Remember in the '60s, the folk music which became popular grew by word of mouth and small labels for over a decade before it reached the critical mass that brought it to the mass audience. Likewise, the "San Francisco sound" acid rock bands were playing around the Bay Area for several years before they became popular enough, and received the exposure at places like the Monterey festival, to be picked up by the big labels. Even the then talentless Beatles were a garage and club band for several years before their big breaks and the Invasion of the US. Elvis, too, spent a number of years on the local ciruits in the South and Southwest before his national debut and fame.