Overview

Emerging from a period of protest and social unrest, 1968 was the year that ushered in gut-punching sounds that would define classic and hard rock—the formation of bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath rolled away the light sounds of psychedelic music and Flower Power. Celebrated music journalist & author John Einarson provides the first detailed account of this crucial period. Einarson begins by examining the birth of psychedelic music and experimentation beginning in 1965 and the resultant Summer of Love, showing how The Who and The Jimi Hendrix Experience planted the seeds for the harder rock sounds at The Monterey Pop Festival. Music and popular culture always reflect prevailing social and political conditions, and 1968 was no exception. Events like the Tet Offensive, student protests around the world, the My Lai massacre, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Chicago Democratic National Convention protests, and the election of Richard Nixon set the stage for a more visceral music that reflected the sense of alienation, frustration, and violence among young people who rejected the vacuous platitudes of Flower Power. Einarson traces the evolution of a harder rock sound throughout the year as well as the formation of pivotal hard rock and heavy metal bands in 1968, including Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin who would provide the all-important foundation for what we know today as classic rock.

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9781538197776

Table of Contents

Reviews

""This is amazingly detailed research and information. John Einarson has created a resource that present and future rock scholars will go to quite often. He's got everything in the book, short of Jimmy Page's shoe-size and Hendrix's guitar string gauge. Well done, I must say.""--John Kay ""founder and leader of Steppenwolf"" John Einarsonrsquo;s impressive knowledge of rock and roll history is outshone only by his deep passion for music. He has written an engaging and impeccably researched account of how hard rock mdash;and its derivatives mdash;were born out of the ashes of a turbulent time. This will strike a power chord with music fans all over. Rock on!--Lisa M. Roth, producer, music documentaries; ""Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf"" and ""RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World"" This book joins up all the dots! An interesting read about rock music getting heavier in 1968.--Jim McCarty, drummer for Yardbirds and Renaissance, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Covering the multifaceted road to classic rock, John Einarson offers history, context, and occasional personal anecdotes, digging deep to uncover how 1967rsquo;s optimistic, psychedelic sounds gave way to 1968rsquo;s darker, heavier bands. From Monterey Pop to Woodstock and Altamont, music and drugs got harder as AM radio gave way to FM. Half a century later, FM radio remains focused on nonstop classic rock. From Born to be Wild to Dazed and Confused: Rock Musicrsquo;s Revolution in 1968 explains why.--John Cody, musician, teacher, and author of Happy Forever: My Musical Adventures with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, and More

Author Information

John Einarson is an award-winning author of more than twenty music biographies including Neil Young, Randy Bachman, John Kay of Steppenwolf, Ian & Sylvia, The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Arthur Lee & Love, and Buffalo Springfield. Four of his books have been on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list while several have been ranked among the top ten best music biographies in the UK. Einarson received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in 2006. He has written for Mojo, Uncut, Goldmine, Discoveries, Record Collector, and Classic Rock and is a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press.He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

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