Have you had enough of Classic Rock?

“ Do you feel like I do “? Isn’t that a Frampton song ? If you listen to all the black musicians from the 30’s to 50’s , you can discover the Real Rock Music ! Happy Listening , Mike. 

@alexatpos - I can offer a partial explanation in the States and that is the explosive growth of the music business as a youth-aimed product in the later ’60s, when record companies realized that all those kids who liked the ’new’ music were a huge market. That younger market had seen a shift from the big band era before WWII to the rock ’n roll (think early Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis) era in the ’50s, the first British invasion a la the Beatles and Stones and then, after Monterrey Pop, a whole range of sounds, bands, records and "life style" to be sold.
Jazz had no real market in this environment, but what is interesting to me as we entered the ’70s is the re-emergence of some serious players in spiritual jazz scene, on private and small labels, merging jazz with Afro-centric, black power stuff that delved into funk, polyrhythms, eastern influences, gospel and soul. It wasn’t straight ahead jazz, but something very different, and had a socio-political aspect that spoke to the black experience in America during a period of social upheaval and raised consciousness in the communities. This stuff rekindled my interest in jazz in the last few years as a departure from straight ahead styles; it was, with few exceptions, not very well known or sold beyond the local communities where it grew-- Horace Tapscott in LA on Nimbus West, Tribe Records in Detroit, Strata East in New Jersey/New York. Some brilliant stuff, executed by some very well known players who turned inward when it became obvious that jazz was not a mainstream genre. Well worth exploring if you haven’t; I have found some great records from this era- Marchin’ On by The Heath Brothers, Earth Blossom by the John Betsch Society, and of course, Gil Scott Heron’s Winter in America, a sort of soulful lament of spoken word and Fender Rhodes.
I can listen to this and so-called proto-metal (very heavy rock that anticipates the later heavy metal scene, without the cookie monster vocals or guitar shredding) and enjoy it all for what it offers from that era.

I grew up on Classic Rock, but if that was the only music I listened to I would seriously be sectioned and entered into a lunatic assylum!

Classic Rock to me is NOT a playlist on a radio station.  It is a time in music from about 1966 to 1974 +/- a year or two where enormous amounts of really great music was made.

It is not about hearing Stairway to Heaven every couple of hours, but rather mining amazing amounts of incredible music from a period of intense creativity.

I was fortunate to live through it and experience much of it live, yet also discover many interesting artists via my friends.  Back in the day, we all seemed to have a different favorite and sharing music among a large group of friends exposed me to the depth of many artists.

Many substances were consumed and we all opened our minds to appreciate the favorites of others.  It was a magical time, to say the least.

I often reflect how lucky we were.

You may be tired of the dull radio playlists, but do not confuse that with the richness of the music made.

The best  radio station in the country is WFMU.  It is streamed and offers 3 streams from its website. The stream on  WFMU Ichiban rock and soul stream is amazing, offering b sides, obscure recordings and one hit wonders and non-wonders that should have been. Also some very very unusual  yet interesting cuts.

the following is excerpted from the WFMU website:

“Rolling Stone Magazine, The Village Voice, CMJ and the New York Press have all at one time or another called WFMU “the best radio station in the country” and the station has also been the subject of feature stories in The New York Times and on the BBC. In recent years the station has gained a large international following due its online operations and counts Simpson’s creator Matt Groening, film director Jim Jarmusch and Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed, among others, as devoted fans of the station.”

I largely reduced my listening to R&R as the 70s dragged  along.  It’s mostly jazz music these days, but I’ll still listen to the stuff usually restricted to University stations back then, and stuff from my own collection, and of,course WFMU.   I love their logo - a dog and a cow in silhouette, the dog barking woof and the cow braying mooo.  WFMU! 

Follow the the following link. https://wfmu.org/