Classic Rock - Continues To Roll

The musical era known as Classic Rock began with the British Invasion bands that first arrived in North America in 1964. The Beatles, The Stones, The Animals and others were later followed by The Yardbirds and, in 1968, Led Zeppelin.

Wait a minute! Wasn’t rock’n’roll an American invention born of the blues? Well, that’s the way it started. Let’s go back and see what happened. Caution: please maintain historical perspective here. Sadly, racial segregation was the order of the day.

In 1951, Leo Minz owned a record store in Cleveland. He noticed he was selling a lot of “black” music (rhythm & blues) to white teenagers. He told his friend, local DJ Alan Freed, he should spin these records on air.

Freed’s on-air handle was Moondog. To put some distance between this controversial black music and his white audience, Moondog called it “rock’n’roll” instead of rhythm & blues. Ironically, in black culture, rock’n’roll was a slang expression for the sex act.

Moondog: Rags To Riches To Rags

The true-life story of Alan Freed is a sad and tragic classic, rocked and ravaged by the racial inequalities of his time that are so hard for us to remember or comprehend today.

In March 1952, he was to host the first-ever “rock” concert. Called the “Moondog Coronation Ball”, it was cancelled when over 20,000 fans tried to crash the Cleveland Arena which held only 10,000.

Freed emceed stage shows, appeared in films and hosted a nationally televised rock’n’roll show. Incredibly, when black singer Frankie Lymon danced with a white woman, scandalized viewers forced ABC to cancel the program.

Allegations of inciting a riot, accepting payola and commercial bribery ruined Freed. No one would hire him. He became an alcoholic and died bankrupt in 1965. In 1982, he was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Topping The Charts After Forty Years!

Corus Entertainment Inc operates the largest network of rock radio stations in Canada. Rock researcher and on-air personality, Jeff Woods, hosts a syndicated program called “Legends of Classic Rock” and produces a blog of the same name.

Over the years, Jeff has polled his listeners to compile assorted “Top 40” lists: the most influential guitarist, greatest drummer, best-ever vocalist and leading rock band of all time, to name a few.

He told me that, while the order may vary from year to year, the top three bands don’t. It’s always The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

According to several reputable sources in the broadcast industry, Led Zeppelin’s music continues to dominate North American rock radio playlists decades later. Stairway to Heaven is still the most requested song of all time.

The Heart and Soul of Rock’n’Roll

The blues are so important to classic rock, I can’t possibly do them justice right now in this space. So please bookmark this page and check back to learn more about the surprising origins and influences of blues music.

We’ll examine the evolution from blues to electrified blues. We’ll discuss the differences between British blues and Delta blues. We’ll go from jump blues to rhythm’n’blues, with artists Jake Holmes, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson.

After we explore rock’n’roll from its early days with Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, we’ll see how Led Zeppelin’s music was also influenced by the British folk music of artists like Davey Graham and Bert Jansch.

Finally, we’ll see how Led Zeppelin itself influenced later rock groups. Tune in here often and let learn-about-led.com rock your music world!

Learn more about the classic rock era in Sonic Boom.