British Rock

Rock & Roll faded as Cliff Richard, the Shadows and the others followed Elvis into lightweight pop and schmaltzy ballads, but rock groups were stirring at a basement club level. Surf music took the focus from traditional Rock and Roll in the U.S. and the teenage market was focused on the California Sound. With their 1960 hit "Shakin' All Over," Johnny Kidd and the Pirates introduced a harder beat for motorbike rockers and the song was soon being played by amateur groups at dances all round the UK along with R & B from the likes of Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and invariably Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode". London's blues clubs featured Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated which attracted the young trad jazz clarinettist Brian Jones to sit in and decide he too wanted a blues band. Separately, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards joined in for sets along with Korner's drummer Charlie Watts, starting with Berry's "Around and Around". A group developed, taking their name from a Muddy Waters song, and the Rolling Stones formed on 12 July 1962.

In 1962 the growing "Beat group" boom surfaced with the signing of Liverpool groups including Brian Poole and the Tremeloes whose hit with their cover of "Do You Love Me" (now that I can dance?) caught the mood: "I can mashed potato, I can do the twist, tell me baby, do you like it like this?" The Beatles were an established Liverpool group, and on 5 October 1962 their first single "Love Me Do" came out. Already this new sound stood out. The beat got harder and the music more inventive with the Beatles' songwriting talents pulling them away from the pack. British rock had established its distinctive identity. The Rolling Stones got their first rock hit in June 1963 with a high-charged version of Berry's "Come On." Later, The Animals added their blues-rock version of "The House of the Rising Sun". The Who with "My Generation" and The Kinks with "You Really Got Me" kept up the rush while adding a new mod style. Songs then became more lyrical and ingenious while retaining the distinctive driving rhythm, outright blues were issued with a hard beat instead of the bounce of the originals. This new and developing pop sound drew an international interest.