Ages of Rock

Anyone get a chance last night to watch Seven Ages Of Rock - My Generation: The Birth Of Rock last night on ABC1? This incredible program delved into the beginnings of the Rock and Roll era – starting in 1964. Through interviews with artists, video footage and recounts by journalists of the times, the show enabled even the youngest of watchers to get a grasp behind how cult bands of the era came to be. From before the beginning with artists such as Bobby Vincent (don’t know who he is? Basically the Jonas Brother of the time); to exploring the forbidden fruit of music that was the Blues, Rock and Roll never looked so raw. 

The documentary had a lot of interesting facts in it without being one bit dull. Next trivia night should be a breeze! For example did you know that The Rolling Stones named their band after some Muddy Water lyrics? The Yardbirds were the beginning for Eric Clapton. However after some success, he decided the band had become ‘too commercial’ therefore left (Sound familiar? Triple J listeners left right and centre chastise bands for going commercial).

More facts included the strange and unique riffs by The Kinks . These were actually achieved by cutting up old speakers to give it that edgy sound. The Who actually sought out the producer for The Kinks to help them along the road to success. They considered absolutely everything around them as pop art which goes hand in hand with the psychedelic London drug scene they came from. 

Rock and Roll truly became a cult of its own. There was an attitude about all the bands and they loved it. They were taking the simple rhythms and patterns of Blues music and singing about all new topics. Bob Dylan was initially a highly successful folk singer however knew he needed to go electric to keep his success. Robbie Robertson from The Band reminisced about Bob Dylan being booed of the stage when he made his significant seachange to rock and roll. Massive guitar solos started out when Eric Clapton joined forces with the most talented musicians of the time - Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce to form the band Cream. And no, this isn’t the kind of thing Guitar Hero can handle. The first part of the seven stages of rock came to an end with the death in Ultimo that inevitably ended the free spirit of the 60’s. I cannot wait for next week’s instalment!