Although music fans didn’t know it at the time, the year 1960 was the start of a new era in rock music. Leaving the noteworthy sounds of the 1950s behind, the year 1960 became the beginning of a new chapter in rock music. With that in mind, these are three of the best rock songs that came out in 1960, which still make me smile when I hear them today.
“Fame And Fortune” by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley’s “Fame And Fortune” is on his Elvis’ Golden Records album. Written by Fred Wise and Ben Weisman, “Fame And Fortune” became a Top 20 single for Presley.
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A reminder of what is and isn’t important, “Fame And Fortune” starts with, “Fame and fortune / How empty they can be / But when I hold you in my arms / That’s heaven to me.”
Presley actually had numerous hits in 1960, including “Stuck On You”, “It’s Now Or Never’, and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”, which were all No. 1 singles for him. Another song, “I Gotta Know”, also hit the Top 20.
“Cradle Of Love” by Johnny Preston
“Cradle Of Love” is Johnny Preston’s second single. The Top 10 hit, written by Jack Fautheree and Wayne Gray, is part of Come Rock With Me, Preston’s second and final album.
The feel-good song uses lines from several different nursery rhymes. The song says in part, “Well Jack be nimble Jack be quick / Jack jumped over the candlestick / He jumped so high up above / He landed in the cradle of love.”
This is Preston’s final Top 10 single. He followed “Cradle Of Love” with “Feel So Fine”. That song remains his last charting single at radio.
“Cathy’s Clown” by The Everly Brothers
A No. 1 single for The Everly Brothers, “Cathy’s Clown” is on their A Date With The Everly Brothers record. The song was written by duo member Don Everly.
“Cathy’s Clown” is actually a sad song about someone who is hanging on for dear life to a relationship that is ending. Still, with The Everly Brothers’ tight harmonies, along with the nostalgic feel of “Cathy’s Clown”, the song still becomes an almost instant mood-booster.
“Cathy’s Clown” says, “Don’t want your love anymore / Don’t want your kisses, that’s for sure / I die each time / I hear this sound / ‘Here he comes / That’s Cathy’s clown.’”
In 1989, Reba McEntire had a No. 1 single with this song.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Marvin Gaye, 1970. (Photo by Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images) -
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Stealers Wheel, Amsterdam Netherlands, 1973, (Photo Gijsbert Hanekroot, Amsterdam) -
c. 1978 Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page performing. -
(L-R) Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Don Felder of the rock band "Eagles" performing onstage in 1980. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images) A portrait photoshoot with The Police in the Kurashiki Bikan historical quarter in Japan, 30th January 1981. L-R Andy Summers, Sting, Stewart Copeland. (Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
