They say about New York City: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

The definition of “making it” is broad and varies for different individuals, but one undeniable truth about New York is that people from diverse backgrounds have always flocked to it in search of something better and more authentic. (Full disclosure: this writer is one of them.) For decades, it has served as a beacon for immigrants, writers, artists, actors, activists, entrepreneurs, and dreamers seeking a greater version of their lives, whatever that may mean to them.

As John Lennon, who moved to NYC in the summer of 1971 to escape the pressures of his high-profile existence, once said: “I can be a human being in New York which I can’t be in many other cities.”

The ’60s were particularly a time of significant artistic growth in New York. Creative individuals from all over the world traveled there to stake their claim. Some stayed for decades, while others moved on within a few years. Many hailed from New York City itself and found their own backyard to be the perfect place to launch a career in the arts.

Numerous books have been written about this era of New York City‘s history, including those focusing on the musicians who impacted both local communities and national stages. Below, we present the individuals we consider to be the “Big 4,” an exclusive group without whom the musical landscape of New York City would not have been the same.

1. Carole King

One of the most important musical institutions in America is the Brill Building, located at Broadway and 49th Street in Midtown Manhattan. In the early ’60s, it was the epicenter for hit songwriting, and Carole King, a native New Yorker, was one of its brightest stars.

Often collaborating with her lyricist husband Gerry Goffin, King wrote countless hits for some of the top acts of the day. To name just a few: “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (The Shirelles, 1960), “The Loco-Motion” (Little Eva, 1962), “Up on the Roof” (The Drifters, 1962), “One Fine Day” (The Chiffons, 1963), and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin, 1967). (Below is “It Might as Well Rain Until September,” a hit song King recorded herself in 1962.)

“Every day we squeezed into our respective cubby holes with just enough room for a piano, a bench, and maybe a chair for the lyricist if you were lucky,” King later recalled in Simon Frith’s book The Sociology of Rock (via The Guardian). “You’d sit there and write and you could hear someone in the next cubby hole composing a song exactly like yours. The pressure in the Brill Building was really terrific—because Donny [Kirshner] would play one songwriter against another. He’d say: ‘We need a new smash hit’—and we’d all go back and write a song and the next day we’d each audition for Bobby Vee’s producer.”

This was an era when women still did not have full access to the same financial rights as men, much less held jobs in prestigious environments like a writer’s room in the Brill Building. King easily disproved any preconception that women were best suited only for performance and incapable of writing successful songs. If a Billboard hit emerged from New York City in the ’60s, there was a high likelihood that King was its writer.

2. Bob Dylan

If there was one person who practically embodied the musical world of New York City in the 1960s, it was Bob Dylan. He arrived in January of 1961 as a baby-faced, 19-year-old, unsure of what would unfold.

At that time, Dylan primarily sang old folk songs or songs not written by himself. This was not unusual as many other folk singers roamed around Greenwich Village, performing traditional tunes in coffee houses while trying to earn enough money for rent and food. Among them were Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Peter Paul & Mary, and many more. However, it did not take long for Dylan to emerge as possibly the most unique figure among them all. He began writing his own songs, drawing inspiration from folk legends like Woody Guthrie and writers like French Symbolist Arthur Rimbaud, as well as from the vibrant atmosphere of New York City and the shadow of the ongoing civil rights movement. (Many of Dylan’s early songs highlighted hate crimes against Black people; he performed at the March on Washington in 1963.)

“Mr. Dylan’s highly personalized approach toward folk song is still evolving,” Robert Shelton of The New York Times remarked about Dylan in a 1961 article. “He has been sopping up influences like a sponge. At times, the drama he aims at is off-target melodrama and his stylization threatens to topple over into mannered excess. But if not for every taste, his music-making has originality and inspiration that are all the more noteworthy for his youth. Mr. Dylan is vague about his antecedents and birthplace; however, it matters less where he has been than where he is going—and that seems to be straight up.”

Dylan left New York before the decade ended, but his image still decorates various West Village venues and his impact remains strong. In no time at all, he embodied an incredibly crucial theme of ’60s New York: past and future go hand in hand.

3. Simon & Garfunkel

The meeting of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel was purely fate—they met as schoolchildren in Queens where they first learned to harmonize. Within ten years, they released their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which was commercially unsuccessful at that time but would eventually gain recognition.

A year after that album’s release in 1965, a remixed version of one of its songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Sound of Silence,” featuring lyrics about subway walls and tenement halls. Soon after, Simon & Garfunkel became huge radio stars and regular performers on college campuses across America.The Sounds of Silence, their 1966 album, reached the Top 15 in both the U.S. and U.K., followed by more hits throughout the decade: “Homeward Bound,” “I Am a Rock,” etc. In 1969, “Mrs. Robinson” became the first rock song ever to receive Record of the Year at the Grammys. Simon & Garfunkel appeared to have it all—lyrical songwriting skills comparable to Dylan’s, vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Everly Brothers’, and an exceptional knack for melody.

As with many deeply talented duos, Simon and Garfunkel had their differences which ultimately led to their split in 1970. However, New Yorkers never let go of their music; at each reunion thousands attended their concerts. In 1981 when they reunited for a concert in Central Park over 500,000 people showed up—the largest concert attendance at that time.

4. The Velvet Underground

A significant aspect that cannot be overlooked regarding ’60s music in New York is its overlap with visual art and an avant-garde atmosphere—the Velvet Underground were leaders in this regard. Without them, it’s uncertain what direction art rock, punk, and New Wave might have taken in subsequent decades.

The Velvet Underground did not officially solidify their name until 1965; throughout that decade they released only three albums: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), White Light/White Heat (1968), and The Velvet Underground(1969). None achieved significant success during their initial release; however today they are regarded as some of the most important albums to emerge from New York City—particularly their first one. Brian Eno famously quipped in 1982 that although The Velvet Underground & Nico sold only 30,000 copies within its first five years,”everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band.”

The uniqueness of The Velvet Underground stemmed from what made New York City special—they did not conform to any exact mold with Lou Reed leading as part poet and part beatnik artist alongside John Cale—a Welshman with orchestral composition expertise. Where else but 1960s New York could such a group originate?

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