Rock: A brief history Pt.3

The impact of British rock and roll on the American scene was equivalent to an atom bomb. Kids in every part of the country began picking up the guitar and playing in their garages, playing this new form of blues music with a certain vengeance. It was Bob Dylan who led the charge on the East Coast. With his first electric performances met with disappointment, it wasn't long before his music, along with the Byrds and Simon and Garfunkels folk-rock began taking off.

At the same time, the psychedelic movement began to take shape all across the country. It was this movement, merged with electric rock and the protest movement that gave shape to bands such the Velvet Underground and the Fugs, who turned rock and roll into an intellectual process. Soon, New York and San Fransisco were hot spots for psychedelic rock.

San Fransisco was becoming the mecca for a new form of rock, one that hippies flocked to. Acid rock was beginning to take shape led by bands such as Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. These bands recorded complex harmonies and improvised jams, bringing rock and roll back to the free flowing realm of jazz music. Meanwhile, Los Angeles was giving birth to rock legends of its own. Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, perhaps two of the most influential musicians of the century, were recording some of the most experimental records ever, and in the process, turning rock and roll in a serious art form. Psychedelic rock was now spreading like wildfire across the United States and began spilling over into Britain. Soon America begat bands such as The Doors and Britain was pumping out groups with names such as Pink Floyd.

The popularity of rock music helped to resurect the blues, and soon super talents such as Jimi Hendrix and Janice Joplin started to gain noteriety. It was also at this time that bands such as Creedance Clearwater Revival and The Doobie Brothers brought new heights to rock with the revisitation of traditional white and black music. This sudden revival movement in the rock world led to a boom in what is now called southern rock, and bands such as the Allman Brothers and Lynard Skynard were born.

Meanwhile, black music was going through a transformation of its own. Soul music was beginning to be seen as a form of party music thanks to musical acts such as the Supremes. Even rhythm and blues was mutated into an eccentric form of music called funk, which found its home with grand performers like James Brown.

There are many, many more groups who deserve mentioning when it comes to rock and roll in the 1960's. Groups the likes of Jethro Tull, Van Morrison and Cat Stevens helped define many of the sub genres of rock and roll, while experimentation by groups in the 60's led to new forms of rock that had never been heard, or even attempted before. It is true that the 1960's were the classical age of rock and roll.