Introduction to “Tell It Like It Was”
Excitations and good vibrations about the music of the ’60s
TELL IT LIKE IT WAS is a publication about the music and records of the not-too-distant past. It focuses on the rock & roll, soul, and related pop music of the ’60s. That was the time when the true classics of these genres were conceived, composed, and recorded — years before the term classic rock was coined to sell the music from the lachrymose ’70s and ’80s.
The ’60s were a time when AM radio’s Top 40 had a fairly relaxed format and any type of music could be played: rock, soul, folk, country, pop, even bloody novelty records! It was the period when the people who bought mono 45s graduated to buying stereo LPs, often buying both formats. And for the most part, the music that sold the most singles sold the most albums.
My name is Neal Umphred and I am your host. If my name rings any bells, it’s because I am the author of the original line of Goldmine price guides for record collectors published way back in the 1980s and ’90s. But you can relax — this publication is not about collecting records and it’s not for record collectors.
It’s for you!
In the ’60s, black Americans used “Tell it like it is!” as a byword for confronting the…
