200 Greatest 60s Rock Songs

Top 10 lists do not tell the full story of Rock and Roll.
Pop charts capture what is popular during a particular moment in time. "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro spent five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. Would that make you want to know more about that tune? Or would you just like to forget it?

Often our favorite songs never cracked the Top 10 or are deep album cuts. The 200 songs in this book, some of which topped the charts, were chosen because their stories are fascinating, funny, or surprising. And they're great songs. Rock music is diverse and constantly evolving. Psychedelic rock, British Invasion, protest songs, horn rock, surf rock, Motown, garage rock, pop, blues rock, the San Francisco Sound, blue-eyed soul, folk rock, and more are all represented. The musicians, songwriters, and producers explain how they created the music.

Of course, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys are here. But you'll also learn about tunes by Moby Grape, the Castaways, Mary Hopkin, the Electric Prunes, the Swingin' Medallions, and the Trashmen.

Throughout are interviews conducted by the author with some of the musicians who made the 1960s such a fertile period of rock and roll, including Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals, Connie Francis, Tommy James, Robby Krieger of the Doors, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Bobby Rydell, and Mark Volman of the Turtles.