Customer Reviews

Then, Now and Rare British Beat 1960-1969

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In Britain during the 1960s there was a massive cultural upheaval, that was spurred by American rhythm and blues imported albums and singles. Prompted by the huge success of the Beatles and the rich youth culture, many of kids took up guitars, basses, drums, organs, harmonicas etc and formed rock and roll combos across the Isles. Most of these bands never saw the inside of a recording studio, however, many more of them were picked up by major record labels due to the success of the Beatles, the Stones and other English acts. Out of the few that had recording contracts even fewer had hits in their homeland, and fewer still had hits stateside. This book covers them all. Through evident exhaustive research the author chrolnicles in encyclodia form the histories and not so histories of many English bands, many of whom most, at least American readers, are not familiar with. Also with a virtual treasure trove of rare pictures, this book can serve as a complete study of a time when creativity was alive and thriving in music, fasion, and thought. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the British Invasion genre of music, as well as to anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge of rock and popular music. This book was a mindblower, and I love it very much, I think you will too!!

While the majority of the world saw February 9, 1964 as the start of the so-called British Invasion, the reality was that British bands had been around for several years before that date. Only handful of these bands are remembered even by devotees of the genre, whether on this side of the Atlantic or the other. Many were at best "one-hot wonders." Others came and went like a cool afternoon breeze leaving barely a trace of their passage. In some cases, groups disbanded - after being fully succesful, slightly successful or complete failures - to have their memebers gain worldwide acclaim later on.

British Beat: Then, Now And Rare 1960-1969 by Terry Rawling tracks the overwhelming majority of these bands through their lives during the critical first nine years. He describes the band's origins, their activities during the period under study and their demise and/or current status.

While the coverage could be considered superficial, it is far from that for those interested in the music of the British Invasion period who can and should use it as a guidebook for more in depth study.

One final truly touching thing about the book is found on the inside back cover. Author Rawling shows several score photos of members of some of bands as they appeared in recent times. The images are a fitting close to the period and to this very information and entertaining volume.

Very good book which should be at each fan Mersey beat. It is a lot of photos and the information. The qualitative polygraphy and a good paper do this magnificent edition desired for a private library. Boris , Russia .

I know this book has been reviewed in years past, but its such a great book that I thought, in my own limited way, I might bring it to the attention of music listeners who were (and still are) enthralled (like me) with the music coming out of England in the 60's.

In 200 + pages, this wonderful large size book tells the story of well known, and most importantly, the relatively unknown groups who were part of the "British Invasion". And while the book doesn't cover every single artist/group, there's many names that aren't familiar to most listeners, unless you're a very deep collector of this music. The necessary limitation of when to stop on this timeline brings this era (and the music) into sharper focus. Groups like JETHRO TULL, YES, etc. aren't included simply because their music doesn't fall under the category of "beat" music. And while some readers may grumble about the omission of a particular group/artist, it helps bring into focus the groups that are here, and the book is stronger for it.

This book, from front cover to back, is jammed with hundreds of b&w and color photos, graphics, record label reproductions, and concert hand-bills and posters. Combined with information on each artist/group, makes this great book indispensable for listeners (like myself) who want to know something about groups just outside THE BEATLES/ROLLING STONES/LED ZEPPELIN information we all know by now.

The groups are listed alphabetically, starting with A BAND OF ANGELS and ending with THE ZOMBIES. In between are relatively unknown groups such as THE ACTION (a personal favorite), THE BIRDS (another great group), CHERRY SMASH, THE DIMPLES, THE MERSEYS, THE "N" BETWEENS, THE PUSSYFOOT, THE SONS OF FRED, TINTERN ABBEY, THE UGLYS, and WIMPLE WITCH. And this is only a cursory list just flipping through the book. Combine those groups with THE BEATLES, THE WHO, THE MOVE, PROCOL HARUM, FLEETWOOD MAC, FAMILY, Donovan, David Bowie, and THE PRETTY THINGS, and many others, and this book pretty much covers the era. This book gives the reader the advantage of reading it cover to cover, or flipping it open to any page and reading something informative, and having wonderful photos and graphics to help bring things into sharper focus.

While reading about these artists is fun and informative, its the photos and graphics that truly make this book a standout. For anyone who feels this era was filled with exciting, important, and yes, fun music-music from a truly different time, this book will help fill in the holes and help put everything in perspective. From the groups we all know (and still listen to), to other groups we should perhaps know more about-this book fits the bill rather nicely. For anyone who wants to know more about this exciting, unrepeatable era-get this book.

it's a very nice book with loads of cool pictures...although, as it is quite natural, it's forgotten a few good ones, like Billy Nichols...

Great book. If you are a British Invasion fan, this is a "must have" item.