Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’

The Beatles amazing 1966 album Revolver is considered by many music critics to not only be The Beatles greatest album ever but to also be the best rock album of all time by any band or artist. For some music fans that may be surprising as Beatles albums such as 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and 1969’s Abbey Road have sold more copies and are more well known among the general public.

Revolver represented another huge step forward for The Beatles artistically in a series of such huge steps. The Beatles went from the more straight forward pop of 1964 to the eclectic psychedelic rock of Revolver just two years later. 1965’s Rubber Soul was the stepping stone between the two.

So why is it that this album is considered to be so excellent? The answer is actually very simple: The songs. It doesn’t have the cohesiveness of Abbey Road’s second side or the “concept” of Sgt. Pepper but what it does have is a collection of absolutely stunningly great songs in an amazing array of different styles.

From the balladry of “Here, There, & Everywhere” to the acid rock of “She Said She Said” to the Indian sounds of “Love You To” to the childlike “Yellow Submarine” to the sublime “Eleanor Rigby” to the otherwordly “Tomorrow Never Knows” the album never stops surprising the listener with amazing songs. This amazing collection of tunes are not just great, they are extraordinary. These songs have inspired countless musicians and songwriters in the 40+ years since Revolver was first released.

I’ve read that every one of these songs created it’s own “sub genre” of popular music and while I do think that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration it is probably quite close to the truth.

With most less imaginative albums you can just listen to a song or two and know just what the whole thing sounds like. With this album every song is it’s own revelation. That’s partially because they had three extraordinary songwriters each contributing songs with their own unique styles (Lennon, McCartney, & Harrison) but that’s also because each of these great songwriters was not just content to just make the same style song over and over again. Each of them were adventerous and creative in their own way and when you combine the boundless creativity of three amazing songwriters you get something truly special like Revolver.

Classic Rock is a term used to describe bands and artists from the 1970s.”

Most of the musicians were very original and have become a big influence on subsequent generations. No matter what era you were born in, almost any band you listen to has been influenced by artists and bands from the 1970s. Moreover, even if you are only in your teens and you think your favourite band is “totally original,” chances are they were influenced by a musician or group from that era, even if they don’t consciously know it.

This decade was one of the best decades for groundbreaking music. Nothing was copied or rehashed and everyone had their own sound. The 1970s represented a culmination and expansion of sounds that were experimented on in the 1960s. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Free, Allman Brothers, Queen, Black Sabbath, Cream, David Bowie, Status Quo are all examples of acts who made their start in the 60’s but found their sound and style in the 70’s, and therefore gave rise to many other bands who then added their own flavour to these styles. All of these acts were guitar legends.

Lesser known bands such as Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Grand Funk Railroad, Scorpions (who became quite huge in the 80’s), and Thin Lizzy are worthy of mentions but would not necessarily legends, where as other acts such as Queen became absolutely huge and remain so to this day.

It is the same with other rock bands. Every guitarist has heard of the greats but there are other, less known musicians, who were equally influential and deserve attention. Two such examples are Richie Blackmore from Deep purple and Michael Schenker from UFO. You will find some modern players such as Kirk Hammet and Dimebag Darrel were heavily influenced by Michael Schenker, but Schenker has not really achieved THE “god like” status some of his contemporaries like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton have.

I could go on for hours about classic rock and there are hundreds of excellent albums that are still available today but some songs and albums deserve special mention for their guitar prowess and are worth your time to have at least a quick listen. Here’s a quick list of four lesser known gems of classic musical genius that are worth a listen:

Deep purple:
Guitarist: Richie Blackmore:
Choice albums:  Made in Japan and Deep Purple in Rock
Songs: Highway Star, Child in Time.
Some of the most blistering guitar work you will ever hear recorded in the early 70’s and held the Guinness Book of Records title as the loudest recording ever made!

UFO:
Guitarist: Michael Schenker.
Choice Albums: Phenomenon and Force It.
Songs: Rock Bottom
One of the most exciting and dynamic solos ever recorded, he was about 18 at the time!

FREE: (later to become” bad company” another excellent act!!)
Guitarist Paul Kossof
Album: Best of Free.
Songs: All Right Now, Fire and Water, Mr. Big [live]
It had a simplistic and slow natural style!!! A Les Paul plugged straight into a marshal, no pedals and no tricks.

WISHBONE ASH:
Guitarists: Andy Powell & Ted Turner.
Choice albums: Argus and There’s The Rub.
Excellent melody and twin harmony lead breaks, copied by many acts since! Very complex arrangements.