This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1963.
The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." It mainly consisted of material by songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, though the group also penned their own songs. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of embryonic electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. In addition, guitarist Ken Williams' and singer James Lowe's concept of "free-form garage music" provided the band with a richer sonic palette and exploratory lyrical structure than many of their contemporaries.
Latin American music has long influenced popular American music within the industry catch-all term "Latin music", especially jazz, rhythm and blues, and country music, even giving rise to unique US styles of music including salsa, New Mexico, Tejano, and Western. Fusion genres such as Chicano rock, Nuyorican rap, and Chicano rap have arisen from Latin communities within the United States. The genre of Latin American music includes music from Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) French-speaking countries and territories of Latin America. Although Latin American music has also been referred to as "Latin music", the American music industry defines Latin music as any release with lyrics mostly in Spanish regardless if the artist or music originates from Latin America or not.
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. is the fourth album by the Monkees. It was released on November 6, 1967, when the Monkees were exerting more control over their music and had started to play many of the instruments themselves, something that their record company had previously forbidden. However, though the group had full control over the album, they invited more contributions from outside songwriters than on their previous album, Headquarters, and used session musicians to complement their sound. The album also featured some of the earliest uses of the Moog synthesizer in popular music. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. sold more than three million copies and was also the band's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Dominick P. "Don" Costa was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including Sinatra and Strings and My Way.
Trinidad López III was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits included "Lemon Tree", "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl". He designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar Corporation, which are now collectors’ items.
Mickey Jones was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition with singer Kenny Rogers, and played on all of their albums. Overall, Jones played on 17 gold records from his musical career of over two decades.
Headquarters is the third album issued by the Monkees and the first with substantial songwriting and instrumental performances by members of the group itself, rather than by session musicians and professional songwriters. After a struggle for creative autonomy with their record label, the group had been allowed, to a degree, to record by themselves. Headquarters reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified double platinum in the United States with sales of more than two million copies within the first two months of release. It peaked at No. 2 on the UK charts. It is included in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
"Tammy" is a popular song with music by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. It was published in 1957 and made its debut in the film Tammy and the Bachelor. It was nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Original Song. "Tammy" is heard in the film in two versions. The one that became a number one hit single for Debbie Reynolds in 1957 is heard midway through the film, and was a UK No. 2 hit single in the same year. Another version was heard during the main titles at the beginning of the film and was a hit for the Ames Brothers. There have been several other cover versions of the song.
"You'll Never Know", sometimes referred to as "You'll Never Know " in later years, is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song is based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris.
"If I Had a Hammer " is a protest song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the Progressive movement, and was first recorded by the Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. It was a #10 hit for Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962 and then went to #3 a year later when recorded by Trini Lopez in 1963.
The Monkees Present is the Monkees' eighth album. It is the second Monkees album released after the departure of Peter Tork and the last to feature Michael Nesmith until 1996's Justus.
Instant Replay is the seventh studio album by the Monkees. Issued 11 months after the cancellation of the group's NBC television series, it is also the first album released after Peter Tork left the group and the only album of the original nine studio albums that does not include any songs featured in the TV show.
"Unchain My Heart" is a song written by Bobby Sharp and recorded first in 1961 by Ray Charles and in 1963 by Trini Lopez and later by many others. Sharp, a drug addict at the time, sold the song to Teddy Powell for $50. Powell demanded half the songwriting credit. Sharp later successfully fought for the rights to his song. In 1987, he was also able to renew the copyright for his publishing company, B. Sharp Music.
"Sweet Thing" or "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" is a suite of songs written by David Bowie for the album Diamond Dogs. Recorded in January 1974, the piece comprises the songs "Sweet Thing" and "Candidate" and a one-verse reprise of "Sweet Thing."
"Granada" is a song written in 1932 by Mexican composer Agustín Lara. The song is about the Spanish city of Granada and has become a standard in music repertoire.
Neil Young Archives Vol. 1: 1963–1972 is the first in a planned series of box sets of archival material by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. It was released on June 2, 2009, in three different formats - a set of 10 Blu-ray discs in order to present high resolution audio as well as accompanying visual documentation, a set of 10 DVDs and a more basic 8-CD set. Covering Young's early years with The Squires and Buffalo Springfield, it also includes various demos, outtakes and alternate versions of songs from his albums Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, and Harvest, as well as tracks he recorded with Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young during this time. Also included in the set are several live discs, as well as a copy of the long out-of-print film Journey Through the Past, directed by Young in the early 1970s.
Say No More is the sixth studio album by American country music singer Clay Walker. It was released on March 27, 2001, as his last studio album for the Giant Records label. After this album's release, Giant Records closed its doors. The album reached #129 on the Billboard album charts. The album's two singles were its title track and "If You Ever Feel Like Loving Me Again", both of which were minor Top 40 hits on the Hot Country Songs charts. In addition to these singles, the album features a cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba".
The Complete Global Albums Collection is a 13-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2014 by Legacy Recordings. It includes the 11 studio albums recorded by Mathis's own production company, Global Records, and originally distributed by Mercury Records between 1963 and 1966, as well as 31 additional tracks, 16 of which were being made available for the first time.
The Searchers 30th Anniversary Collection 1962–1992 is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band The Searchers released by Sequel Records. This collection including all of their A-sides released on Pye Records, nearly all B-sides and many of their album tracks. The third disc featured rarities, plus previously unreleased material intended for unfinished LP from 1983.
