I Tend to Agree with this quote from Ed King

Tom Olson · From: Spokane, WA

Ed King was a member of the 60's band "Strawberry Alarm Clock" and also was a member of "Lynyrd Skynyrd." I recently read an on-line interview with Ed, in which he stated:

"Not that there's that many artists who are really different. A lot of 'em, to me, all sound alike. I could just be getting old and jaded too. But, back then, there were some records and artists who were really different. To me, all that stuff from the 60s, every hit record that came out of the 60s to me was so definitive and different. You'll never hear music like that again. It was some of the greatest music."

I tend to agree.

Leslie Ehrlich · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Hair metal was in its infancy during my latter years in high school (1978-1980). Van Halen was all the rage and became the prototype for the hair bands of the 1980s, and soon 'hard rock' gave way to 'heavy metal'. Sure there were other 'metal' bands around during the late 1970s, but none of them had the same impact as Van Halen.

So while other kids in high school were acting cool and listening to Van Halen and whatever else passed for 'metal' back then, I was into Southern rock. Bands like Hatchet and Skynyrd did it for me, and I thought it was good footstompin' guitar-driven rock 'n' roll.

As I kept on listening to Skynyrd, I got to thinking that Ed was the best lead guitarist in the band. His solos didn't sound like anything else I'd ever heard. A few years later I read an interview in a guitar magazine about him, and he said he wanted to go in a different direction with his playing and his choice in equipment. While the other guys in the band were wailing blues riffs with Gibson guitars and Marshall amps, he squeezed out tasty solos with a Strat and a silver-faced Twin.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I think the drive to conformity was largely driven by record companies and producers - the few bands that snuck through in the 80's with original sounds, like Dire Straits and the Police, did so because they came to their contract with a fully-formed, complete sound. Nowadays, thankfully, I think the tide has turned back towards originality, thanks to the internet. Unfortunately to break big you've got to try to get past the Clear Channel radio programmers who are looking for the next big hit - and they already know what a hit sounds like, because it sounds just like the last one.... Ed King needs to dig a bit deeper, there's some great guitar albums out now. John Petrucci's and Paul Gilbert's recent solo albums rival the best of Steve Morse's glory years, if genius rock guitar is what Ed's looking for.

A concurrent problem is that there are now a multitude of books and experts who have quantified exactly what "creativity" is, and how to be that way. It used to be that an honest, somewhat haphazard blend of R&B and country could result in rock & roll; nowadays people know that by blending styles, they're being "creative", so you end up with didgeridoos on your breakfast cereal commercial and sitars on your rap songs. Ooh! I'm creative! Razz

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I strongly agree with the observation.

These days every thing is too pigeon-holed.
You have to be either this or that. Whichever you are, the other side is wrong.

The the original Woodstock Festival is a great example of the diversity of the 60s.

The kids there were enjoying music by artists as diverse as Jimi, Ravi, Arlo, Sha-na-na, etc, etc.

You could never please a crowd today by booking Acid Rock, Classical Indian, Acoustic Folk, and 50s Rock and Roll on the same bill.

In the late 60s I saw Led Zep at the Fillmore East, the opening act was the acapella Gospel group "Porters Popular Preachers". They were treated with respect, and everyone enjoyed their excellent music.

Todays fans argue over different types of Metal, Rap, or even Country.

Sadly, open minds are a thing of the past.

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Who woulda thunk a guy from Strawberry Alarm Clock would end up in Lynyrd Skynyrd? Which makes me wonder: whatever did happen to Freddie and the Dreamers?? Whoa!

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Freddie Garrity retired from music in 2000, following a heart attack. He passed away last May.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5000396.stm

I remember "Incense And Pepperments" as one of my first guitar songs, in a kid band. It was a current hit. We never did any Freddy songs.

David Doggett · Posted 24 Aug 2007 9:03 am

Well, I was about to disagree with Tom and point out that there is a lot of different new stuff out there, so different that we older people don't even bother to listen to it. Then I read Joey's post, and now am thinking maybe the '60s really were more open, at least for FM radio, concerts and festivals. For awhile there the walls did sort of come down, and kids were really open to all sorts of things. There are a lot of different things out there now, but they are all tucked away in different categories, and too few people listen to a bunch of different categories.

For one thing, there use to be fewer radio stations. On a pop music station in the '50s and '60s you would get mostly the type of music the station was known for, but also a smattering of other stuff. A rock'n'roll station would play an occassional hit from country or R&B. Nowadays, there are many more stations (and satelite, internet, etc.) and categories, but they all stick to their category very rigidly.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

"96 Tears"... ? & the Mysterian's bass player Mel Schacher later went on to form Grand Funk Railroad with Mark Farner, and Bob Seger's future Silver Bullet drummer Don Brewer. That doesn't freak me out; what freaks me out is that the very first time I heard Mahavishnu John McLaughlin was in 1966, on a song called "Winchester Cathedral" from the New Vaudeville Band. His style later changed somewhat more than some other Brit-Pop artists.

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

Mike P -- I believe John Paul Jones played on the Hermit's recordings as a session player, along with Jimmy Page and others. Still strange, but we're looking at 1964 versus 1969...a lot changed in 5 years.

I think a lot of the musical diversity of the late sixties was due in part to FM radio. FM underground stations were in their infancy and lots of local renegade DJ's would play all kinds of stuff. They weren't controlled by the corporate suits back then. I remember knocking at the door of the local San Diego station KPRI one night at 1:30 in the morning and asking the guy to play the entire Santana Abraxas album, and he did it...no breaks, no commercials. That station played so much different stuff back then...it was amazing. A lot of requests. I think they played more diverse material because they played what people wanted to hear at that time. Just a thought.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

In europe the bills for what can be called 'rainbow festivals',
are still quite eclectic and varied.

In one show I've seen country revival act

On one bill you have
A country revival act

A 20 piece British rock n funk band
with a steel player,

Followed by half rap, half trance
with a metal lead player,

Followed by Taraf Des Hadouks a 10 piece gypsy band
from Transylvania that caused slam dancing without
a single amp; totally acoustic

The Europeans are less pigeon-hole'ish in their bookings.

Not to say many are not quite narrow minded
within a specific genre; Like jazz being ONLY
Bird and Trane, or Django, etc.
_________________
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.

Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!

LJ Eiffert · From: California, USA

Hey Brother & Sisters, As a Drummer in the 50's with New Orleans own, THE TOKENS & with Rock N Roll JOHNNY ANGEL,what changed the MUSIC WORLD was a thing that Dick Clark put together Called, Automation Radio. No D J's, right into the KARI-O-KIE world where our customers became the Stars. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I rather agree with that too. It's my feeling that rock music blossomed in the early '60s, and then sorta faded and died in the early '70s. The sheer variety of artists, songs, and styles was phenomenal, you could hear rock music based on any style you chose...from jazz to classical. There were a million little labels struggling to get a hit, and the majors hadn't locked up the markets yet. Once really big business took over the market, all the uniqueness went out of the music. We went from hundreds of different labels on the charts to a dozen or less. The quest was no longer making something different and good (and making a living), it became a big numbers game..."We gotta make more and more money." And, as I've noticed so often, greedy rich people tend to really screw things up. So it was with the music.

Barry Blackwood · Posted 25 Aug 2007 7:43 am

Donny, I refer to it as the "Attack of the Bean Counters." Same thing happened to the motion picture business ....

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I too was a major Southern Rock and Skynyrd fan in the late 70's, and played alot of Skynyrd on stage in the 80's.
One thing for sure. Ed King is a kick arse lead guitar player!
I saw one of the first LS reunion tours in summer of '84 (I think) at Compton Terrace outside of Pheonix AZ.
Gary Rossingtons band opened the show, then when LS came out, Ed spoke a bit about Ronnie VanZandt, and about getting clean from drugs, and the he ripped into the intro of Workin' For MSA!
Killer Strat tone with a bit of that southern rock "grit".
Thanks for the great memory!
~pb

Leslie Ehrlich · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Marlin Smoot · From: Kansas

Disco music almost killed off all forms of music. It's sound left its stamp in many formats of music from Country to Classical for a period of time.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Back in the 50s, there was Bill Haley and Elvis and Jerry lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Buddy Holly etc. These guys were all REAL. They created music that came from their hearts and souls, and it shows.

Then after a couple of years the corporations moved in and created the teen idol thing: Frankie Avalon, Fabian, the various Bobbys (Vee, Vinton and Rydell) and in the process robbed the music of it's vitality.

Then in the 60s, thanks to Dylan and the Beatles, the making of music reverted back to real people and there was a huge outpouring of creativity, till the corporations took over once again and once again turned the music into mush.

(Unprintable expletive) the corporations. I hope they all move to those man made islands in Dubai and drown when the icebergs melt.

Remember, FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS LISTEN TO CORPORATE ROCK.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Leslie Ehrlich · From: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Eric Jaeger · From: Oakland, California, USA

I too was about to chime in that we all have the greatest affinity to music we grew up on, but then I saw the comment about how wide-ranging tastes were in the (late) 60's and had to re-think. I think all of my friends' record collections contained at least a couple of classical albums, at least one bluegrass album, a number of acoustic folk albums, a Ravi Shankar album, and a couple of Miles/Coltrane/Charles Lloyd albums. In addition to the rock you'd expect. It was a point of pride to *not* be narrowly locked in to one genre.

Bill Graham (I grew up in San Francisco) also made a point of booking some very non-traditional performers into the Fillmore along with the Dead and the rest. We now take BB and Albert King for granted, but most white people hadn't heard of them then, and Bill booked them. Likewise Gabor Szabo, Ali Akbar Khan, Miles Davis, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band... there were some truly weird bills. And the audience loved it.

People now are like academic entomologists who only study fruit flies. "Hey, I only listen to contemporary heavy hair metal..."

No wonder music is getting so sterile.

-eric

p.s. What Mike Perlowin said ...

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

I'd like to mention that Woodstock was referenced with musical diversity in mind. That was 1969. Let's go back a couple of years to Monterey, 1967. Talk about an eclectic mix: Simon and Garfunkle, The Animals, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and the Papas, Scott Mackenzie, Ravi Shankar, Canned Heat, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin), Otis Redding, The Association, Booker T and The MG's, Hugh Masekela, Mike Bloomfield, etc. Talk about a wide assortment of performers. Smile

Chris Forbes · From: Beltsville, MD, USA

David Mason, I thought I was the only one who knew such obscure trivia about Grand Funk (and don't forget their keyboard player Craig Frost joined the Silver Bullet Band before Don jumped aboard). I don't even know you, but you're ok in my book!!!!!

ajm · From: Los Angeles

Just because anyone listens to or listened to rock, jazz, classical, country or whatever does not make them any "better" in any way (musically, culturally, or whatever) than anyone else. I like what I like because I like it, not because someone else tells me I'm supposed to like it.

".....Simon and Garfunkle, The Animals, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and the Papas, Scott Mackenzie, Ravi Shankar, Canned Heat, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin), Otis Redding, The Association, Booker T and The MG's, Hugh Masekela, Mike Bloomfield,....."

When I look over this list, if I add a few more groups, what you basically have is Top 40 AM radio from the mid 60's to mid 70's. If anything, it was so much EASIER to hear a variety of things back then.

I don't think disco killed anything, and if it did, it didn't do near as much damage as video and MTV did. When you put out a record in the 60's-70's, the RECORD and the SONG had to be good first. Once image became the predominant factor over the music it was all over.
_________________
Artie McEwan

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

Good, tasteful well written and well articulated music has become secondary to performance.

. Good looks and image are all that matters. If you look "hot" you are good to go.
Talent is most certainly optional today..

Take one glance at todays country and pop """"superstars""""... Good looks with little substance... Yet they are multi multi millionaires..

Yes,coporate rock indeed, yet country is shamefully leading the way in lackluster talent dressed up in muscle T's, Stetsons, boob jobs and designer dresses... bob

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

What's interesting to me is that I still buy a lot of CD's, as do many of my old, fat friends. However, virtually everything I buy comes about as a result of internet investigation or one-reference-leading-to-another; it has nothing whatever to do with what the corporations are marketing. Their sales are plummeting, their businesses are tanking, yet they keep trying to sell records to 17-year-olds.

It's simple demographics to figure out that the population is aging, and that the median age of CD-buying people is rising, yet the corporations ignore the clamoring of the old fat demographic for real music, while desperately attempting to shoehorn a failed business model down our throats.

The "Pussycat Dolls"?!? Some people just deserve failure.

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