1962
I hope you like instrumentals…because this one has three. Let’s start this off with one of the best instrumentals of all time. Booker T. and The MG’s would keep releasing their groove songs through the sixties. An incredible array of talent with Booker T Jones, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson Jr., and the great guitarist Steve Cropper. The song was written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, and Al Jackson Jr. Lewie Steinberg would be replaced in 1965 by Donald “Duck” Dunn.
Because of the Ken Burns documentary on baseball…every time I hear this song…I can see Sandy Koufax’s left arm making magic in Dodger Stadium with pastel colors in the stands.
Bruce Channel‘s Hey Baby is a great song that was released this year. The harmonica part is catchy and will stick with you. Who was playing that riff on harmonica? No other than Delbert McClinton. He would later give John Lennon some lessons on the instrument in Hamburg. It was written by Margaret Cobb and Bruce Channel. Here is a bit of trivia for ya… This was the first Hot 100 #1 song with an exclamation point in its title.
Dick Dale…what a guitarist he was. This song is up there with my favorites. Miserlou was released in 62 and still sounds great today. Pulp Fiction helped to make it popular in the 1990s with a new generation.
Otis Redding had a voice that was like no other. Sam Cooke had a smooth-as-silk voice but Otis could give you both. He could sing a ballad and then turn around and growl a song.
The legendary Joe Meek wrote and produced this song. This was an adventurous instrumental record for the time and ahead of its time. The song blasted off for the Tornados. An instrumental with space sound effects, this was inspired by the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched shortly before this song was written. Telstar no longer functions but still orbits the Earth.
An overdubbed Clavioline keyboard provoked spooked space effects, while a backward tape of a flushing toilet evoked all the majesty of a space-bound rocket.
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