Wake Me, Shake Me
New York City, the '60s & the Pop-Rock Youthquake
Mitchell Cohen
available September 1st
New York City in the 1960s was a musical melting pot, in which folk, R&B, rock and roll, blues, girl groups and Brill Building pop produced a wealth of great artists and records. This book tells their story.
Using new interviews with artists and music business professionals as well as extensive archival research, Mitchell Cohen charts the course from doo wop to girl groups to folk music to R&B to folk-rock to baroque rock to goodtime music with some of the city’s leading stars: The Lovin Spoonful, The Rascals, the Blues Project, Vanilla Fudge, the Shangri-Las, Simon & Garfunkel, Laura Nyro, Bob Dylan, Bobby Darin and Dion. All of them make appearances in this fascinating history.
He fleshes out the story with details about the songwriters, producers, record labels, TV shows and radio stars who all played roles in creating and popularizing the music. So Carole King, Phil Spector, Morris Levy, Alan Freed, Clive Davis, Leiber and Stoller. Mitch Miller, Murray the K and many other colorful characters figure into it. So do:
dance crazes like the twist
hit records by ghost groups of studio musicians like the Detergents
overlooked greats like the Vagrants (with Leslie West) and the Flying Machine (with James Taylor)
TV shows like Hullabaloo and ShindigFuture Starsky and Hutch star David Soul promoting himself as the masked “Covered Man” on the Merv Griffin Show
The Woodstock festival (which Cohen attended)
Sun Ra recording an album of Batman and Robin songs
a nightclub presenting live gospel music in an atmosphere Cohen calls “more Playboy Club than Baptist church.”
Includes lists of 100 recommended albums and 100 45s from the ’60s.
paperback $23.95 ISBN 979-8-9990487-4-5
eBook $8.95 ISBN 979-8-9990487-6-9
“It was such an exciting time for music, and Mitchell brings it vividly to life.” —Clive Davis. author of The Soundtrack of My Life
“Mitchell Cohen connects the dots from the perspective of a true believer in rock and roll … Wake Me, Shake Me is music history told with much insight and detail.” —Dion DiMucci, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and author of Dion: The Rock and Roll Philosopher
“Cohen puts a decade of profound musical change into celebratory perspective … A bravura accomplishment.” —Lenny Kaye, rock guitarist and author of Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock & Roll
“Cohen writes about the breadth of New York’s music with all the noise, animation and attitude of the city itself.” —Jim Farber, music journalist (New York Times, The Guardian)
“Cohen conjures the hustle, magic and ecstasy of Gotham’s groove during one of its most happening eras with a helping of context that makes it all come alive.” —Dennis Diken of the Smithereens
“A wonderful love letter to the chaos, craft and blind faith behind the music of ‘60s New York.” —Sam Hollander, songwriter and author of 21-Hit Wonder: Flopping My Way to the Top of the Charts
“…the definitive book on the ’60s music business.” —Dennis Lambert, songwriter (“Nightshift,” “Don’t Pull Your Love”) and producer (Righteous Brothers, Dusty Springfield, Glen Campbell)
