany when I was privileged to see Leonard Cohen play at the Mahalia Jackson theatre in New Orleans (28/03/2013).

Ellis Marsalis (born in New Orleans) “Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (November 14, 1934 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the Marsalis musical family, when sons Branford and Wynton became popular jazz musicians“****.

There seems to be a lot of songs about Surfin’ and not just by The Beach Boys! Jan and Dean’s hit sounds a lot like a Beach Boys song. Maybe because Brian Wilson wrote it and also did the harmonies. The Penguins “Memories Of El Monte” was a retro Doo Woop song co-written by Frank Zappa. “On Broadway” by the Drifters became a major hit for George Benson in 1978.

Inez and Charlie Foxx’s “Mockingbird” has been covered by Aretha Franklin, Barry Goldberg and Carly Simon & James Taylor. “Surfer Bird” by The Trashmen (what a great band name) has been covered by The Ramones and The Cramps. Betty Everett’s “You’re No Good” has been covered by among others Linda Ronstadt and Elvis Costello

nineteen and sixty three

• A Breathtaking Guy – The Supremes
• Atlantis – The Shadows
• Back At the Chicken Shack – Jimmy Smith
• Banjo In the Hollow – The Dillards
• Be My Baby – The Ronettes
• Blowin’ In the Wind – Bob Dylan*
• Blue Bayou – Roy Orbinson
• Can I Get a Witness – Marvin Gaye
• Come And Get These Memories – Martha & the Vandells
• Cry Baby – Garnet Mimms & the Enchanters
• Da Doo Ron Ron – The Crystals
• Davey Moore – Phil Ochs
• Devil With the Blue Dress – Shorty Long
• Do-Wah Diddy – The Exciters
• Down on Bending Knees – Johnny Copeland
• Drunken Leroy Blues – Bukka White
• Easier Said Than Done – The Essex
• El Watusi – Ray Barretto
• Everytime I See You – The Heartbreakers
• Fiberglass Jungle – The Crossfires
• Fingertips – Stevie Wonder*
• From Me to You – The Beatles**
• Good Luck Charm – Elvis Presley
• Groovy Baby – Billy Abbott and the Jewels
• Hanky Panky – Tommy James and the Shondells
• Harlem Shuffle – Bob &Earl
• Hello Stranger – Barbara Lewis
• Help Me – Sonny Boy Williamson II
• Here I Stand – The Rip Chords
• He’s so Fine – The Chiffons
• Hi-Heel Sneakers – Tommy Tucker
• Hot Pastrami – The Dartells
• Hot Tamales – Bobby Hatfield
• How’s Your Bird? – Baby Ray and the Ferns
• If I Can Help Somebody – Mahalia Jackson
• If You Need Me – Solomon Burke*
• I’m Gonna Build Me a Web – K.C.Douglas
• I’m Leaving It Up to You – Dale & Grace
• It’s All Right – The Impressions
• It’s Gonna Work Out Fine – Ike and Tina Turner
• It’s Too Late – Wilson Pickett
• Java – Al Hirt
• Just One Look – Doris Troy
• Little Latin Lupe Lu – The Righteous Brothers
• Lost and Lookin’ – Sam Cooke
• Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
• Magnolia Triangle – Ellis Marsalis*
• Mean Woman Blues – Roy Orbinson
• Memories Of El Monte – The Penguins
• Mockingbird – Inez and Charlie Foxx
• My Babe – The Righteous Brothers
• My Boyfriend’s Back – The Angels
• Night Train – The Oscar Peterson Trio
• No Title Yet Blues – Clarence White
• Not Me – The Orlons
• On Broadway – The Drifters
• Packing Up – The Famous Ward Singers
• Pain in My Heart – Otis Redding
• Penetration – The Pyramids
• Please Please Me – The Beatles
• Pride and Joy – Marvin Gaye
• Prisoner Of Love – James Brown
• Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
• Ruler of My Heart – Irma Thomas*
• She Loves You – The Beatles
• So Far Away – Hank Jacobs
• So Much in Love – The Tymes
• Streamline ‘Frisco Limited – Reverand Robert Wilkins
• Streamline Special – Bukka White
• Sugar and Spice – The Searchers
• Summer Holiday – Cliff Richards & the Shadows
• Surf City – Jan & Dean
• Surfer Girl – The Beach Boys
• Surfin’ Bird – The Trashmen
• Surfin’ U.S.A. – The Beach Boys
• Sweets for My Sweet – The Drifters
• Take Five – Quincey Jones
• The Big Surfer – Brian Lord & the Midnighters
• The Cruncher – The Rotations
• The Martian Hop – The Ran-Dells
• The Monkey Time – Major Lance
• The Nitty Gritty – Shirley Ellis
• Then He Kissed Me – The Crystals
• Those Lonely, Lonely Feelings – Johnny “Guitar” Watson
• Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um – Major Lance
• Walking the Dog – Rufus Thomas
• Watermelon Man – Quincy Jones
• Wham! – Lonnie Mack*
• What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am) – The Tams
• Who Do You Love – Ronnie Hawkins
• Wipe Out – The Sufaris
• Yeah Yeah – Georgie Fame
• You’re No Good – Betty Everett
• *Seen perform live
• **The only Beatle I have seen perform live was Ringo (front row at Festival Hall)
• ***All Music
• ****Wikipedia