1964 Set List

[buldog5151bass]

What surprises me about that set list is so many old songs from the 40's and 50's played by a band of young kids in 1964. The bands I was in in those days played current Top 40.

Why? It's 2022, and most cover bands play songs from the 80s and before. Prior to the rock era (and before most teens had their own radio, there was a lot less disparity between what teens and adults listened to.

 

[turf3]

A considerable number of those tunes go back to the 1920s.

Let's keep in mind, however, that in 1964 the "dixieland" revival was still very much active. So if your audience included people over 30, there would have been a lot of those folks who cut their teeth on groups like the Dukes of Dixieland, Turk Murphy, etc.

 

[txhawaii]

An old band mate (the pianist) shared some photos with me from our 1964 band (I'm 15 years old and on drums). I thought some of you might be interested to peruse our set list from that time and take a tour down memory lane.

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This might be a touchy subject but how many of your band mates “got sent off to fight in a far away land” just a few years later?

 

[Guitalia]

Nice. I'd be comfortable playing at least 90% of those songs at a gig tonight, especially since the keys are so thoughtfully listed.

 

[etoncrow]

This might be a touchy subject but how many of your band mates “got sent off to fight in a far away land” just a few years later?

The two guitar players shown in the photos grew up together. Both went to Vietnam. The blonde was coming out when the taller one was going in. They actually passed each other at a depot. Both survived and are still playing music

 

[etoncrow]

We not only played for after football game dances, proms & Christmas formals where the audience was our age; but we also played at Moose Clubs and conventions which had an older clientele.

 

[txhawaii]

The two guitar players shown in the photos grew up together. Both went to Vietnam. The blonde was coming out when the taller one was going in. They actually passed each other at a depot. Both survived and are still playing music

My father went twice. My mom said he had very bad nightmares for sometime. I was an infant when he came back in late mid 73. I remember he was really tanned...almost black. I didn't know him because he left after I was born and came back over a year later.

 

[51PRI]

Why? It's 2022, and most cover bands play songs from the 80s and before. Prior to the rock era (and before most teens had their own radio, there was a lot less disparity between what teens and adults listened to.

A considerable number of those tunes go back to the 1920s.

Let's keep in mind, however, that in 1964 the "dixieland" revival was still very much active. So if your audience included people over 30, there would have been a lot of those folks who cut their teeth on groups like the Dukes of Dixieland, Turk Murphy, etc.

I probably started in bands in '66 and we didn't play any of those songs.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I probably started in bands in '66 and we didn't play any of those songs.

And I assume you didn't have horns, either. Take a look at the early Beatles set lists - Besame Mucho, A Taste of Honey, Baby Its You (Bert Bacharach), etc.

 

[Ostie]

Wow, almost 60 years ago! That’s so cool that the set list survived. I have one from around 1982. We were an eighties band back then….

 

[jerry]

My father went twice. My mom said he had very bad nightmares for sometime. I was an infant when he came back in late mid 73. I remember he was really tanned...almost black. I didn't know him because he left after I was born and came back over a year later.

I had four brothers go, lost one to it. I sometimes tease my brothers "didn't you get sick of all the thank you for your service" when you returned.......it was a way different time!

 

[txhawaii]

I had four brothers go, lost one to it. I sometimes tease my brothers "didn't you get sick of all the thank you for your service" when you returned.......it was a way different time!

My father said he got spit on at SFO while in uniform when he was transiting. It was a different time.

 

[turf3]

I probably started in bands in '66 and we didn't play any of those songs.

That set list looks like what I would expect a GB band to have been playing in '64, not a true rock and roll band.

 

[51PRI]

And I assume you didn't have horns, either. Take a look at the early Beatles set lists - Besame Mucho, A Taste of Honey, Baby Its You (Bert Bacharach), etc.

My earliest bands did not have horns. One early band added a trumpet player, the guy who looks like the one in the pic in post #1. Most of the bands that were going before I started DID have horns and played older type music. I guess not having horns had something to do with it, but also the idea of wanting to be current.

Later on, in like 1969 or so, our band (a different band) added two trumpets when we went on the road, but by then we were playing Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears and things like that, as well as Soul and R&B.

The Beatles songlist was probably from around 1962 when they played in Hamburg. That's a lifetime from my earliest bands in 1966ish.

 

[P. Aaron]

I'm going to borrow your set list to liven up my play-alongs.

IF you can, find some old AM 60's era playlists that radio stations used to publish. They usually have the week's TOP HITS and besides the strong performers, the One Hit Wonders dot these lists and it's always nice to be reminded of 2-3 minutes of great music.