The majic of early 1970's rock and it's influence-

Viridian, you make a good point about the time line. I was trying to condense it to a five year span. A lot of the artists/bands mentioned were influenced by blues artists dating to the 1950's, and then later by groups like the Animals and the Beatles. Jimi Hendrix started his group in England in September of 1966. Eric Clapton with Cream released Disraeli Gears in November of 1967. Led Zeppelin released what I think was their first album in 1969. Personally , I think the peak of creativity for this era was when Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon in 1973. Also, I had better mention Joni Mitchell and Carol King, two of my wife's favorite artists. Good Listening!

Although this isn't a sociology forum, what I was trying to point out was that the development of rock, starting in the late 50's and peaking like a pyramid in the early 70's, had a huge impact on social change occuring during this era. I think that people in their late teens and early 20's, during this time, spoke with more of a group mindset than in any other time in American history-(excluding WWII). Genius come from turbulence and this time period had a lot of changes occuring at one time. I agree, some of the artists during this era are timeless. Their music will live on long past us. PS-- I've read that Mozart, as a person, was considered wild for his era.

Yes, drugs and alcohol had a big influence as well. "Alice in Wonderland" was written while high on drugs. Absinthe was popular during the time of artists like Picasso, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh. Drugs and genius sometimes go hand in hand.

I agree. It's the sheer number of talented musicians from this time period that defined rock, building upon previous groups work, and work from groups during their own time period. Plus alot of genius on their own. Jdm61 talked about Miles Davis's blending of genres. I think that this is exactly what happened with rock during this time. Quite a few 20-30 yr old people that I know have heard music from the 60's and 70's on the radio and like it alot. But... they don't know who the musician is or that they're listening to 30+ year old music.