Editing Garage rock (section)

==1958–1964: Origins==
===Regional rock & roll, instrumental, and surf===
{{See also|Rock and roll|Rhythm and blues|Surf rock|Instrumental rock}}

In the late 1950s, the initial impact of [[rock and roll]] on mainstream American culture waned as major record companies took a controlling influence and sought to market more conventionally acceptable recordings.{{sfn|Morrison|2005|pp=383–342}} Electric musical instruments (particularly guitars) and amplification were becoming more affordable, allowing young musicians to form small groups to perform in front of local audiences of their peers; and in some areas there was a breakdown, especially among radio audiences, of traditional black and white markets, with more white teenagers listening to and purchasing [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] records.

Numerous young people were inspired by musicians such as [[Chuck Berry]],{{sfn|Roller|2013|p=15}} [[Little Richard]],{{sfn|Blecha|2007|p=59}} [[Bo Diddley]],{{sfn|Blecha|2007|p=59}} [[Jerry Lee Lewis]],{{sfn|Roller|2013|p=15}} [[Buddy Holly]],{{sfn|Roller|2013|p=115}} and [[Eddie Cochran]],{{sfn|Markesich|2012|p=10}} whose recordings of relatively unsophisticated and hard-driving songs from a few years earlier{{sfn|Roller|2013|p=15}} proclaimed personal independence and freedom from parental controls and conservative norms.{{sfn|Gilmore|1990}} [[Ritchie Valens]]' 1958 hit "[[La Bamba (song)|La Bamba]]" helped jump-start the [[Chicano rock]] scene in Southern California and provided a [[Three-chord song|three-chord]] template for the songs of numerous 1960s garage bands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ritchie Valens Biography|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ritchie-valens|access-date=August 23, 2016|archive-date=August 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820161007/https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ritchie-valens|url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of the 1950s regional scenes were abundant around the country and helped set the stage for garage rock the 1960s.{{sfn|Shaw|1998|pp=18–19}}

[[File:Link Wray - 3-8-03 Photo by Anthony Pepitone.jpg|thumb|left|[[Link Wray]], pictured in 1993, who helped pioneer the use of guitar power chords and distortion as early as 1958 with the instrumental, "[[Rumble (instrumental)|Rumble]]", has been cited as an early influence on garage rock.]]
Guitarist [[Link Wray]] has been cited as an early influence on garage rock and is known for his innovative use of guitar techniques and effects such as power chords and distortion.{{sfn|Hicks|1999|pp=17, 21}}  He is best known for his 1958 instrumental "[[Rumble (instrumental)|Rumble]]", which featured the sound of distorted, "clanging" guitar chords, which anticipated much of what was to come.{{sfn|Hicks|1999|p=17}}  The combined influences of early-1960s [[instrumental rock]] and [[surf rock]] also played significant roles in shaping the sound of garage rock.{{sfn|Markesich|2012|pp=10, 12}}{{sfn|Shaw|1998|pp=18–19}} 
{{listen|pos=right
|filename=Let's Dance - Chris Montez.ogg|title=Chris Montez — "Let's Dance" (1962)
|description=  The 1962 hit "[[Let's Dance (Chris Montez song)|Let's Dance]]" by [[Chris Montez]], with its use of "cheesy"-sounding Farfisa organ riffs and banging drums,{{sfn|Whiteside|2015}} featured stylistic elements that anticipate the garage sound.<ref>{{cite web|last=Viglione|first=Joe|title=Chris Montez: The More I See You/Call Me|website=AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-more-i-see-you-call-me-mw0000710732|access-date=April 3, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603030414/http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-more-i-see-you-call-me-mw0000710732|archive-date=June 3, 2013}}</ref>}}

According to [[Lester Bangs]], "the origins of garage rock as a genre can be traced to California and the Pacific Northwest in the early Sixties".{{sfn|Bangs|1981|pp=261–264}} The [[Pacific Northwest]], which encompasses [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Oregon]], and [[Idaho]], played a critical role in the inception of garage rock, hosting the first scene to produce a sizable number of acts, and pre-dated the [[British Invasion]] by several years.  The signature garage sound that eventually emerged in the Pacific Northwest is sometimes referred to as "the Northwest Sound" and had its origins in the late 1950s, when a handful of R&B and rock & roll acts sprang up in various cities and towns in an area stretching from Puget Sound to Seattle and Tacoma, and beyond.{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=6, 26, 159–160}}

There and elsewhere, groups of teenagers were inspired directly by touring [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] performers such as [[Johnny Otis]] and [[Richard Berry (musician)|Richard Berry]], and began to play [[cover version]]s of R&B songs.{{sfn|Blecha|2009|p=1}}  During the late 1950s and early 1960s other instrumental groups playing in the region, such as [[the Ventures]], formed in 1958 in [[Tacoma, Washington]], who came to specialize in a surf rock sound,{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=98–99}} and [[The Frantics (Seattle, Washington)|the Frantics]] from Seattle.<ref>{{cite web|last=Planer|first=Lindsay|title=The Frantics: The Complete Frantics on Dolton (Review)|website=AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-frantics-on-dolton-mw0000142891|access-date=June 1, 2016|archive-date=September 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928012346/http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-frantics-on-dolton-mw0000142891|url-status=live}}</ref> The Blue Notes from Tacoma, Washington, fronted by [[Rockin' Robin Roberts|"Rockin' Robin" Roberts]], were one of the city's first teenage rock & roll bands.{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=28–33}} [[The Fabulous Wailers|The Wailers]] (often referred to as the Fabulous Wailers) had a national chart hit in 1959, the instrumental "Tall Cool One".{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=23, 26, 35–37, 64–65, 67–68}}  After the demise of the Blue Notes, "Rockin' Robin" did a brief stint with the Wailers, and with him on vocals in 1962, they recorded a version of Richard Berry's 1957 song "[[Louie Louie]]"—their arrangement became the much-replicated blueprint for practically every band in the region,{{sfnm|1a1=Blecha|1y=2009|1pp=78–85, 90, 109–116, 138–140, 189–190|2a1=Morrison|2y=2005|2pp=838–842}} including Portland's [[the Kingsmen]] who went on to achieve a major hit with it the following year.{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=119, 135–138}}

Other regional scenes of teenage bands playing R&B-oriented rock were well-established in the early 1960s, several years before the [[British Invasion]], in places such as [[Texas]] and the [[Midwest]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hicks|1y=1999|1p=24|2a1=Roller|2y=2013|2pp=22–29}}  At the same time, in [[Southern California]] surf bands formed, playing raucous guitar- and saxophone-driven instrumentals.{{sfn|Bangs|1981|pp=261–264}}  Writer Neil Campbell commented: "There were literally thousands of rough-and-ready groups performing in local bars and dance halls throughout the US ''prior'' to the arrival of the Beatles&nbsp;... [T]he indigenous popular music which functioned in this way&nbsp;... was the proto-punk more commonly identified as ''garage rock''".{{sfn|Campbell|2004|page=213}}

===Frat rock and initial commercial success===
{{listen|pos=right
|filename=Louie Louie - Kingsmen.ogg|title=The Kingsmen – "Louie, Louie" (1963)
|description= "[[Louie, Louie]]" was written by [[Richard Berry (musician)|Richard Berry]] and provided a major hit for [[the Kingsmen]].{{sfn|Pareles|1997}} }}

As a result of cross-pollination between surf rock, hot rod music, and other influences, a new style of rock sometimes referred to as ''frat rock'' emerged, which has been mentioned as an early subgenre of garage rock.{{sfnm|1a1=Markesich|1y=2012|1pp=10–12|2a1=Shaw|2y=1998|2pp=18–19}}  [[The Kingsmen]]'s 1963 off-the-cuff version of "Louie Louie"<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/25/arts/richard-berry-songwriter-of-louie-louie-dies-at-61.html Songwriter of Louie Louie dies ] Retrieved 07 April 2022</ref> became the de facto "big bang" for three-chord rock, starting as a regional hit in Seattle, then rising to No.&nbsp;1 on the national charts and eventually becoming a major success overseas.{{sfnm|1a1=Bangs|1y=1981|1pp=261–264|2a1=Blecha|2y=2009|2pp=119, 135–138}}  The group unwittingly became the target of an [[FBI]] investigation in response to complaints about the song's alleged use of profanity in its nearly indecipherable lyrics.{{sfn|Blecha|2009|pp=133–138, 151–155}}

Though often associated with Pacific Northwest acts such as the Kingsmen, frat rock also thrived elsewhere.{{sfn|Shaw|1998|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Sabin|1999|p=159}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Frat Rock|website=AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/frat-rock-ma0000012307|access-date=July 12, 2015|archive-date=September 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915103642/http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/frat-rock-ma0000012307|url-status=live}}</ref>  In 1963, singles by several regional bands from other parts of the United States began appearing on the national charts, including "[[Surfin' Bird]]" by [[the Trashmen]] from Minneapolis,{{sfn|Austen|2005|p=19}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|author-link=Richie Unterberger|title=The Trashmen|website=AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-astronauts-p15514/biography|access-date=July 17, 2016|archive-date=November 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112180104/http://allmusic.com/artist/the-astronauts-p15514/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> which essentially fused together parts from two songs previously recorded by [[the Rivingtons]], "[[Surfin' Bird|The Bird is the Word]]" and "[[Papa Oom Mow Mow]]".{{sfn|Markesich|2012|p=10}}  "[[California Sun]]" by [[the Rivieras]], from South Bend, Indiana followed, becoming a hit in early 1964.{{sfn|Waksman|2009|p=116}}  Frat rock persisted into the mid-1960s with acts such as [[the Swingin' Medallions]], who had a top twenty hit with "[[Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)]]" in 1966.<ref name="Swing. Med. (Hamilton)">{{cite web |last1=Hamilton |first1=Andrew |title=The Swingin' Medallions |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-swingin-medallions-mn0000037645/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=December 15, 2019 |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215074008/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-swingin-medallions-mn0000037645/biography |url-status=live }}</ref>