You Might Be Surprised How These '60s Bands Got Their Names
What's in a name?
Since the dawn of time, rock bands have been giving themselves really stupid names. This was especially true in the 1960s when anyone with 20 hits of acid and a thesaurus could name a band whatever they wanted.
Gathered here are 10 bands from that legendary era and the stories behind their names. While not all of them are as inspired as Evil Edna’s Horror Toilet, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, or the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, some suggest that, at the very least, the band meeting at which a name was chosen should have been extended for at least another five minutes.
1. Mungo Jerry
In the 1960s, a British group called Mungo Jerry brought jug band music to the masses with their hit single “In the Summertime.” The name came from T. S. Eliot’s 1939 collection “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” which contained nothing but poems about kitties. "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" was one of them.
2. The Doors
There are many people out there who think that rock musicians are nothing more than drunk, overpaid illiterates. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the Doors of "Light My Fire" fame proved with their band name that they were not illiterates. The name came from William Blake's book, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," which states, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.” So whatever else you want to say about them, they could read!
3. Cream
Cream consisted of guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker. Never ones for false modesty, they called themselves Cream because each member was considered the best in the world at his chosen instrument, which the musicians apparently believed to be true.
4. Pink Floyd
There’s no crazy story here. Pink Floyd got their name by combining the first names of blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. If there were more to it than that, we would tell you.
5. The Who
The Who started as the Detours, but when they found out there was already another band by that name, they set about finding a new one. According to Who guitarist Pete Townshend’s memoir, “Who I Am,” he wanted the group to call itself the Hair, but on Valentine’s Day of 1964, he relented, and the band settled on the Who.
6. Led Zeppelin
Speaking of the Who, their legendary drummer Keith Moon is credited with this one. He told Zep guitarist Jimmy Page that his new group would go over like the world's largest lead balloon, a lead zeppelin. The spelling was changed from “lead” to “led” specifically so Americans would pronounce it correctly. We resent that.
7. The Velvet Underground
The members of the Velvet Underground shared a loft in their early days, and during that time, they had no name for their band. The legend goes that a friend of the group came to their loft with a book he had found on the street, Michael Leigh’s “The Velvet Underground,” a detailed exposé about paraphilia. We cannot define “paraphilia” in this family-friendly publication, but we encourage you to look it up.
8. Buffalo Springfield
Before he became a successful solo act, Neil Young was a member of the folk-rock group Buffalo Springfield alongside Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The band got its name when Stills and bandmate Richie Furay stayed at a friend's house with a steamroller parked outside. The piece of heavy equipment bore the words "Buffalo Springfield Roller Company” on the side.
9. The Monkees
When the Beatles were together, it’s not an exaggeration to say that every other band emulated them right down to the most minute detail. This included taking the name of an animal for one’s band and then spelling it wrong. In his 1987 memoir, “They Made a Monkee Out of Me,” Davy Jones recalled that their name came from a band meeting in which the members were trying out lots of different misspelled animal names until someone suggested “monkey.” The rest is history.
10. Procol Harum
Procol Harum of “A Whiter Shade of Pale” fame got their name from British nightclub disc jockey Guy Stevens. It was a misspelling of the Latin phrase procol harun, which means “far beyond these things.” Oh, and off-topic, but Procol Harum made a bunch of great music beyond “A Whiter Shade of Pale” that you should go check out immediately, such as the album “A Salty Dog.”
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
