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The Hard Rock of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and a handful of other late 1960s and 1970s artists will be featured in the lessons coming in this chapter. Out of the Blues explosion and, more particularly, from the splinters of groups like the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, human and musical elements of the Hard Rock sound came together. But, individuals and bands aside, Hard Rock would have developed differently were it not for the backdrop of change that approached its zenith in those years. As the lessons will suggest, the youth culture that emerged in the 60s gave Hard Rock its aesthetic, its ambition, and a enormous canvas on which to create.
In this chapter Jimi Hendrix will play a pivotal role, in part because he comes to Hard Rock not from the Blues explosions in Britain and the U.S. but from the world of R&B. A guitar player with the Isley Brothers and, at one time, Little Richard, Hendrix manifests a connection to Soul. Songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" take guitar stylings that point to 1960s Soul and bring them into a new context. In much the same way, Eric Clapton of Cream takes the Blues he explored in both the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers and forces new things out of the genre. It happens in the songwriting, in the sense of exploration, and also in the volume. Technology becomes a part of the story as the musicians search for new sounds, whether through pedals or amplifiers that can be pushed to new limits.
Among the other issues raised in these lessons will be changing conceptions of the "Rock star" and the attendant mythologies, together with the advent of Stadium Rock. With Led Zeppelin as a case study of sorts, Hard Rock bands and the culture that surrounded them come to embody the kind of excess that, by second half of the 1970s, gave Punk Rock something at which to sneer. The gap between the audience and the performers grew, with the new "Rock star" living in what, from the outside, was perceived to be a fantasy world of needs met instantaneously, of money, mansions, and private planes. To whatever degree this perception was true, the Hard Rock era was certainly one in which the music industry was enormously profitable. Hard Rock set itself up to be challenged, even attacked. And many were poised to help with the job.
lesson:
Jimi Hendrix: Introducing Hard Rock
In what ways did Jimi Hendrix help create a new "Hard Rock" sound while retaining a connection to the Blues and R&B of his past?
Video
video:
My Generation
<p> The Hard Rock of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and a handful of other late 1960s and 1970s artists will be featured in the lessons coming in this chapter. Out of the Blues explosion and, more particularly, from the splinters of groups like the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, human and musical elements of the Hard Rock sound came together. But, individuals and bands aside, Hard Rock would have developed differently were it not for the backdrop of change that approached its zenith in those years. As the lessons will suggest, the youth culture that emerged in the 60s gave Hard Rock its aesthetic, its ambition, and a enormous canvas on which to create.</p> <p>In this chapter Jimi Hendrix will play a pivotal role, in part because he comes to Hard Rock not from the Blues explosions in Britain and the U.S. but from the world of R&B. A guitar player with the Isley Brothers and, at one time, Little Richard, Hendrix manifests a connection to Soul. Songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" take guitar stylings that point to 1960s Soul and bring them into a new context. In much the same way, Eric Clapton of Cream takes the Blues he explored in both the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers and forces new things out of the genre. It happens in the songwriting, in the sense of exploration, and also in the volume. Technology becomes a part of the story as the musicians search for new sounds, whether through pedals or amplifiers that can be pushed to new limits.</p> <p>Among the other issues raised in these lessons will be changing conceptions of the "Rock star" and the attendant mythologies, together with the advent of Stadium Rock. With Led Zeppelin as a case study of sorts, Hard Rock bands and the culture that surrounded them come to embody the kind of excess that, by second half of the 1970s, gave Punk Rock something at which to sneer. The gap between the audience and the performers grew, with the new "Rock star" living in what, from the outside, was perceived to be a fantasy world of needs met instantaneously, of money, mansions, and private planes. To whatever degree this perception was true, the Hard Rock era was certainly one in which the music industry was enormously profitable. Hard Rock set itself up to be challenged, even attacked. And many were poised to help with the job.</p>
video:
Purple Haze
<p> The Hard Rock of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and a handful of other late 1960s and 1970s artists will be featured in the lessons coming in this chapter. Out of the Blues explosion and, more particularly, from the splinters of groups like the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, human and musical elements of the Hard Rock sound came together. But, individuals and bands aside, Hard Rock would have developed differently were it not for the backdrop of change that approached its zenith in those years. As the lessons will suggest, the youth culture that emerged in the 60s gave Hard Rock its aesthetic, its ambition, and a enormous canvas on which to create.</p> <p>In this chapter Jimi Hendrix will play a pivotal role, in part because he comes to Hard Rock not from the Blues explosions in Britain and the U.S. but from the world of R&B. A guitar player with the Isley Brothers and, at one time, Little Richard, Hendrix manifests a connection to Soul. Songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" take guitar stylings that point to 1960s Soul and bring them into a new context. In much the same way, Eric Clapton of Cream takes the Blues he explored in both the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers and forces new things out of the genre. It happens in the songwriting, in the sense of exploration, and also in the volume. Technology becomes a part of the story as the musicians search for new sounds, whether through pedals or amplifiers that can be pushed to new limits.</p> <p>Among the other issues raised in these lessons will be changing conceptions of the "Rock star" and the attendant mythologies, together with the advent of Stadium Rock. With Led Zeppelin as a case study of sorts, Hard Rock bands and the culture that surrounded them come to embody the kind of excess that, by second half of the 1970s, gave Punk Rock something at which to sneer. The gap between the audience and the performers grew, with the new "Rock star" living in what, from the outside, was perceived to be a fantasy world of needs met instantaneously, of money, mansions, and private planes. To whatever degree this perception was true, the Hard Rock era was certainly one in which the music industry was enormously profitable. Hard Rock set itself up to be challenged, even attacked. And many were poised to help with the job.</p>
video:
You Really Got Me
<p> The Hard Rock of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and a handful of other late 1960s and 1970s artists will be featured in the lessons coming in this chapter. Out of the Blues explosion and, more particularly, from the splinters of groups like the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, human and musical elements of the Hard Rock sound came together. But, individuals and bands aside, Hard Rock would have developed differently were it not for the backdrop of change that approached its zenith in those years. As the lessons will suggest, the youth culture that emerged in the 60s gave Hard Rock its aesthetic, its ambition, and a enormous canvas on which to create.</p> <p>In this chapter Jimi Hendrix will play a pivotal role, in part because he comes to Hard Rock not from the Blues explosions in Britain and the U.S. but from the world of R&B. A guitar player with the Isley Brothers and, at one time, Little Richard, Hendrix manifests a connection to Soul. Songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" take guitar stylings that point to 1960s Soul and bring them into a new context. In much the same way, Eric Clapton of Cream takes the Blues he explored in both the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers and forces new things out of the genre. It happens in the songwriting, in the sense of exploration, and also in the volume. Technology becomes a part of the story as the musicians search for new sounds, whether through pedals or amplifiers that can be pushed to new limits.</p> <p>Among the other issues raised in these lessons will be changing conceptions of the "Rock star" and the attendant mythologies, together with the advent of Stadium Rock. With Led Zeppelin as a case study of sorts, Hard Rock bands and the culture that surrounded them come to embody the kind of excess that, by second half of the 1970s, gave Punk Rock something at which to sneer. The gap between the audience and the performers grew, with the new "Rock star" living in what, from the outside, was perceived to be a fantasy world of needs met instantaneously, of money, mansions, and private planes. To whatever degree this perception was true, the Hard Rock era was certainly one in which the music industry was enormously profitable. Hard Rock set itself up to be challenged, even attacked. And many were poised to help with the job.</p>
video:
Communication Breakdown
<p> The Hard Rock of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and a handful of other late 1960s and 1970s artists will be featured in the lessons coming in this chapter. Out of the Blues explosion and, more particularly, from the splinters of groups like the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, human and musical elements of the Hard Rock sound came together. But, individuals and bands aside, Hard Rock would have developed differently were it not for the backdrop of change that approached its zenith in those years. As the lessons will suggest, the youth culture that emerged in the 60s gave Hard Rock its aesthetic, its ambition, and a enormous canvas on which to create.</p> <p>In this chapter Jimi Hendrix will play a pivotal role, in part because he comes to Hard Rock not from the Blues explosions in Britain and the U.S. but from the world of R&B. A guitar player with the Isley Brothers and, at one time, Little Richard, Hendrix manifests a connection to Soul. Songs like "The Wind Cries Mary" take guitar stylings that point to 1960s Soul and bring them into a new context. In much the same way, Eric Clapton of Cream takes the Blues he explored in both the Yardbirds and the Bluesbreakers and forces new things out of the genre. It happens in the songwriting, in the sense of exploration, and also in the volume. Technology becomes a part of the story as the musicians search for new sounds, whether through pedals or amplifiers that can be pushed to new limits.</p> <p>Among the other issues raised in these lessons will be changing conceptions of the "Rock star" and the attendant mythologies, together with the advent of Stadium Rock. With Led Zeppelin as a case study of sorts, Hard Rock bands and the culture that surrounded them come to embody the kind of excess that, by second half of the 1970s, gave Punk Rock something at which to sneer. The gap between the audience and the performers grew, with the new "Rock star" living in what, from the outside, was perceived to be a fantasy world of needs met instantaneously, of money, mansions, and private planes. To whatever degree this perception was true, the Hard Rock era was certainly one in which the music industry was enormously profitable. Hard Rock set itself up to be challenged, even attacked. And many were poised to help with the job.</p>
Print Journalism
article:
Jimi Hendrix 1968
"Will he burn it tonight?" asked a neat blonde of her boyfriend, squashed in beside her on the packed floor of the Fillmore auditorium. "He did at Monterey," the boyfriend said, recalling the Pop Festival at which the guitarist, in a moment of elation, actually put a match to his guitar. The blonde and her boyfriend went on watching the stage, crammed with huge silver-fronted Fender amps, a double drum set, and whispering stage hands. Mitch Mitchell, the drummer, came on first, sat down, smiled, and adjusted his cymbals. Then came bassist Noel Redding, gold glasses glinting on his...
article:
Jimi Hendrix: Mr. Phenomenon!
NOW hear this — and kindly hear it good! Are you one of the fans who think there's nothing much new happening on the pop scene? Right… then we want to bring your attention to a new artist, a new star-in-the-making, who we predict is going to whirl round the business like a tornado. Name: Jimi Hendrix. Occupation: Guitarist-singer-composer-showman-dervish-original. His group, just three-strong: The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Bill Harry and I dropped in at the Bag O'Nails' club in Kingley Street to hear the trio working out for the benefit of Press and bookers. An astonished Harry muttered: "Is that full, big,...
article:
Led Zep in L.A.
"I DON'T EVEN like Led Zeppelin," the girl in the black velvet jacket and hotpants said petulantly as she bummed a cigarette off an acquaintance in the lobby of the Continental Hyatt House Hotel in L.A. "I'm only staying here because my friends have a room. I think Zep are really tacky." Methought the lady did protest too much. Why would three well-known L.A. groupies book a room at Zep's hotel if they didn't dig the band? Why would they spend most of their spare time either hanging out in the lobby or else trying to gatecrash the security on the ninth...