Rock Bands that Defined their Decades: Personal Choices

Everyone has their favorite Rock & Roll Bands.  Some bands have legions of faithful followers: the Deadheads, the Parrotheads, the Kiss Army, and so on.  I thought that I would pick my favorite rock artists/bands from each of the decades that have passed during my particular lifetime thusfar.  That time span would be the 1950's up to today.  This list is not meant to generate fervent debate or disapproval or agreement, but reflects my own personal choices.

The 1950's - Elvis Presley

Despite the fact that Little Richard was the "Architect of Rock and Roll" and Chuck Berry created "The Sound" and Bo Diddley gave us the "Bo Diddley Beat", Elvis was "The King". Sixty years later, he is still the King.  It's good to be king, Tom Petty reminds us, and so Elvis will be long remembered in the pantheon of Rock Gods.  Personally, Elvis was my imaginary stepfather. His voiced boomed through the walls of 126 South Madison Street in La Grange, Texas during most of my childhood.  My mother loved Elvis and, in fact, had a personal connection with him.  When Elvis was young and touring in the Louisiana Hayride, my mother and two of her High School friends went to see him in Austin.  They got to go backstage for autographs.  Elvis' policy at the time was apparently "One Autograph for One Kiss".  My mother's friends each kissed Elvis and got their autographs, but mom refused to kiss Elvis because "his hair was too greasy". A few year's later, my mother was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base (my birthplace) near Omaha and was working as a journalist for the base newspaper.  When Elvis visited the base, she got to be the tour guide. The story goes that Elvis remembered my mother as the "girl from Texas that wouldn't kiss him". She never kissed him, but she did get his autograph.  Naturally, I grew up going with my mother to see every Elvis movie shown at the Cozy Theater. Elvis died and the Cozy Theater burned down. When Elvis died, my mother was the sole employee at a hamburger joint named the Dairy Mart.  She heard the sad news of Elvis' death and immediately locked the door and went home to mourn the King.  The Dairy Mart was closed for three days despite the complaints of the owner.  God bless Elvis and my mother.

The 1960's - The Beatles

Before the Beatles, rock music was considered by frivolous music meant for kids alone.  The Beatles changed all that.  Suddenly, the Beatles were getting reviewed by "serious" music critics and they elevated Rock music into a larger realm.  Everyone took notice that Lennon-McCartney were penning songs for the ages and their melodies were compared to those of the great classical composers.  Their musical legacy is immortal and will remain forever alongside Beethoven and Mozart.  What impressed me about the Beatles is how, in such a relatively short time, they created such an amazing body of work; re-inventing themselves with each consecutive album.  My personal favorite Beatles song is "Hey Jude".  I remember hearing it on the jukebox at the bowling alley in La Grange.  The long fade-out "Na-Na-Na-Na's" are seared into my memory.  The bowling alley manager would yell at me when I would bump the side of the jukebox to cause the record needle to jump back mid-record and continue to play the song over and over again.  Like the Cozy Theater, the bowling alley also burned down.

The 1970's - Led Zeppelin

From time to time, Rock music has to take a new direction.  Led Zeppelin amplified the Blues to unexplored heights.  Some historians, however, lump Led Zeppelin into the Heavy Metal category.  I disagree.  Heavy metal was created by Black Sabbath and is still alive and well today.  Led Zeppelin's music was, in my opinion, uncategorizable.  Rock radio tends to play their heavier tunes, "Whole Lotta Love", "Black Dog" and "Kashmir", but their catalog is full of gentle folk-tinged English blues.  It is the range of beautiful melodies and thought-provoking lyrics that set Led Zeppelin apart from most rock bands in the Seventies.  Sure, "Stairway to Heaven" was many people's pick for Song of the Decade, alongside The Eagles' "Hotel California", but Led Zeppelin certainly had many other songs that rivaled "Stairway" in their majesty.  And, like the Beatles,  Led Zeppelin were not complacent to repeat themselves but continued to re-invent their craft with each successive masterpiece album.  I remember listening in wonder to Physical Graffitti and it opened my mind. Like many other rock artists in the Seventies, Led Zeppelin's album cover art was astounding. Bands like Pink Floyd and Yes were known to great album covers and the same is certainly true for Led Zeppelin.  Just examine Led Zeppelin III, or Houses of the Holy, or Physical Graffitti to see what I mean.  It's best if you can find the old vinyl LP version because the CD inserts can't compare.  Perhaps I will do write a blog about GREAT LP COVER ART because it was truly a wonder to behold in the 1970's. For Physical Graffitti, Led Zeppelin chose to show the front of a building with the windows cut out. The record sleeve had photos that were perfectly aligned to show through the cut out windows.  I remember creating my own paste-up art and slipped it inside the album cover so that my other things were visible through the windows.  Led Zeppelin were a constant source of inspiration for me.  Years later, I saw Robert Plant play at the Sunken Gardens in San Antonio.  Driving out of the venue, I went past his tour bus and Robert was waving to fans as they left.  We made momentary eye contact and he nodded his head to indicate that he saw me waving at him.  It was one of many special moments I remember.  So what are they doing today?  John Bonham's son followed in this father's large footprints and became a great drummer in his own rite.  Robert Plant recorded a wonderful Grammy-winning album called Raising Sand, singing spectacular duets with Allison Krause, under the expert direction of producer T-Bone Burnett who is having success again this year with the movie soundtrack for Crazy Heart.  Jimmy Page starred with Jack White and U2's The Edge in my favorite recent movie It Might Get Loud, a documentary praising the rock electric guitar.  See it; it's terrific.  Finally, John Paul Jones is now part of the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and the former lead singer of the Queens of the Stone Age.  In an interview Them Crooked Vultures said that they want to "re-invent the Blues" yet again.  With former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, they certainly have a shot a achieving that.

The 1980's - U2

U2' s first and second album were released without my noticing them. Apparently they had a somewhat small following of fans in Boston at that time, but it was not until the War album that most of America took any notice of U2.  For me personally, I became a U2 fan watching a broadcast of their phenomenal Red Rocks concert Under a Blood Red Sky on MTV.  I remember lying on the floor in front of the TV, with my headphones on, and thinking "these guys are good".  I was impressed with the new kind of sound that the Edge was getting from his guitar; kind of sounding like a bell ringing.  It was a wake up call for me.  I remember watching Bono working the crowd into a frenzy and I thought again "these guys are really good". Time went on and U2 released The Unforgettable Fire.  I was impressed that they had Brian Eno as a producer.  Eno had been a keyboardist for Roxy Music, which I will definitely have to devote an entire blog to.  Roxy Music were very unique and innovative.  Brian Eno helped change U2's sound and I started to like them even more. "Pride (in the Name of Love)" was on that album and, like many U2 fans, I went GaGa over it.  At the time, I remember telling my work colleagues, "U2 are going to be as big as the The Beatles someday".  They laughed and thought I was nuts.  Who's laughing now?  As predicted, U2 continued to develop into the world-class rock band they are today.  The Joshua Tree won Grammy Awards and got their faces on Time magazine.  Achtung Baby gave us "One", which is perhaps one of the greatest songs ever written by anyone ever.  The Zoo TV tour that promoted Achtung Baby was an unprecented spectacle. I remember seeing them at the Astrodome in Houston and my friend Roland fell off the chair he had been standing on. For the Popmart tour, my daughter Jessica accompanied me to see U2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.  We had floor seats and got to see them up close. Crazy!  My best friend Rob has gone to see U2 with me more than anyone else.   Here is a photo that Rob took of Bono last year.

From The Joshua Tree tour, Zoo TV, Popmart, the Elevation tour, the Vertigo tour and last year on the No Line on the Horizon tour. There is no horizon for U2. Their music is limitless and I expect continued greatness for years to come.





The 1990's - Pearl Jam

Some might say Nirvana or Nine Inch Nails should be considered the best rock bands of the '90's, I would not argue with that.  Sadly, however, Kurt Cobain left us too soon. Like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin, Kurt was way too young to say goodbye.  Nirvana's majestic Nevermind was a definite turning point for rock music and their Unplugged in New York is a haunting reminder of just how talented they were. Similarly, Trent Reznor is a musical genius who took industrial music and, like an alchemist, conjoured up a new kind of metal machine music that makes Nine Inch Nails one of the most important bands of the 1990's.  So why did I choose Pearl Jam?  Not just because they are still around today and still making some of the best music of their career, but because of Eddie Vedder's committment to his art and his beliefs.  He is, in many ways, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, a steadfast defender of human rights.  Plus, the musicianship of the all the members of Pearl Jam is reminiscent of The Who.  The band's chemistry and virtuosity propel them to places that most rock bands never reach. Once again, my best friend Rob and I saw them perform at Southpark Meadows in Austin and it was one of the best concerts of all time.  The Ramones opened.  Rob and I were caught in the mosh pit and the entire audience was undulating like one large jellyfish.  It was truly awesome.  Pearl Jam, like Springsteen and the E Street Band, put on a tremendous show that tests your stamina and doesn't stop until your rock quota has been met.  On record, for me, their 1991 album Ten, their 1994 album Vitalogy, and their most recent album Backspacer, contain their best work.  However, their live shows set them apart from lesser bands.  They rock like their lives depend on it.

The 2000's - Kings of Leon

If Elvis was "The King" that started the whole thing, the new kings are the Kings of Leon.  The torch of Rock & Roll has been passed to them and they have ignited an inferno.  Like many rock bands, the Kings of Leon released several outstanding albums before even getting noticed by most people.  2003's Youth and Young Manhood had the killer track "Molly's Chambers".  Dig this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLaJkbkG5NI
In 2004, they gave us Aha Shake Heartbreak, another amazing album full of rocking tunes with catchy hooks and perplexing lyrics.  By 2007, they had released Because of the Times, were appearing on Letterman, and were about the blow up to rock stardom.  Their song "On Call" got considerable radio airplay.  I missed my chance to see them in a small venue when they played at Sunset Station in San Antonio.  Truly, I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I missed that concert.  Now they are playing arenas, have been on Good Morning America, won three Grammy Awards this year for 'Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group', 'Best Rock Song' and 'Record Of The Year'.  They were given their 'Record of the Year' award by Ringo Starr, which must have been a great moment for them.  I will see them someday.  You should too.