A note of "thanks" to British Rock History.
Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 5:42 amThere are still quite a few of us aging yankee guitar wankers who are indebted to the great British guitarists, songwriters and bands of the late 60's and 70's. Their influences have stood the test of time and I believe we will never see such creative talent again.
As much as the Beatles come to mind from this time period, I must respectfully say I am not referring to them. To be candid, I'm not a big fan but appreciate the legacy and bridge in the timeline. If I had to pick a fav it would be the humblest of them all, George.
I prefer instead to point toward the harder varieties such as the Yard Birds, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Small/Faces, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Genesis (earlier material) and The Who, and The Stones to name a few. A special mention goes to Jeff Beck, especially the early material and another nod goes to Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.
Perhaps somewhere in the timeline there are many others but I would be remiss not to mention the late Peter Green, the complex Uriah Heep, Queen's early material and the still great Robin Trower. The list could go on and on, and could be debated feverishly, but I'm just trying to say "thanks" not rehash a spot-on documentary.
Another aside goes to whoever engineered Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. If there was ever a benchmark recording from a technical perspective, this would be on my top ten analog recording. I'm still a hard rocker after all these years but can appreciate such subtle beauty as this.
And what I think was the next land mass sized musical bridge is Pink Floyd. Have we hit the wall ? After that it gets a bit blurry with punk, the 80's and what-not. And the 90's ? Well, I can say I'm blessed to have seen Iron Maiden live in my home town in '81. I think it was any way but it was the first Eddy tour. FANTASTIC show and I even went to see the fun loving Ozzy Ozbourne with his fresh out of the gate Blizzard of Oz tour. It was local at a small shed at a park of all things. Another mind blowing show indeed from the early '80's.
In some ways, it was the beginning of the end. I feel like the music is dying, there is no more maker and it has been left out on the tiles to bleed out. No quarter indeed. Dazed and Confused.
When I really stop and think about it, the early British rock and blues musicians have given us musicians of the day (and fans alike) a very deep well in which to drink from for a very, very long time. In addition, the technology then compared to now was ancient yet we still can't reproduce the sound with all the digital wizzbangery of the day. It's like comparing all those original golf (links) matches with smashing records that to this day, cannot be broken and they were using crap clubs and rock hard balls. Talent cannot be bought, it must pre-exist and be fostered. Now where was I ?
I still play guitar daily for enjoyment and even though I have made an effort not to sound like other guitarists, it happens and I hear many of the above six string electric masters seep into my playing almost accidentally and you know what, thank-you. If 1% of their talent stumbles my way on occassion, then it is I who gets burned by the midnight sun.
The British musicians of yore changed the world and gave us yanks something to chew on and spit out with yet another age or two of great rock. Early American rock-n-roll has its place but I cannot honestly say it has influenced me. What we know today as rock music somehow seems to have originally been filtered through the minds of young British lads.
May we never forget the past nor deny the future presence.
May we also enjoy and cross the great musical bridges together when they appear, but most of all acknowledge that this thing we call "music" is still the one and ONLY, world voice. May all those who rock from around the globe crank their amps to ELEVEN and let 'em rip !
From across the pond.
As much as the Beatles come to mind from this time period, I must respectfully say I am not referring to them. To be candid, I'm not a big fan but appreciate the legacy and bridge in the timeline. If I had to pick a fav it would be the humblest of them all, George.
I prefer instead to point toward the harder varieties such as the Yard Birds, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Small/Faces, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Genesis (earlier material) and The Who, and The Stones to name a few. A special mention goes to Jeff Beck, especially the early material and another nod goes to Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.
Perhaps somewhere in the timeline there are many others but I would be remiss not to mention the late Peter Green, the complex Uriah Heep, Queen's early material and the still great Robin Trower. The list could go on and on, and could be debated feverishly, but I'm just trying to say "thanks" not rehash a spot-on documentary.
Another aside goes to whoever engineered Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. If there was ever a benchmark recording from a technical perspective, this would be on my top ten analog recording. I'm still a hard rocker after all these years but can appreciate such subtle beauty as this.
And what I think was the next land mass sized musical bridge is Pink Floyd. Have we hit the wall ? After that it gets a bit blurry with punk, the 80's and what-not. And the 90's ? Well, I can say I'm blessed to have seen Iron Maiden live in my home town in '81. I think it was any way but it was the first Eddy tour. FANTASTIC show and I even went to see the fun loving Ozzy Ozbourne with his fresh out of the gate Blizzard of Oz tour. It was local at a small shed at a park of all things. Another mind blowing show indeed from the early '80's.
In some ways, it was the beginning of the end. I feel like the music is dying, there is no more maker and it has been left out on the tiles to bleed out. No quarter indeed. Dazed and Confused.
When I really stop and think about it, the early British rock and blues musicians have given us musicians of the day (and fans alike) a very deep well in which to drink from for a very, very long time. In addition, the technology then compared to now was ancient yet we still can't reproduce the sound with all the digital wizzbangery of the day. It's like comparing all those original golf (links) matches with smashing records that to this day, cannot be broken and they were using crap clubs and rock hard balls. Talent cannot be bought, it must pre-exist and be fostered. Now where was I ?
I still play guitar daily for enjoyment and even though I have made an effort not to sound like other guitarists, it happens and I hear many of the above six string electric masters seep into my playing almost accidentally and you know what, thank-you. If 1% of their talent stumbles my way on occassion, then it is I who gets burned by the midnight sun.
The British musicians of yore changed the world and gave us yanks something to chew on and spit out with yet another age or two of great rock. Early American rock-n-roll has its place but I cannot honestly say it has influenced me. What we know today as rock music somehow seems to have originally been filtered through the minds of young British lads.
May we never forget the past nor deny the future presence.
May we also enjoy and cross the great musical bridges together when they appear, but most of all acknowledge that this thing we call "music" is still the one and ONLY, world voice. May all those who rock from around the globe crank their amps to ELEVEN and let 'em rip !
From across the pond.
