Echoes of the Sixties

Whatever became of your favorite pop music stars of the 1960s?
As the 1960s draw ever more distant in our recollective rear-view mirror, the overwhelming influence of those watershed years in redefining American culture becomes ever more apparent. Today, 54 million Americans who call themselves children of the ’60s, people who lived their formative years during that decade, find a common bond in the events, sights, and sounds of that remarkable era of change.

Echoes of the Sixties
by Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March

Since those days, echoes of the sixties resound strong in contemporary culture. We hear the echoes on oldies radio stations, in motion pictures, in television commercials. Oldies remain the touchpoint for a generation of adults who call themselves children of the sixties. The music lives on. But what of the artists who recorded the anguished, the important, the cherished songs of those years?

Their stories are told in Echoes of the Sixties, an entertaining and insightful book that reveals what each of these artists did with their lives following the end of their reign on the pop music charts. Many of the artists of the sixties have remained in the recording industry, some still performing while others have moved into production, talent management, background singing, commercial jingle recording, concert booking, or executive positions. But others moved on to other fields — including teaching, art, psychiatry, law, manufacturing, automobile service, acting, real estate, construction and business administration — taking advantage of new opportunities and discovering new abilities. Many endured personal tragedies. This 320-page book shares the aspirations, trials, triumphs, and life’s lessons learned by the musical pied pipers of a remarkable decade.

Right: KGO radio talk show host Ronn Owens (standing) welcomed Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March for an hour-long discussion segment on the 50,000-watt San Francisco station on Nov. 3, 2000.
(Photo by Susan Schustak, KGO)

Each of the 12 chapters is devoted to a vocal group, soloist or band, introduced through an opening essay recalling their attainment of fame during the 1960s. The sequence of the chapters parallels the chronological order in which each of the performers first achieved national renown. Following the opening essay in each chapter, biographical epilogues tell the stories of what has become of each of the performers in the decades since. While several bands underwent personnel changes, we concentrated on the individuals who were present during the principal hit-making years of each ensemble during the 1960s.

These epilogues explore the personal and professional choices that 43 musical artists made once the music faded and the concert arenas emptied. Through deeply personal and revealing conversations with each of these artists, we have created illuminating profiles of the musical composers and performers who influenced the styles, thoughts and attitudes of a generation of Americans and helped in many ways to shape the course of history. Echoes Of The Sixties contains chapters on the following artists. (Click on the performers’ names for links to their Web sites.)

The Fireballs (“Sugar Shack”)
Gary “U.S. Bonds” (“Quarter to Three”)
The Tokens (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”)
The Angels (“My Boyfriend’s Back”)
Peter and Gordon (“A World Without Love”)
Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues (“Nights in White Satin”)
The Beau Brummels (“Laugh, Laugh”)
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (“Wooly Bully”)
The Lovin’ Spoonful (“Summer in the City”)
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (“Lady Willpower”)
Country Joe and the Fish (“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag”)
Iron Butterfly (“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”).

All information in the book was derived from our conversations with each of the performers. The book is illustrated with 55 “then” and “now” photographs, many of which are personal family snapshots. Echoes of the Sixties, which lists for $19.95, is available through chain and local bookstores nationwide (but not through EditPros). You also may purchase it through prominent on-line booksellers, including those listed in the navigation bar to the left.

Echoes will introduce you to 43 individuals whose songs are as familiar as old friends, but who you never really knew-until now. These singers and musicians share their joy, their pain, their insights, and their dreams. Through their stories, we learn something about ourselves. Echoes of the Sixties is written for those of you who want to know more about the artists you hear on the oldies radio stations. And it’s written as well for those of you who grew up with the music of that unforgettable era and in whose souls still resound the echoes of the sixties.

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