Country Joe and The Fish

Country Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971.

The group's name is derived from leftist politics; "Country Joe" was a popular name for Joseph Stalin in the 1940s, while "the fish" refers to Mao Tse-Tung's statement that the true revolutionary "moves through the peasantry as the fish does through water."

The group began with the nucleus of "Country Joe" McDonald (lead vocals) and Barry "The Fish" Melton (lead guitar), recording and performing for the "Teach-In" protests against the Vietnam War in 1965. Co-founders McDonald and Melton added musicians as needed over the life of the band. By 1967, the group included Gary "Chicken" Hirsh (drums) (born Mar 9, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois); David Cohen (keyboards) (born 8 April 1942, in Brooklyn, New York) and Bruce Barthol (bass) (born 11 November 1947 in Berkeley, California). The 1967 lineup lasted only two years, and by the 1969 music festival Woodstock, the lineup included Greg 'Duke' Dewey (drums), Mark Kapner (keyboards) and Doug Metzler (bass).

Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success.

Throughout the late 1960s, Jefferson Airplane was one of the most sought-after and highly-paid concert acts in the world and they are also notable as the only band to have performed at all three of the most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s -- Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969). Their recordings were internationally successful and sold in great quantities, and they scored two US Top 10 hit singles and a string of Top 20 albums. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is still widely regarded as one of the key recordings of the so-called Summer of Love period and brought the group international recognition (as well as two chart hits: "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" both of which are listed in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"). From this high came the low, when 1985's “We Built This City” made #1 on Blender magazine's list of "The 50 Worst Songs Ever."

Successor bands to Jefferson Airplane include Jefferson Starship and Starship while spinoffs include Hot Tuna and KBC Band. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Waiting For The Sun:The Doors))

Waiting for the Sun is The Doors' third studio album. It was released in 1968 and became the band's first and only number one album and spawned their second US number one single, "Hello, I Love You." It also became the band's first hit album in the UK, where it peaked at #16 in the chart. With the exception of two songs, the material for this album was written after the band's initial songs from the formation of the group had been recorded for their debut album and second album, Strange Days. The highlight of this album was supposed to be the lengthy theatrical piece "Celebration of the Lizard", but in the end only the "Not to Touch the Earth" section was used. The song "Waiting for the Sun" would not appear on an album until Morrison Hotel.

Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:The Beatles))

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Beatles. Released 1 June 1967, it became a defining album in the emerging psychedelic rock style; it has since been recognised by prominent critics and publications as one of the most influential albums of all time.

Recorded over a 129-day period beginning in December 1966, Sgt. Pepper sees the band exploring further the experimentation of their previous album, 1966's Revolver. Making use of orchestras, hired musicians and innovative production techniques, the album incorporates elements of music hall, rock and roll, western classical and traditional Indian music; its lyrics deal particularly with themes of childhood and everyday life. The album is loosely based on a concept that the Beatles are performing as the fictitious band of the album's title; the cover art, depicting the band posing in front of a montage of famous individuals, has itself been widely acclaimed and imitated.

The album was a commercial success, spending a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart and 15 weeks at number one in the American Billboard 200. It was critically acclaimed upon release and won four Grammy awards in 1968. Sgt. Pepper frequently ranks at or near the top of published lists of the greatest albums of all time, including the top of Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Big Brother and the Holding Company

In 1966, Joplin's bluesy vocal style attracted the attention of the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, a band that had gained some renown among the nascent hippie community in Haight-Ashbury. She was recruited to join the group by Chet Helms, a promoter who had known her in Texas and who at the time was managing Big Brother. Joplin joined Big Brother on June 4, 1966. Her first public performance with them was at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. Due to persistent persuading by keyboardist and close friend Stephen Ryder, Joplin avoided drug use for several weeks, enjoining bandmate Dave Getz to promise that using needles would not be allowed in their rehearsal space or in the communal apartment where they lived. When a visitor to the apartment injected drugs in front of Joplin, she angrily reminded Getz that he had broken his promise. A San Francisco concert from that summer was recorded and released in the 1984 album Cheaper Thrills.

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility. Their display there describes them as "Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band." They have charted twenty-five singles in the UK Top Twenty and/or US Top Forty and seventeen Top Ten albums. According to the New York Times, The Who have sold over 100 million records.

The Who rose to fame in the United Kingdom with a pioneering instrument destruction stage show and a series of top ten hit singles (including "My Generation") and top five albums, beginning in 1965 with "I Can't Explain". They hit the top ten in the United States in 1967 with "I Can See for Miles". Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock music festivals. The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top five albums in the US, followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who's Next (1971), Quadrophenia (1973), and Who Are You (1978).

Moon died in 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the top five Face Dances (1981) and the top ten It's Hard (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones, before disbanding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material. The plans were delayed by the death of Entwistle in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who. In 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and US. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Jimi Hendrix Experience

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an English/American rock band that formed in London in 1966. Originally comprising American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969, in which time they released three successful studio albums. Redding left the band in June 1969, after which Hendrix and Mitchell stayed together through other projects.

After the band split up, Hendrix and Mitchell teamed with bassist Billy Cox and other musicians to form the short-lived Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, who played at the famous Woodstock Festival. After a short spell with another band, the Band of Gypsys with Cox and drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles, Hendrix re-formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Mitchell and Cox. Nowadays, however, this 1970 trio is distinguished from the original Experience group as The Cry of Love. The Jimi Hendrix Experience is the only band with all their albums on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The Doors~Break on Through(To The Other Side)...~

Debut album

'The Doors' self-titled debut LP was released in the first week of January 1967. It featured most of the major songs from their set, including the 11.5-minute musical drama "The End". The band recorded their first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios - 6650 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, Wed. Aug. 24 - Wed. 31: 1966, almost entirely live in the studio, with several of the songs being captured in a single take.

In November 1966, Mark Abramson directed a promotional film for the lead single "Break On Through (To the Other Side)." In hindsight this has been seen as a significant advance toward the development of the music video phenomenon.

To promote the single, the Doors made their television debut on a Los Angeles TV show called Boss City, circa 1966, possibly early 1967 and then on a Los Angeles TV show called Shebang, miming to "Break On Through," on New Years 1967. This clip has never been officially released by the Doors but can be seen on various video sharing websites, most notably YouTube.

The second single, "Light My Fire," became a smash hit after its release in June 1967, selling 1 million copies and reaching #1 on the Billboard Charts on July 29th, keeping the top spot for three weeks. It established the group — in the vein of The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane — as one of America's counterculture bands. For AM radio airplay, the long middle organ and guitar solos were cut from the song making it 2:52 instead of the 7:03 original . Today, the song is played in its entirety on the radio.

The Grateful Dead

Formation

The Grateful Dead began their career in Menlo Park, California, playing live shows at Kepler's Books.

They began as The Warlocks, a group formed in early 1964 from the remnants of a Palo Alto jug band called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. But as another band was already recording under the "Warlocks" name, the band had to change its name. The Warlocks were originally managed by Hank Harrison, but Harrison went back to graduate school. After meeting their new manager Rock Scully, they moved to the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco. Bands from this area became known for the San Francisco Sound; groups such as Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Santana went on to national fame, giving San Francisco an image as a center for the hippie counterculture of the era. The founding members of the Grateful Dead were: banjo and guitar player Jerry Garcia, guitarist Bob Weir, bluesman organist Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, the classically trained Phil Lesh and jazzist drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead, he replaced Dana Morgan Jr. who had played bass for a few gigs. The Grateful Dead most embodied "all the elements of the San Francisco scene and came, therefore, to represent the counterculture to the rest of the country".

The Beatles in Hamburg

The group auditioned Pete Best on 12 August 1960. Four days after hiring Best, the group left for Hamburg, beginning a 48-night residency at Bruno Koschmider's Indra Club, but moved to the Kaiserkeller in October 1960, after the closure of the Indra. They later accepted an offer to play at the rival Top Ten Club, which broke their contract with Koschmider, who reported Harrison to the German authorities for being under-age, leading to Harrison's deportation on 21 November 1960. McCartney and Best were arrested for arson a week later, after setting fire to a condom which they had hung on a nail in their room. They were also deported. Lennon returned to Liverpool in mid-December while Sutcliffe stayed behind in Hamburg with his new German fiancée, Astrid Kirchherr. The reunited group played an engagement on 17 December 1960 at The Casbah Coffee Club, with Chas Newby substituting for Sutcliffe.

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club again. They were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan (who also had a residency at the club) to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to a Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961, and on 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)"—lead vocals by Sheridan—which appeared on the German charts. A few copies were also pressed under the American Decca Records label. When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr, so McCartney, unwillingly, took over bass duties.