25 killer singles that are 60 years old

MAY

“I Get Around” by the Beach Boys

The Beach Boys had released five albums before All Summer Long, but this was their first major response to the British invasion. They turned to what they knew. Cars, girls, and soaring harmonies. It was written by the two primary voices in the band early on – Brian Wilson and Mike Love – and in many ways it brings out the best in both of them.

Love, who sings lead, gives it that every-boy quality. He is putting the wishes of every red-blood American teen into verse. The fast car. The most fun. I mean, has there ever been a more red-blooded American adolescent couplet than “We always take my car ‘cause it’s never been beaten – And we’ve never missed yet with the girls we meet?”

And then Brian Wilson gave it the soaring harmonies and staccato rhythms that took it from being an adolescent boast and made it a groundbreaking piece of pop culture.

“Memphis” by Johnny Rivers

We’ll be getting to the man who wrote this song – originally called “Memphis, Tennessee” – shortly. But for now, we’re looking at a cover by guitarist Johnny Rivers, who released his version – now just called “Memphis” - on one of his many live recordings from the Whiskey a Go Go nightclub. This was the first track off the first of those live albums. Later in that set, he would cover the likes of blues greats Rufus Thomas and Lloyd Price.

But to start things off, he did a Chuck Berry song. That’s a smart move. He opens with the stinging little guitar riff before twanging his way into the story about a broken family and a broken-hearted father. Rivers peppers the breaks with that guitar, and you can hear the crowd rocking along.

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