Silver Age Of Rock 1: Blues, Hard Rock, & Roots

Years: 1968-1975

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Okay, this era is so complex and rich that for practical purposes I have to divide it into two: the first is this era corresponding to the "Rootsy" or Return to the Roots, where teenage rock reconnects with his mother, Blues, and his uncle, Country, and also remembers the advice his uncles Jerry Lee Lewis and James Dean gave him 10 years earlier to become a rebel without a cause: wear a leather jacket, tie a bandana around his head, grow a beard, and ride his Harley Davidson. The years of love and peace were shattered by addictions; it was no longer a directed rebellion, and hippiedom continued, but with a decadent air. By 1968-69, Flower Power-related music was becoming increasingly scarce, and the "in" thing was distorted guitars at full decibels and a rawer sound, without psychedelic orchestrations or Hindu sitars or anything like that.

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At the same time and in parallel, another sound was developing, derived from the psychedelia that initially gave rise to Baroque Rock, combined with the experimental waves of Pink Floyd that created long suites with different "movements." Some bands began to treat Rock like classical music. They were music scholars, often from conservatories, with a knowledge of harmonies, tempos, medieval instruments, and experimentation that led them to prioritize form over substance, not caring at all that their music was unmarketable. That music was complex and difficult to listen to, so it initially began as a rather underground movement, until bands like Genesis, King Crimson, the Mothers of Invention, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Pink Floyd, among others, consolidated the Progressive movement in the early 1970s.

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Thus, young Rock, with its hormonal revolution and the identity conflict we all experience at that age, combined the wildness and carelessness, speed, and power of Hard Rock on the one hand, and the intellectuality and experimentation, calculated sounds, long solos, and philosophical lyrics of Progressive on the other. After all, at that point, Rock had so much power and influence that it could do whatever it wanted. Both Hard Rock and Progressive developed at similar times, beginning around '68 and ending around '75, their peak, although both continued to produce exponents and great albums after that year, so we're not closing either era. Disco and Punk came to dethrone them in '76. Aside from this, they have little in common, but due to the coincidence of dates and the significance of the best exponents of each genre, we can consider both as a Silver Age of Rock, still boasting impressive creativity and freshness, still with hints of a threat to the system, but never in the same way as in the legendary Summer of Love. Today we'll discuss this return to the mother of Blues: Hard Rock, and next month we'll discuss Progressive, so as not to confuse chalk with gymnastics.

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Defining the exact date of Hard Rock's emergence is impossible. Some say the first Hard Rock songs are "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks or "My Generation" by The Who, between '64 and '65. In my opinion, the father of hard rock has to be Jimmy Hendrix, as he took the guitar to unprecedented levels with elements of jazz, blues, and rock, experimenting with fuzz, feedback, phasing, and developing the brutal, incendiary, and monumental riffs that would become characteristic of the genre. Hendrix elevated guitar playing to the level of art, and although he's generally more associated with the Psychedelic Era, he was undoubtedly the one who motivated thousands of guitarists to take their instruments more seriously and realize the possibilities that the blues still had. Clapton was doing his thing in parallel with his Cream band, increasing the distortion, creating a monumental rhythmic base to support the tremendous riffs, and basing his sounds on the blues. To a lesser extent, Pete Townshend with The Who and Jeff Beck with the Yardbirds contributed their own independent work, so it wasn't exactly Hendrix's creation, but rather a strictly musical movement that was taking place among these masters as a natural step toward a more elaborate sound, although it's the left-hander who stands out the most. The days when solos were simple and lasted a few seconds were long gone. Although these were undoubtedly the precursors of Hard Rock, between '66 and '67 their bands still had a strong psychedelic charge despite their excellent guitar playing.

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By 1968, the psychedelic boom of the previous two years began to wane. Young Rock longed for his mother and family, so he looked to the past, and bands began to look back to their roots. Not just to blues, but to jazz, country, swing, big band, Southern music, etc. And bands that had been at the forefront of the psychedelic movement abandoned Eastern orchestrations and instruments to make rawer music. The demise of the psychedelic movement is natural given the rapid and powerful nature of its explosion. Let me explain: when a lot of combustible material (bands) and highly flammable material (talent) are concentrated, striking a match creates an extremely powerful explosion, but one that burns out very quickly. The same thing happened with the psychedelic sound: there was so much creativity and so many bands doing the same thing in '66-'67 that the genre was completely explored in a flash and then petered out because there was nothing more to squeeze out of it. The remnants that remained until 1969 demonstrate that all that remained was to repeat what had been created with psychedelia, so it was necessary to look to new horizons to avoid stagnating. Thus, the Beatles amazed the world again with the "White Album," possibly the most diverse in history, which includes "Why Don't We Do It On The Road," which is a hard rock album (I'm still not sure if it's a mockery of it), "Helter Skelter," considered by many to be the first metal song, and "Revolution 1," which is pure, semi-acoustic blues. Meanwhile, the Rolling Stones stopped flirting with pop and inaugurated their masterful blues era with "Beggars Banquet," where Keith Richards took over the arrangements and Brian Jones began to be excluded.

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On the other hand, in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival's first album was released, which had practically nothing to do with psychedelia, but rather a sound based on blues and southern rock that had no precedent whatsoever with anything created up to that point (and even now! CCR didn't leave any heirs as far as I know). And Dylan himself was making a turn toward country music with his John Wesley Harding.

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Culturally, '68 was pivotal, and it resulted in a violent uprising. That year, Che Guevara, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Governments responded to the counterculture with brutal repression in Prague, Paris, and Mexico, and to a lesser extent in the US, perhaps emboldened by the weakening of Flower Power. The response, in a way, was: you attack me with violence, I'll respond with violence. The demonstrations intensified in the US, and this filtered into music. If "Love and Peace" doesn't work and you're not willing to engage in dialogue, I'll respond with aggression.

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Thus emerged the first generation of distinctly hard rock bands, starting with Steppenwolf, who released their self-titled album in April. The song "Born To Be Wild" is perhaps the ultimate symbol of biker and hard rock, so if I had to put a date on the genre's birth, I'd go with the release of this song and this album. The heavy riffs, incisive guitars, and John Kay's deep, raspy voice set a standard for the new generation to come. The keyboards still sound reminiscent of psychedelics, but the star here is the tremendous fury of the guitar. Incidentally, this song was the one that gave Heavy Metal its name, thanks to one of its lines that says "heavy metal thunder," and the lyrics referenced the biker culture, which was growing in popularity in the US. Iron Butterfly released their Heavy in January, and in July the legendary In A Gadda Da Vida, loaded with brutality, heavy riffs, and distortion like never before. Shades would include Deep Purple among the groups that handled a vaguely similar sound, dense and intense, with raspy and deep voices, although the band still sounded very shy of the power and virtuosity they would reach years later.

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Ten Years After also made their self-titled debut that year, with a tremendous blues charge and a gifted guitarist, Alvin Lee, who proclaimed himself "The Fastest Guitar in the West." Jeff Beck released Truth in August, thus elevating the figure of Guitar Hero, the blues as a fundamental structure for new sounds, and also sowing the seed of Led Zeppelin, bringing together Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones for the recording.

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Finally, in 1968, these bands seemed more like isolated cases, and there seemed to be no unity in the movement. In 1969, things changed, precisely with the brutal debut of Led Zeppelin, a band conceived by Jimmy Page to be a brutal and virtuosic machine that would take rock to another level. And they did. Led Zeppelin had such a brilliant and powerful debut in January that it ended up spearheading the nascent generation of hard rockers that erupted that year. In 1969, Chicago made its debut when it was still a band that blended hard rock with jazz, rather than cheesy balladeers. At the time, Peter Cetera sang more in the style of John Kay, and the band sounded strong, with intense riffs supported by a great horn section. Grand Funk also joined, forming a talented power trio, with funky and soulful influences in their songs, but where the work focused on strong rhythms and instrumental dynamism. The Allman Brothers made their debut with that bluesy and country influence and Duanne's virtuoso guitar playing, although their mastery would still take time to mature. Joe Cocker released "With A Little Help of My Friends" with the sublime version we all know by now, becoming a solo figure who gained great relevance in the final years of the decade. Crosby, Stills and Nash also released their self-titled debut with a strong country influence and spectacular vocal arrangements. The Who released "Tommy," known as the first rock opera, but musically a powerful and mature hard rock album. Deep Purple released their self-titled album; Clapton returned with his new band, Blind Faith; Creedence released three great albums throughout the year; and Steppenwolf released two more.

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1970 would be a tragic year for rock, as Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix died, allegedly from overdoses, while Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was found floating dead in his pool. The Doors released their two most bluesy albums of their discography, but Morrison also joined the 27 Club in 1971. In 1970, Canadian band Guess Who released their most famous song, "American Woman," which is another hard rock anthem despite being anti-American. The two most acclaimed live albums to date were released: The Who's "Live At Leeds" and the Stones' "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out," two gems of powerful, virtuoso rock on stage. Clapton returned with a new band, Derek & The Dominoes, alongside Duane Allman, releasing a tremendous album that cemented his status as a guitar god. By this time, it was clear that hard rock was the dominant genre, and the last throes of the hippie era were fading. Furthermore, the first exponents of a new, empowered, darker genre with lyrics steeped in occultism began to emerge, with bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, but we'll get to metal later. Initially, the boundaries between hard rock and metal were very ambiguous, a clear example being Deep Purple's Machine Head album, where they reached their peak and were already considered by many to be a transition to metal. Led Zeppelin IV achieved legendary status upon its release, placing Led Zeppelin in the same role as the Beatles of the 1970s. Finally, other bands that would stand out during this era are Alice Cooper (again, bordering on metal), Aerosmith, who was just starting out, and Queen, whose first albums focused more on the power of HR than on Opera Rock. With a lesser status, ZZ Top, Nazareth, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, and Eagles emerged. While not a typical Hard Rock group, they were rather soft and leaning towards country, and whose gigantic song, "Hotel California," was another representative one.

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Just as the genre was beginning to smother, the last great exponent was ACDC, which emerged strongly in 1975 and produced huge albums for the rest of the decade. This band's struggle and demarcation with metal stand out, as they themselves announced that, to eliminate any doubt, they had never made a metal song in their lives and that wasn't their intention, a point I fully agree with.

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However, many factors ultimately doomed the genre. Many bands disbanded, like Deep Purple. Led Zeppelin fell into a creative spiral after the death of Page's son in a fire, Keith Moon died and The Who lost their luster, The Rolling Stones' glory days ended after Mick Taylor's departure, and, in general, the remaining bands began to search for a more commercial sound. The punk and disco music that flourished in 1976, partly out of disgust with the long solos and complex arrangements that characterized the final years of this Silver Age, were what ultimately buried it. In 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded after the death of Bonzo Bonham, who drowned in his own vomit; and AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott died in similar circumstances, being replaced by Brian Johnson. These were the final nails in the coffin of this fascinating era.

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Our beloved Rock had experienced too much in too little time. He had achieved exorbitant glory and power. He had started using drugs as an extrasensory experience and source of inspiration, but very soon he turned to harder drugs, became addicted, became an alcoholic, abandoned his ideals, record labels offered him lucrative contracts on the condition of his authenticity, he developed cancer, was shot five times outside the Dakota Hotel, died drowned in his own vomit or from an overdose... and left illegitimate children scattered everywhere. It's true, rock would never be as authentic and brilliant again after 1981, approximately, after the final and final deaths. If we take into account that he was born in 1954, the calculation is chilling. Rock died at the age of 27, exhausted, depressed, with no desire to grow old, fulfilling the desires of his Punk phase... But we'll delve into this death precisely when we discuss Punk.

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Returning to this era, in the 80s, bands emerged that some consider the second wave of hard rock: Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Quit Riot, Poison, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, etc., etc., etc. Don't get me wrong! These groups were more closely related to 80s pop and glam metal, and if we can mention any bands that truly rescued some of the hard rock in the 80s, it's Van Halen and Guns 'N Roses. Frankly, I don't even consider the rest of them candidates for reviews, since they cared more about their image, their lipstick, their nail liner, their stylists, and money than making good music, or at least that's my opinion.

 

In short, a glorious silver age, full of energy, rage, virtuoso solos, distortion, and songs that have made history. This is my second favorite era, without a doubt. We will complete the part of the Progressive that complements these years.

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By Corvan 

Sep/18/2009

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