100 years, 100 moments: How women shaped a century of music

To commemorate Women’s History Month, World Cafe is looking back on a century’s worth of music history. Every week in March, we’re pinpointing distinct moments of every year from the past 100 years, a quarter century at a time.

Last week, we explored 1925 to 1949. Today, we’re digging into moments from 1950 to 1974: The golden age of rock and roll, the civil rights movement of the ’60s and the birth of electronic music.

While the previous 25 years exploring the early 20th century included names that may not be immediately recognizable today, this chunk of history is brimming with women whose work continues to serve as an immediate blueprint for musicians.

It’s a generation’s worth of star-making debuts, unforgettable voices and record-setting moments, some of which continue to hold up today.

1950: Influenced by the racism she experienced touring in the South, Clara Ward composes the gospel hymn “How I Got Over.” It’ll become one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time, and in 13 years, Mahalia Jackson‘s rendition — performed during the March on Washington — will help galvanize the civil rights movement.

1951: Esther Phillips, as Little Esther, records a string of songs, including “The Deacon Moves In” with the Dominoes. In 2023, she will be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

1952: Nashville native Kitty Wells releases “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” The song tops Billboard’s country chart, making Wells the first solo woman artist to achieve the feat. Wells’ retribution of unfaithful men, an uncommon lyrical theme during this era, will become a classic trope in country music.

Big Mama Thornton | courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

1953: Big Mama Thornton releases her hit record, “Hound Dog.” The blues song, rife with tongue-in-cheek sexuality, will sell over half a million copies. Two years later, a version with sanitized lyrics is released by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. Soon after, Elvis Presley will rework the Bell cover, and his version will ultimately sell over 10 million copies.

1954: Peruvian vocalist Yma Sumac, a pioneer of world music, releases “Malambo No. 1,” showcasing her incredible five-octave range.

1955: Etta James releases her debut single, called “The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry).” The Los Angeles-born contralto will help create a bridge between classic R&B and rock and roll.

1956: French singer and actress Dalida releases her debut single, “Bambino.” The song will become the longest-running No. 1 song in world history, spending 45 weeks on top of the French song charts.

1957: Patsy Cline performs “Walkin’ After Midnight” on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. It’ll become Cline’s first hit, and she will eventually be the first woman inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1958: The Shirelles & the birth of the “girl group”

On Feb. 7, 1958, a quartet of schoolgirls from Passaic, N.J. — named Shirley Owens, Addie Harris, Beverly Lee and Doris Coley — stepped into a recording studio to cut a doo-wop-inspired song called “I Met Him on a Sunday” they’d originally written for a school talent show.

A moderate success, the song piqued the interest of record labels, but The Shirelles would struggle to gain momentum after releasing a string of middling singles. For a time, the girls performed on the Chitlin’ Circuit alongside Etta James and Ruth Brown.

Then, in 1960, the quartet would reluctantly record a song penned by a young songwriting duo named Gerry Goffin and Carole King. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” would eventually top the charts, making The Shirelles the first African American girl group to achieve the feat.

Their configuration as a quartet of four young girls would become a blueprint that has been imitated without end since The Shirelles debuted. Their tight harmonies and straightforward lyrics would also inform The Beatles’ early work, particularly their debut album, Please Please Me.

1959: At the inaugural Newport Folk Festival, musician Bob Gibson brings out a surprise guest during his set: 18-year-old Joan Baez lends her voice to a spirited performance of “We Are Crossing Jordan River.” She will release her self-titled debut album the next year.

1960: Mississippi-born Leontyne Price becomes the first African American performer to sing a lead role at La Scala, a historic opera house in Milan. A year later, Price will debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Judy Garland performing at Carnegie Hall in 1961. | courtesy of Carnegie Hall

1961: Following medical treatment for severe health issues, Judy Garland returns to the stage in a tour showcasing her vocal prowess sans vaudeville acts. Her concert at Carnegie Hall on July 10, 1961, is recorded live, and the subsequent live album will earn Garland the Grammy Award for album of the year — the first woman to receive the recognition.

1962: Little Eva records “The Loco-Motion,” also written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue will also record successful versions of the song.

1965: The Supremes release “Back in My Arms Again.” The song will become their fifth consecutive No. 1 hit. Their unprecedented success, spearheaded by front woman Diana Ross, will pave the way for future generations of R&B, pop and soul acts.

1966: Moved to tears by a performance of “lo che non vivo (senza te)” at the Sanremo Festival in Italy, Dusty Springfield records an English-language version of the song. “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” will become the English singer’s biggest hit.

1967: Aretha Franklin records her arrangement of Otis Redding’s “Respect” on Valentine’s Day. The song becomes an anthem for the civil rights movement, and it will help transform Franklin into an international star. More than 50 years later, Rolling Stone will name it the “greatest song of all time.”

1968: Wendy Carlos opens the door to electronic music

In October of 1968, a musician from Rhode Island named Wendy Carlos releases her debut album, Switched-On Bach, which she records using a novel electronic instrument called a Moog synthesizer.

Several years prior, Carlos had met engineer Robert Moog at an audio conference, and the two struck up a partnership. Carlos, a trained musician who had studied electronic music at Columbia University, gave Moog critical input as he perfected what would become the first commercial electronic keyboard.

At the behest of her collaborator and producer, Rachel Elkind, Carlos opted to record popular compositions by Bach for her debut album, rather than her own pieces. Columbia Records did not expect much out of the album, but it was a massive hit. Switched-On Bach eventually sells over a million copies, and it earns Carlos three Grammy Awards. Despite the album’s success, Carlos pulls away from the spotlight, fearing for her well-being as she navigates her gender-affirming process. Carlos will come out as transgender more than a decade after the release of Switched-On Bach.

Later, Carlos will score two Stanley Kubrick films: A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. Her use of the synthesizer will also inspire an Italian producer named Giorgio Moroder to incorporate it into his music.

On top of her pioneering work on her debut album, Carlos will also combine the Moog synth with field recordings to create minimal, atmospheric soundscapes on her 1972 album, Sonic Seasonings. Six years later, Brian Eno will release an album of minimal, atmospheric soundscapes, and he will coin the term “ambient music.” Critics will deem Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airportsthe “greatest ambient album of all time.”

1969: Nina Simone debuts “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” at the Harlem Cultural Festival. It will become one of the musician’s most enduring songs.

1970: Zoologist and bio-acoustician Katherine Payne, alongside her husband Roger Payne, will release an album of humpback whale sounds recorded off the coast of Bermuda. Songs of the Humpback Whale will become the best-selling nature recording in history. It’s success will help spark the “Save The Whales” movement that was popularized in the ’70s.

1971: Janis Joplin‘s final solo album is released, just three months after the Texas singer-songwriter’s untimely death at the age of 27. Pearl will eventually be certified quadruple platinum.

1972: Carole King wins four Grammy Awards for her second solo album, Tapestry, including album of the year, song of the year and record of the year. The New York songwriter’s album will become one of the best-selling records of all time.

1973: Dolly Parton strikes out on her own

On June 12, 1973, a 27-year-old singer-songwriter from Tennessee named Dolly Parton will record a new song after deciding to split from her longtime collaborator and mentor, Porter Wagoner.

“I Will Always Love You” will reach the top of Billboard’s country chart the next year, when Parton rerecords it for her album, Jolene. Noting the single’s success, Elvis Presley expresses interest in recording the song. After careful consideration, Parton hesitantly declines Presley’s request because his team asks for Parton to sign over half of the song’s publishing rights.

Eighteen years later, Whitney Houston will record a new arrangement of Parton’s song; it will become the best-selling single by a woman artist of all time. Parton will eventually earn upwards of $10 million in songwriting royalties.

1974: The Patti Smith Group records their first single, “Hey Joe.” The 28-year-old Chicagoan will incorporate a spoken word piece about Patty Hearst, transforming the rock standard into a proto-punk track. A year later, Smith will release her debut album, Horses.