Greetings, be welcome, I present to you a new installment of this serial in which, through this prestigious American magazine, we tried to follow the adventures of our idol and find out a little about how music was evolving in those years.

On this occasion we go back to 1966, halfway through this decade. In this article we will see what were the records that were sold and what was playing in those years, and also what Elvis was doing at that time.

I hope and wish that the work carried out by this humble servant is to your liking. If I have achieved it, I consider the effort good. Please be happy.

In this year, 1966, Elvis is still fully immersed in his cinematographic maelstrom, although both his films and his records are dropping in revenue and sales, in an alarming way.

This year, three will be the soundtracks that Elvis will record, two of them at the Radio Recorder Studios in Hollywood, on February 16 and 17 (Spinout) and on June 28 and 29 (Double Trouble). The third soundtrack, corresponding to “Easy Come Easy Go“, will be recorded at Paramount studios on September 28 and 29.

In addition, between the months of May and June he will record the backbone of “How Great Thou Art“, his second Gospel album and which, in these difficult moments, will be a breath of fresh air in his career, giving him a Grammy. Also in Nashville, he will record a handful of songs that will appear as singles or bonus tracks on his soundtrack albums.

Also that year, in theaters, the premiere of 4 of his films takes place: “Frankie & Johnny“, “Paradise Hawaiian Style“, “Spinout” and “Easy Come Easy Go“, although, as I mentioned before, with rather discreet collections. And it is that the Elvis phenomenon that dominated the musical scene years ago had already gone out of style and music had taken other paths, which Elvis was not interested in the least. He continued to do his thing, with low-quality records, and films that were increasingly difficult to digest.

Regarding the record releases section, this year will be very fruitful, with a total of 6 singles and three LP`s, corresponding to the soundtracks of “Frankie & Johnny“, “Padise Hawaiian Style” and “Spinout“, Although the result left much to be desired.

The winners of the year in the United States will be, on the one hand, The Monkees, a prefabricated group that was born as an American response to the Beatle phenomenon, and who barely knew how to play instruments, but a careful production, the hiring of the best musicians and a show of Television, which was a massive success, brought these four youngsters enormous popularity. The Monkees had two number 1s in 1966, “I’m Believer“, a song composed by Neil Diamond, and “Last Train To Clarksville” (the name by which the Vietnam commandos were known) composed by Sergeant Barry Sadler, a wounded and mutilated green beret. A complete paradox in the American music of 1966, the year in which the so-called hippy movement against the Vietnam War arose in California, and a song that pleads this American intervention is declared song of the year. “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” will be number one for 5 weeks.

On the other hand we find Simon and Garfunkel, who with their “Sound Of Silence” would reach the top. Within an already definitively consolidated folk genre, the singer Donovan had his success with “Sunshine Superman“.

Along with these, we also find The Mamas & The Papas, with “Monday Monday” and “California Dreamin“. Frank Sinatra will make us dream and dance with “Strangers In The Night“, and his daughter Nancy will be number 1 with “These Boots Are Make For Walkin“.

The group The Association, with their exceptional voices, will have their number 1 with “Cheris“, the same as some unknown ? And The Mysterians with “96 Tears” (the question mark at the beginning gave a lot of play, but later it was learned that it was a Mexican named Rudy Martinez). Another number 1 went to Tommy James and Shondells, with “Hanky ??Panky.” This song will be a hit after being released a few years ago, and it brought this group to the fore by sheer luck. Its singer would later become one of the great voices of American music of the 60s.

Diana Ross’ The Supremes also had two number 1s, with “You Can’t Hurry Love” (in 1982 a Phil Collins version reached number 1 in England) and “You Keep Me Hanging On“. Other doubles that year included The Beatles with “We Can Work It Out” and “Paperback Writer.” While the Motown factory triumphed The Four Tops with “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)“. Another black artist who was the head of Billboard, although he came from the Atlantic label, was Percy Sledge, and his unforgettable “When A Man Loves A Woman.”

As in previous years, Petula Clark returned to get a number 1, in this case with “My Love“. The Righteous Brothers with “Soul And Inspiration” and Lou Christie, with “Strikes Lightnin” also reached the top that year.

Among the immortal songs of that year, we must continue to mention songs like “Sunny” by Bobby Heeb, a singer who never did anything else, and the exceptional success of The Beach Boys with “Good Vibrations“, a masterpiece of the California sound. Johnny Rivers also reached number 1 with “Poor Side Of Town“, as did the American quartet The Young Rascals, with “Good Lovin’“.

Their satanic majesties, The Rolling Stones, topped the list with “Paint It Black“, as did The Lovin Spoonful with “Summer In The City” (years later it would be recovered for the soundtrack of John Maclane‘s adventures in “Die Hard 3“). British group The Troggs with “Wild Thing” and The New Voudeville with “Winchester Cathedral” also topped the charts that year.

More hits from 1966: The Hollies‘ upbeat, upbeat “Bus Stop“; Los Bravos and their “Black Is Black“; the powerful vocals of Tom Jones and “Green Green Grass Of Home“; the soulful rage of Wilson Picket and “The Land Of The Thousand Dances” and “Mustang Sally“; Ike and Tina Turner with Phil Spector‘s “Wall Sound” masterpiece “River Deep and Mountain High” (although the song was recorded by Tina alone); or the crazy musical epic of a man going by the name of Napoleon XIV and singing the funny “They’re Coming To Take Away Ha-Haa“.

Songs, in short, that marked out with music the profiles of a year in which the United States intensified its presence in Vietnam and the Hippy movement was born in California, crying out against that war. A year in which Martin Luther King continues his particular fight against racism, and a year in which Walt Disney and the actors Buster Keaton and Montgomery Cliff die. And speaking of movies, “A Man For All Season” triumphs at the Oscars, and John Barry takes home the Oscar for Best Song for “Born Free.” In short, a year that will say goodbye to the Beat phenomenon. From now on nothing will be the same, but that is part of another story.

Information provided by Cesar Valle (Torrelavega, Spain)