EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E 
History of Rock, 1970-Present
John Covach, University of Rochester
https://www.coursera.org/course/historyofrock2
C O U R S E   L E C T U R E 
American Blues Rock and Southern Rock
Notes taken on January 4, 2015 by Edward Tanguay
you would think that American blues-based rock bands would take most of their influence from American blues
but the case is that most of these bands were very influenced by the British bands of the 1960s
it's as if the blues as to leave the United States, go to Britain, and come back again for Americans to play it
e.g. the Stones and Creme were so big that when the American kids were listening to it became teenagers, this is the kind of music that they played
when we talk about American blues-based rock, we are often talking of Southern Rock
Southern Rock was the most blues-based rock music in the United States
two most important representatives of Southern Rock
1. Lynyrd Skynyrd
best known for popularizing the Southern hard-rock genre during the 1970s
formed in 1966 as the The Pretty Ones in Jacksonville, Florida
took on the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969
at the peak of their success, three members died in an airplane crash in 1977
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird
named after their gym teacher who had a strict rule that young men should not have long hair
very radio-friendly style
second album called "Second Helping", a sort of countrified-life term
2. The Allman Brothers Band
an American rock band
based out of Macon, Georgia
Ramblin' Man
Album: At Fillmore East
Gregg Allman
Duane Allman
dies in 1971
basist died in 1972
both in motorcycle accidents
features
blues influences
extensive soloing
a more improvised, live group
so when you listen to a live album, you are getting a more accurate representation of who they are
after Duane and Barry are gone
bring in Chuck Leavell and Dickey Betts
Album: "Brothers and Sisters" (1973)
"Ramblin' Man"
differences between these two
Lynyrd Skynyrd more song-oriented, Allmand brothers more jam-oriented
other representative groups of Southern Rock
Charlie Daniels Band
Charlie Daniels
from South Carolina
session musician
played some bass on some Dylon records
mentored a few Southern Rock artists
a generation older
1979: "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
The Marshall Tucker Band
"Can't You See" (1973)
marginal Southern Rock
Texas-based Blues Rock
certainly geographically
but it's not really thought of as part of the South, but simply more as "Texas" or the Southwest if you are going to think about a region
ZZ Top
"La Grange" (1973)
"Tush" (1975)
Mexican-influenced Southern Rock
Carlos Santana
his group came out of the San Francisco psychedelic scene, similar to:
Grateful Dead
Jefferson Airplane
combines Jazz, Blues, improvisation, and adds the Latin rhythm
Black Magic Woman (1970)
a close cover of a track that had been recorded by Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green on the guitar in 1968
Evil Ways (1970)
most representative of the Latin rhythms
other American Blues Rock
Steppenwolf
Canadian/American rock group that was prominent from 1968 to 1972
Born to Be Wild (1968)
sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music
featured in film Easy Rider (1969) starring Peter Fonda
Magic Carpet Ride (1968)
Three Dog Night
vocal group of three singers
produced by Beach Boy Brian Wilson
Mama Told Me Not to Come (1970)
Grand Funk Railroad
Flint, Michigan
Mark Farner
deeply rooted in 1960s Soul and Blues
I'm Your Captain (1970)
more of an ambitious orchestral element
We're an American Band (1973)
often not given their due but a band that sold a lot of records and got a lot of people to show up at their concerts
Aerosmith
out of Boston
an American version of the Rolling Stones
because Joe Perry and Steven Tyler cut an image very much like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Walk This Way (1975)
Joe Perry and Steven Tyler did this as a Rock/Rap crossover record with Run DMC
representative of the tension between Rock and Rap
what makes Southern Rock Southern?
is it southern because of where it comes from?
much of what makes Southern Rock southern is the way in which it was packaged
Southern Rock had it's greatest sales in northern cities simply because in the early 1970s, that's where most of the people were
so what constituted Southern was what constituted Southern in the minds of northerners
who in many cases didn't have any direct contact with the South and may have not ever been there
so when you see Confederate flags and pickup trucks and big dogs and rifles and this kind of thing, this all stands for Southern life, almost a cartoonish version of it
and one thing that the marketing people picked up about these recording labels was that if they could push this image, they could sell these groups and find a marketing niche for them
because there is something interesting, heroic an fun-loving about images of the South
not that these images were accurate, they were almost caricatures of things that people in the North had
so one thing that really pulls these Southern Rock groups together is their imaging, their proud sort of demonstration of their Southern roots