Later R&B – 1960-1964

Under Construction

(1960-1964) – This was a transitional phase for R&B (rock & roll). At the end of the 50s, there seemed a lull in rock & roll, there was the day the music died when Bud Holly, Ritchie Valens & the Big Bopper died in the plane crash early in 1959; Elvis was in the army; Little Richard retired; Berry and Lewis were made unavailable; but then things bounced back in the early 60s.

Chubby Checker, “The Twist”, Little Eva, the Ronettes, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, “Louie Louie”; folk music was making a resurgence, Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, Dylan; A newer form of R&B called “Soul” had started up and began to dominate Same Cooke, Mary Wells, Martha & the Vandellas, the Temptations, the Four Tops.

After February 1959 when Bud Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper lost their lives in the first “day the music died” (thanks, Don) there seemed to be a lull with rock & roll. Elvis was in the army, Little Richard was in retirement, Chuck Berry was unavailable and Ray Charles invented soul music.

Vocal R&B continued to be a strong form of commercially successful popular music groups like Ben E. King & the Drifters, the Temptations, the Four Tops. Chubby Checker & the Twist was a big hit during this time as was Little Eva’s “Locomotion” written by King & Goffin.

New Jersy’s Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons were hitmakers along with the rise of garage rock and Surf Rock & The Beach Boys. Soul, a mix of R&B and Gospel, was rising with Motown’s Mary Wells “Muy Guy” and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas “Dancing in the Streets”.