Rock – 1960-Present
Rock music formed out of the “Golden Age of Rock & Roll” original music of the late 50s/early 60s. The Rock genre encompasses a myriad of sub-genres like Folk Rock, Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Hard Rock, Funk Rock, Prog Rock, Light Rock, Country Rock, California Rock, Arena Rock, Indie Rock, etc. as well as holding on to aspects of Surf Rock, Garage Rock, Doo Wop and R&B.
After the British Invasion in 1964, the music started to slow down and become more in tune with Americana, merging with Folk, Blues, Country & Western, Jazz, and even Classical music. Simultaneously, the recording techniques became more elaborate and sophisticated giving the listener a lot more to take in. Dancing was no longer the priority of music but rather the listening experience became an art form.
1: Americana & Rock – 1964-1970 – Here I discuss how the musicians in the mid-Sixties, studied and applied the music of Americana (Folk, Blues, Jazz, Country etc.) to the new sounds in Rock music. The music began to diversify and splinter into the many sub-genres within the genre called Rock.
2: The Beatles – 1964-1970 – I consider The Beatles, with their love of American music, a turning point in the progression of Rock & Roll to the new art form of Rock music and all it encompasses. I go into great detail as to how they absorbed much of the music of before to create this new sophisticated music, Rock, that would influence the rest of the remaining 20th-century pop and art music.
3: Rock – The New Sound – 1965 – There is a clear line between the music of 1964 and the music of 1965. In 1964 during the British Invasion, Rock & Roll was going through a revival brought on by the Brits to America. Then almost overnight the music changed and became a new sound or style at first, which was later labeled “Rock”. I explore these differences of what was the change, how it was implemented and why.
60s Recap
A: Folk Rock – 1965-1970 – This genre evolved out of the Folk Music revival spearheaded by Pete Seeger, Peter Paul & Mary, and the Kingston Trio. Bob Dylan was one of the first to define what Folk Rock is, with his controversial switch to electric Folk as did the Byrds. Later, the Beatles would switch to a more Americana sound after taking America by storm and then further influencing the new music of the mid-Sixties.
B: Blues Rock – 1964-1970 – Many of the older Bluesman was rediscovered during this further revival of the great music of the Blues. The British Invasion brought in an enthusiastic interest in the Blues by groups like the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and Eric Clapton. Blues is essential to the sounds of R&B, Rock & Roll and of course Rock.
C: Psychedelic Rock – 1966-1973 – The recording techniques were becoming more of an art form as well as the album art and the education of the groups that were experimenting in this sophisticated music. Groups like Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa & the Mothers and many of the groups of San Francisco started to experiment. Across the pond in the UK groups like Pink Floyd and the Beatles were also giving the US groups substantial competition in this new sub-genre.
Also, this is when drugs were being experimented with and were causing the music to “think outside the box” that up to this point had been produced by record producers and engineers. These new musicians were now taking over the engineering.
Country Rock – 1968-Present – Dylan once again directed a trend to dig deep into Americana and C&W music to influence super-groups of the 70s. Diverse groups but with a common popular light country with rock and roll which led to the Eagles, the Doobie Brothers, Glen Campbell, Lynard Skynard, the Band, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young and much of the light rock sub-genre.
Hard Rock – 1968-1990s – This genre was a natural progression from Blues Rock and the older Garage Rock. The guitar started using distortion as well as increasing levels of volume and the advent of the power trio. Blues rockers like Jimi Hendrix, Cream, the Who and Led Zeppelin took this new music to louder and louder levels. Where would the later genres of Metal, Punk, Thrash, Grunge and NuMetal be without this monster sub-genre of Rock?
Classic Rock – 1966-1982 – The merging and mixing of Classical music with Rock started here around 1966. The Beatles started using strings sections accompaniments as well as full-blown orchestras to further color their music as well as new groups like the Moody Blues. Now anything could be used in Rock like choirs, string quartets, brass sections and orchestral rhythm sections. This genre would continue into the early 80s with music programs and concept albums.
Later Hybrid Rock – 1968-1989 – In the late 1960s, the new Rock music started to blend with the new Soul music with interesting results. It seems the further we progress into the music of the 60s, the more that all the limitations and rules were being broken.
Never before had there been such an innovative, daring, otherwise refreshing progression in experimentation with modern popular music with a remarkable longevity in that it went on well into the late 1990s and early into the 21st century.