60's Rock

Rock began to develop its own style back in the 60's. The Beatles made rock the most popular music in America. Another rock star that influenced the music was Bob Dylan. His lyrics influenced so many musicians. His songs were protest songs. They protested war, poverty and racism. One great example of a protest song against racism is Hurricane. One of the greatest guitar players ever was Jimi Hendrix. He was entirely self taught. Jimi Hendrix took the electric guitars to new levels by experimenting with pedals(distortion). He also invented the wah wah pedal. Bob Marley's raggae music would put a whole lot of influence on 70's rock. Some rock music talked about illegal drugs and social problems. Different styles of rock started inthe 70's for example country rock started then and right now is very popular. Led Zeppellin (a 70's band) started to play heavy electric rock. Art rock was kind of acoustic lighter style of music. Most acoustic musicians write their own music. This I think makes the music sound a whole lot better because there is meaning in it. Some musicians that perform that kind of music are Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.

Elvis Presley was the king of rock and roll in his time. He launched the rock and roll revlution. In 1948, he moved to Memphis, where he found blue and jazz. Elvis joined a group and eventually, they made some songs. Elvis's contract was sold to RCA Records and he took off. His career stopped for a while because of a two year Army stint. In the Sixties, he was occupied with movie-making and soundtracking. He preformed most of his songs in the Seventies. In 1977 he died of a heartattack. Elvis holds some of the top records and he held some of the top 10 records in history. Elvis was probably one of the greatest singers of his time. He was and still is a very famous person.

In the 60's knew bands came out like Jimmy Hendrix, Rolling Stones, The Doors, and Stephen Wolf. These bands set the rock and roll world on fire. These bands were the cream of the cropp in the 60's. They topped the charts and brought rock and roll to a knew level. These bands played hard rock. Rock stayed around for a long time.

Jimi Hendrix expanded the sound of the electric guitar in the 1960's. He expanded many kinds of music like blues, acid rock and hardcore rock. The song writing of Bob Dylan and The Beatles helped influence him. James Marshall Hendrix was born on November 20,1945, in Seattle. He played with his first group at the age of sixteen. A year later he joined the Army and was honorably discharged. After that he tried to pursue a music career. He played at clubs and was a back- up musician for many bands. In 1966 he was discovered by Chas Chandler at a cafe in New York. Chas Chandler became Hendrix's manager and took him to England. In England he changed his name to Jimi and met Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. They would form a power trio named The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Jimi's three landmark albums are Are You Experienced, Axis Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. The Experience broke up in 1969 because of non-stop work and heavy drug taking. Jimi would start to play with the Band of Gypsies and would record several live albums. Hendrix would die from a sleeping pill overdose in September 1970.
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