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Cage The Elephant - Trouble

Great Britain in the late 1950s did not enjoy the variety of radio and television available in the United States. The BBC controlled virtually all broadcast entertainment in the United Kingdom. Popular music was heard only on a portion of broadcasting known as the Light Programme, which ceased broadcasting at midnight every day, and in any case, carried other presentations besides music. When the Beatles first arrived in America in 1964, they all expressed astonishment at the wide selection of radio stations and the programs they offered, which were still not available in Britain.

The ports were how American music gained a foothold in Great Britain, through the records which were brought in, both legally and illegally, from overseas. Listening to the music from the records, rather than occasional play on the radio, allowed the listeners to parse them carefully. British musicians learned to play the sounds from America, often modifying them to allow use of available instruments. Different sounds developed in Great Britain, sourced from the same American records. In London, Manchester, Tottenham, Liverpool, and other cities, distinctly different styles of British music were derived from the works of... other American performers.

British record producers and music entrepreneurs, aware of the record sales of American rock and roll acts, made several attempts to create home grown British competition. For the most part, they were unsuccessful... their success was not repeated in the United States, and they received little regard in Europe, including Germany, where American rock and roll was well received. They were pale limitations of their American counterparts. There were of course some exceptions, but they were relatively few.

Billy Fury was one, who mimicked the rockabilly style on Sound and Fury in 1960 with some success... A true British rock and roll star was Johnny Kidd, who with his group the Pirates recorded Shakin’ all Over, which continued to be covered by American and British bands for decades. Beginning in the early 1960s, British rock and roll ebbed, replaced by development of beat music in the north, and rhythm and blues in London and Manchester.


Cage The Elephant - Trouble
  • Released on: April 26, 2016
  • Genre: Dream folk, psychedelic pop
  • Written by: Dan Auerbach

"Cage The Elephant currently consists of Matt Shultz, vocals, his older brother Brad Shultz, rhythm guitar, Nick Bockrath, lead guitar, Matthan Minster, guitar, keyboards, Daniel Tichenor, bass, and Jared Champion, drums."

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