1960s

ARCHIVE

FEATURE

The alternative pop anthem that defined the 1960s: The Kinks’ Shangri-La

From the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love to Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin', the era-defining songs of the 1960s tended to focus on the counterculture. But the Kinks’ miniature pop symphony Shangri-La did so much more. David Rea celebrates one of Ray Davies’ masterpieces..

17 April 2026

FEATURE

John and Yoko’s bed-in: The forgotten song they recorded after the cameras left

by David Rea

11 April 2026

INTERVIEW

‘There are many Bob Dylans but there's only one Lou Reed’: Emma Swift on her album of Lou Reed covers

In 2020, Emma Swift’s album of Bob Dylan covers, Blonde on the Tracks, brought her widespread acclaim and a new audience. Currently in the midst of making an album of Lou Reed covers, she talks to State of Sound about searching for the real Lou Reed, and what it was like trying on his leather pants.

21 March, 2026

ESSAY

‘Please Please Me’: How the Beatles sang about sex and got away with it

The Beatles could only break America by conforming to its prudish sexual attitudes. But did Lennon and McCartney have the last laugh?

By David Rea

28 February 2026

RANKING

Bob Dylan's greatest love songs, ranked!

Bob Dylan's name is rarely mentioned in the pantheon of the greatest writers of love songs. But our list of his best makes the case he should be.

By David Rea

28 February 2026

THE STATE OF SOUND INTERVIEW

‘Pete Townshend had us running around spinning the speakers’

On the release of the Bookshop Bands’ new EP Oz Sucks, Ben Please talks about the creative chaos of working with Pete Townshend.

21 February 2026

NICK DRAKE

THE REMAKING OF NICK DRAKE: Is the complex artist finally stepping out from behind the ‘doomed genius’?

The new box set The Making of Five Leaves Left illuminates a focused and forthright artist at his genesis, and further undermines the idea he was an isolated, haunted romantic.

by David Rea

25 October 2025

A young man with shoulder-length hair dressed in a black blazer and light shirt, standing against a brick wall, looking to the side.

BOB DYLAN

DYLAN AT THE CROSSROADS: How Bob Dylan's first single almost changed everything

Dylan's latest Bootleg Series instalment, Through the Open Window, traces his arc from teenage rock 'n' roller to folk star. But had his first single ‘Mixed-Up Confusion’ been a hit, things could have been very different. David Rea tells the story of what might have been.

by David Rea

22 November 2025

Black and white close-up of a young man with short, tousled hair looking slightly upwards with a contemplative expression.

MAKING A MASTERPIECE

‘It took a unique kind of courage’: how Son House beat the odds to make a masterpiece

On the 60th anniversary of its original release, we look at how Son House made Father of Folk Blues for white America.

By David Rea

18 October 2025

Album cover titled 'Son House: The Legendary Father of Folk Blues' featuring a black and white photograph of Son House playing an acoustic guitar, dressed in a light-colored shirt with a dark bow tie.

ESSAY

‘The Sixties are our heritage’: How the Jam invented Britpop’s ethos

Critics couldn't take the Jam seriously at first, claiming they were just a bunch of gimmicks. But their ‘hail your heroes’ ethos was entirely authentic, setting the blueprint for Britpop two decades later.

by David Rea

20 September 2025

Three men sitting at a restaurant table, drinking tea or coffee, with condiments and utensils on the table.