Mainstream
As happens when any new product hits the market, rock was initially an "either you like it or you don't" kind of music - it was easy for super stars like Elvis or the Beatles to become the "it" thing. But by the 1970s, as we've seen with the art rock and jazz rock and acid rock and all that, the "genre" had exploded into many many many different categories. This was somewhat paralleled by culture. Look at the choices in TV channels - we went from 3 channels to up to 40 with cable offerings in the 70s (although I remember growing up with around 10-11 channels in the 1980s). Similar expansions happened with food and magazines and books, and pretty much every aspect of life.
However, as a counter, the rock industry was controlled by only six major companies, whose idea of success was to have bands who fit into one of the many categories, and stay within that category to produce reliable and consistent sales. So for a lot of the music of this decade was a continuation of previous styles, with the addition of new electronic synthesizers.
So we have the contradiction of great breadth and depth of artists and styles, but very little evolution or experimentation. This is where a lot of our "classic rock" hits come from - they are a refinement or "second version" of previous styles.
This whole section will be broken into four topics over the next two weeks. This week, we start with Mainstream styles.
British Mainstream, continued.
The original British invasion by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and others were followed by a second wave with The Who, The Moody Blues, ELP, Deep Purple, Genesis, Yes. We need to add to that Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.
We may have heard Clapton incidentally earlier with the Beatles (he was friends with George Harrison and played guitar on a couple of Beatles tunes like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps), he was of course on his own trajectory. First joining the Yardbirds for one album, he gained greater popularity with his work with Cream (1967-1969), which lasted 2 years before creating Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos, before going solo in 1974. Eric Clapton is a blues guitarist and vocalist, and part of the reason he went through so many bands was his severe drug issues and womanizing issues (including with George Harrison's wife Patti).
With that said, here are some of the hits from the late 60s and early 70s:
One of the most famous guitar riffs ever starts Sunshine of Your Love.
Links to an external site.
And the remake of the Robert Johnson "Crossroads" blues song (remember this from the first week?), electrified and rockified:
Cream - Crossroads
Links to an external site.
Derek and the Dominos most famous hit was "Layla
Links to an external site.", with the extended guitar solo over a completely different piano based section at the end:
Eric Clapton's first solo hit, "I Shot the Sheriff
Links to an external site."
For contrast purposes, here's the original by Bob Marley
Links to an external site..
Another big Eric Clapton solo hit was cover of the song Cocaine
Links to an external site.
Finally, many many years later, in 1991 his four year old son fell from a 53rd story balcony and died. Clapton was writing music for the film Rush, and the song "Tears in Heaven
Links to an external site." was the result.
Fleetwood Mac
Like many of the British bands before, Fleetwood Mac started in one style, but found great success once they transitioned.
Formed by drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, they were a blues band that found good success in England, but virtually none in the US. Later they added Danny Kirwan as yet another guitarist and songwriter. Trying to keep track of which one or two or three of them was playing and recording with the band from the late 60s till the early 70s is a soap opera. Suffice it to say that drugs, alcohol, and religious distractions were a problem. They eventually added Bob Welsh as a guitarist.
John McVie's wife, Christine McVie, joined the band and played keyboards and sang on some of the studio sessions and added a softer sound to the band. She eventually wrote quite a few of the hit songs.
Already a soap opera story, the whole sordid history of Fleetwood Mac could take a while to chronicle. Probably best to just read the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Mac
Links to an external site.
Eventually, Mick Fleetwood found himself in an LA recording studio looking for a replacement guitarist, and heard "Frozen Love
Links to an external site." by Buckingham/Nicks, specifically the guitar solo part near the end.
So he wanted to get Lindsey Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Lindsey was in a relationship with Stevie (Stephanie) Nicks at the time, and she tells the story of how she bought all the existing Fleetwood Mac albums, listened to them all to see if they could contribute to the band. She thought so, and Lindsey told Mick Fleetwood that he would join only if Stevie was also included. The band hemmed and hawed, because they would be a band with two female singers! Heaven forfend! (sarcasm, if you can't tell. It's amazing what seems like over-representation. This would be a 5 member band with 3 men and 2 women, and it was thought the 2 women would be an issue. Despite all the toxic and calamitous male guitarist singers in the past 5 years. The bigger issue of course was that there were two couples and a drummer, and the now-mainstream rock and roll lifestyle wasn't conducive to keeping relationships in a band. Lindsey Buckingham in particular had a lot of issues that I won't delve into here, but suffice it to say, I don't think the band would have had nearly the drama if he wasn't in it, but also wouldn't have produced all the hits. Even though Stevie Nicks wrote their biggest hits. Mini-rant over).
The new album Fleetwood Mac (1975) moved the band to the softer side, and produced several singles.
But also showed Stevie Nicks' songwriting and performance chops (Rhiannon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuTzAha1t80
Links to an external site.
Audio only link: Rhiannon
Links to an external site.
But then the McVies got a divorce, Lindsey and Stevie broke up, and they put all that negative energy into Rumours (1976) which ended up being one of the best selling albums of all time, with the #1 single Dreams
Links to an external site., written by Stevie Nicks. Still the only #1 single the band has had.
You might recognize it from this tiktok video that became viral in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtzVKUCZE5w
Links to an external site.
Lindsey contributed several songs including "Go Your Own Way"
Links to an external site.
Christine McVie contributed several songs including "Don't Stop"
Links to an external site., which was used in President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1992.
With the mega hit of Rumours, almost all of the band wanted to follow it up with another similar album. Lindsey, being a forceful personality, wanted to take it in another direction, and the result was Tusk, featuring very very different sounds and styles.
For the title track, they used the USC marching band to provide backing horns: Tusk
Links to an external site.
Here's another one of Lindsey's tracks that was influenced by the nascent punk movement, and kind of presaged a lot of later songs in that movement, called The Ledge
Links to an external site..
Tusk is a great album if you like Lindsey's experimental style. If you were a Christine or Stevie fan, not so much.
Eventually after a few more albums, the group broke up in 1987, and had a reunion concert in 1997 called The Dance, which was the #1 selling music DVD for a while, which included the Stevie Nicks song "Silver Springs" that was cut from Rumours at the last minute. Many fans agree that this was a travesty, as it is probably one of her best songs with the band. Below is a video from the 1997 concert recording, where the song got it's first widespread distribution (yes, they used to perform this live on some of the Rumours tour stops, but this is the first album inclusion) 21+ years after it was written.
https://youtu.be/eDwi-8n054s?list=RDeDwi-8n054s
Links to an external site.
And here's the original audio that was cut from the 1976 Rumours album: Silver Springs
Links to an external site.
As a side-note, The Dance was *definitely* a "live" album that was re-recorded in the studio after the show. I happen to know a few of the trumpet players in the USC marching band who played on this 1997 show, and were part of the re-recording process. And if you watch the whole show, you can see many moments where the guitar solos don't match the video, or background vocals are slightly off, and other things like that.
Aside from all that, back in the early 80s all three of the main songwriters from Fleetwood Mac explored solo ventures, with Stevie being the most successful. She had a lot of hits like Edge of Seventeen
Links to an external site., Stop Dragging My Heart Around (feat. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Leather and Lace, Stand Back, and more.
Elton John
Elton is known for his flamboyant costumes and softer rock styles, and achieved his first success with "Your Song" due to massive PR efforts to get it played, but once it was played, his name and music became known. He achieved peak popularity in the early to mid 1970s, and had a resurgence in 1990s.
Your Song
Links to an external site.
Rocket Man
Links to an external site.
Bennie and the Jets
Links to an external site.
Candle in the Wind (live, at Princess Diana's funeral in 1997):
https://youtu.be/1o9rLDCfO6o?t=60
Links to an external site.
Circle of Life
Links to an external site. from the "Lion King".
Creedence Clearwater Revival
This is a band that when I first heard their music, I thought "how did I not know of them before?" Their music seemed perfect for the era they were popular in, but also perfect for my adolescence in the 90s. They came out of San Francisco, but not of the Grateful Dead / SF hippie style at all. You can hear a bit of Janis Joplin in John Fogerty's vocal styles (vocal fry or raspy-ness), especially Fortunate Son.
Fortunate Son
Links to an external site. (used in every movie about the Vietnam War it seems):
Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
Links to an external site.
Proud Mary
Links to an external site.
Doobie Brothers
A softer take on American Pop, the Doobie Brothers had a variety of personnel. Here's one of their early hits: Listen to the Music
Links to an external site.
Keyboardist/Vocalist Michael McDonald joined them in late 1972 after "Listen to the Music" was released, adding sophistication to their harmonies and sounds, one of the big hits from this lineup was "Takin' it to the Streets
Links to an external site.".
As a side note, I had the opportunity to perform with Michael McDonald at an SBCC fundraiser concert in the Fall of 2019. He rehearsed as if it was a performance (i.e., gave 100% the whole time). Super musician, nice, great to work with, and 100% dedicated to the task at hand. No cell phone distractions or anything, when we rehearsed. Any and all admin, life issues, etc..., everything else was left outside the room.
**Psychedelic Soul**
Sly and the Family Stone
This was a bit of a combination of other styles to create this new style: psychedelic soul.
Their biggest hit was "Everyday People"
Links to an external site.
And of course: "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"
Links to an external site.
***
Links to an external site.Southern Rock***
Allman Brothers
"Ramblin' Man
Links to an external site."
"Whipping Post
Links to an external site." (opening is in 11/8 time, before it switches to 12/8 time for the verse and chorus).
Lynryd Skynyrd
What can you say about this group? Probably the most famous of Southern Rock groups, they were known as a great live band. Unfortunately, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and two other band members were killed in a plane crash (as seems common for rock acts on the way up). They reformed 10 years later with his younger brother taking the lead vocal duties, and still record and tour today.
Anyway, their most famous song "Sweet Home Alabama
Links to an external site."
Another Staple: Free Bird
Links to an external site.
And a slightly creepy (by modern standards): "What's Your Name
Links to an external site."
**Midwest Rock**
Kansas - sort of progressive rock or art rock, they have some songs that go into different meters, and listening to "Point of Know Return", it sounds a lot like the art rock stuff from last week.
"Carry on My Wayward Son
Links to an external site." - their biggest hit, I made part of an arrangement for a high school marching band when I was teaching in 2001 or 2002.
Point of Know Return
Links to an external site. - another Kansas hit showing a bit of the art rock style of ELP merging with a bit more of a mainstream rock style.
**Mainstream US/UK**
Foreigner - the last band in this tour of mainstream bands was made up of 3 Americans, and 3 Englishmen.
They had a big hit in the late 70s with that most overused of cliches: (You're) as Cold As Ice
Links to an external site.
They had another monster hit in 1981 with their album 4, and the single "I Want to Know What Love Is
Links to an external site." was probably their biggest hit.