Music History

Sonny & Cher reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “I Got You Babe”, their only UK No. 1. In the same year, the song also topped the charts in Canada, New Zealand and the US. Sonny Bono was inspired when writing the song by the popularity of the word “babe”, which he had heard, for example, in Bob Dylan's “It Ain’t Me Babe”.

Billy Joe Royal scored his biggest pop hit when “Down In The Boondocks” climbed to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. He later reached the Top 40 three more times with “I Knew You When”, “I've Got To Be Somebody”, and “Cherry Hill Park”, before finding success on the country charts in the 1980s with twelve Top 40 hits.

“Papa's Got A Brand New Bag” became James Brown’s first song to break into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. It initially reached No. 10 and climbed to No. 8 the following week. Brown’s “new style” emphasized the first beat, or “one”, creating an unusual and highly effective rhythm.

Mel Carter’s signature song “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“California Girls” reached No. 3 on the US singles chart and later reached No. 26 in the UK. The music for the song was written during Brian Wilson’s first experience with LSD. Wilson recorded the vocals using Columbia’s new eight-track recorder, which allowed Mike Love’s lead vocal to be triple-tracked. “California Girls” was also the first Beach Boys recording to feature Bruce Johnston’s vocals.

The Troggs reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “With a Girl Like You.” It was their only UK No. 1 hit.

Elvis Presley reached No. 6 on the UK singles chart with “Love Letters.”

Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs reached No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with “Lil’ Red Riding Hood.” The song reached No. 2 on Billboard and the following week received an RIAA Gold Record for sales exceeding one million copies.

“Ain't Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations spent its sixth week at No. 1 on the R&B chart.

The Troggs achieved the unusual feat of having simultaneous Top 10 hits in the UK and U.S. with two different songs. “With a Girl Like You” topped the main UK charts, while “Wild Thing” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. Both songs were recorded in just two takes each because of limited studio time.

“They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-haaa” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It then quickly fell to the bottom of the Top 40 after several radio stations banned the song out of concern that its lyrics could be perceived as insensitive toward people with mental illness.

“Summer In The City” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Best Sellers List, beginning a three-week run at the top of the US chart. The song features car horns and jackhammer sounds that create the atmosphere of a summer city.

The Beatles began a four-week reign at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with the single “Yellow Submarine” / “Eleanor Rigby.”

Cleveland group The Outsiders returned to the Billboard Top 40 following the success of their million-selling hit “Time Won't Let Me” with a cover of “Respectable” by The Isley Brothers. The song climbed to No. 15. The band had a total of four songs on the main Billboard chart and another four in the Bubbling Under category, but none of their recordings made a significant impact in Britain.

“You Can't Hurry Love” by The Supremes climbed from No. 66 to No. 28 on the chart.

“Ain't Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations spent its eighth week at No. 1 on the R&B chart.

The Beatles' album “Revolver” received gold certification.

The Beatles were at number one on the UK singles chart with the double A-side “Yellow Submarine – Eleanor Rigby”, their eleventh number-one single. Paul McCartney said that he took the name Eleanor from actress Eleanor Bron, who appeared with The Beatles in the film “Help!”, while Rigby came from the name of a shop in Bristol, Rigby & Evens Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers.

The song “Sunny”, written by Bobby Hebb, reached No. 1 on the Cash Box chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling single in the USA. Its success led Hebb to tour the United States and Canada with The Beatles.

“Summer In The City” by Lovin' Spoonful remained at No. 1 on the US chart for a third week. Bobby Hebb was at No. 2 with “Sunny” and “See You In September” by The Happenings was at No. 3.

Petula Clark reached No. 1 on the US Easy Listening chart with “I Couldn't Live Without Your Love”.

Stevie Wonder's version of “Blowin' In The Wind” reached No. 1 on the US R&B chart.

“Cherish” by The Association entered the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 a month later. Although the song was actually longer, the record label listed its length as three minutes so that radio programmers would not reject it as too long. The recording later received a gold record for sales of more than one million copies and, according to BMI, was the 22nd most-played song of the 20th century.

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart. The song was among the first commercial recordings to feature the word “God” in the title and was groundbreaking in many ways. Capitol Records feared a reaction from US radio programmers, so in the USA it placed the song on the B-side of the single “Wouldn't It Be Nice”, while in the UK it was accepted as the A-side. Brian Wilson used a range of unusual instruments during the recording, including French horns.

The Small Faces entered the singles chart with “Itchycoo Park”, written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. The song reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 16 in the US the following year. It was among the first pop singles to use the flanging effect.

Scott McKenzie began a four-week run at No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)”. It was his only UK Top 40 hit and was written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. That same year, the song also reached No. 1 in eight other countries.

“All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles was the best-selling single in the U.S. according to Cashbox magazine. A week later, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart and later topped the charts in nine other countries.

The Beatles scored their fourteenth US No. 1 single with “All You Need Is Love”, which remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for one week. The song became a worldwide hit that year and topped the charts in eleven countries. It was the British contribution to Our World, the first live global television broadcast, in which The Beatles performed it from the EMI studios in London on 25 June. The programme was transmitted by satellite and watched by more than 400 million people in 25 countries. Backing vocals on the recording were provided by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Marianne Faithfull and Gary Leeds of the Walker Brothers.

Bobbie Gentry began a four-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with “Ode to Billie Joe”. The song also reached the top in Canada, reached No. 7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, No. 8 on Hot R&B Singles and No. 17 on Hot Country Songs, and later became an international hit. It received eight Grammy nominations, three of which Gentry won.

Jimi Hendrix's “Purple Haze” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 94. During its eight-week run, it peaked at No. 65. It performed much better in the UK, reaching No. 3 and spending 14 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. In 2010, Billboard ranked it No. 17 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

“ Ode To Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry remained at number one after five weeks. “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles remained at number two, while The Supremes moved from number eight to number three with “Reflections”. “Light My Fire” by The Doors completed an exceptionally strong top four.

The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band remained at number one on the US album chart for the tenth consecutive week.

The Doors began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Hello, I Love You,” their second U.S. No. 1 hit.

The Doors began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Hello, I Love You.” It was their second and final U.S. No. 1 single.

“Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap was at No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart for the week ending August 3.

Mason Williams reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with his song “Classical Gas”. Williams was the head writer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the following year won three Grammy Awards. In 1991, he received an RIAA Citation of Achievement for more than five million broadcast uses of the song.

Tom Jones reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with “Delilah”. The lyrics were written by Barry Mason and the music by Les Reed.

Herb Alpert remained at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart for a tenth week with “This Guy’s In Love with You.”

The 1910 Fruitgum Co. from Linden, New Jersey, entered the Billboard Top 40 with “1, 2, 3, Red Light”. During its thirteen-week chart run, the single climbed to No. 5 and was certified for sales of one million copies in September of the same year.

The Dells reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Stay In My Corner”.

Cream's album Wheels of Fire remained at No. 1 on the US album chart for a second week.

Deep Purple's song “Hush” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 83. It was recorded in just two takes and climbed to No. 4 five weeks later, becoming the group's first of eight hits on the chart.

Simon & Garfunkel reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album, Bookends. The album also reached No. 1 in the United States.

The Doors achieved significant chart success: their album Waiting for the Sun began a four-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, while the song “Hello, I Love You” was named America's best-selling single by Cashbox. After allegations of plagiarism, British courts ruled that the song had been taken from The Kinks' “All Day and All of the Night”, and the British songwriting royalties went to Ray Davies.

The Rascals reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the song “People Got to Be Free”, beginning a five-week run at the top. The song later received a gold record and sold more than four million copies. It was inspired by the group's unpleasant experience with Florida racists who threatened them because of their long hair.