The British Invasion - Full circle

The British Invasion- Full Circle

Back in the early sixties, just when I was really into the Beach Boys, the British arrived, in force: The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits, just to name a few. I got into their music to some extent as they began to eclipse most American musicians and dominate the AM airwaves for several years. Heck, in 1963, when I was 9 years old, I had no idea who Carl Perkins was when I saw his name beside the Beatles' cover of "Matchbox."

Today as I survey the music scene in Europe it strikes me how much has changed. For while the the earlier British groups fed on rockabilly and American roots music to later evolve their own styles, many of today's European and Australian players have actually migrated back to that same rockabilly/roots period and embraced it whole-clothe. A precursory survey of the proliferation of "indie" groups from Europe and and Canada tends to confirm this phenomena. I find the full circle return to be long overdue and at its core a resounding affirmation of the power of American roots music that crystallized here in the 1950s. Long live the power of music from that period.