1. The 70’s Part Two

2. Mainstream Rock in the U.S. For each British mainstream fragment-harder mainstream, softer mainstream, heavy metal, glitter rock, and punk-new wave, there was an American Parallel. Generally less hard then the British equivalent. One of the first was a group out of San Francisco called Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) Based around lead singer and guitar player John Fogerty.

3. CCR Considered the first of the ‘Southern Rock’ bands. Some hits: Proud Mary Proud Mary Fortunate Son The sound was almost a new version of Rockabilly. Tom Fogerty left the group in 71‘ Disbanded shortly after that. John Fogerty went on to win a Grammy in 97’ for his solo album “Blue Moon Swamp”

4. Doobie Brothers Had a strange lineup –Two guitars, bass, two drumsets. Had a unique sound with strong vocal harmonies. Sound changed in 75’ when lead singer, Tom Johnston, fell ill with bleeding ulcers. Reached the peak of their popularity in 82’. –Constant personnel changes –Listen to the MusicListen to the Music

5. Steve Miller Miller got his start in Chicago playing with Muddy Waters and several other white blues enthusiasts. Followed the San Francisco migration, formed the Steve Miller Band in 66’. Made it big in 73’ with “The Joker” “The Joker” Remained popular into the 80’s

6. Journey Began in San Francisco with two former Santana members. Made it big in 77’ with the addition of Steve Perry, one of the most talented singers of the mainstream rock genre. Truly established themselves in the 80’s. Performed ballads all the way to Heavy Metal. –Don’t Stop Believin’Don’t Stop Believin’

7. The Allman Brothers Returning to the birthplace of Rock and Roll, the Allman Brothers started in Nashville and then went to Macon,Georgia. Wanted to get “Back to Basics”, started the ‘Southern Rock’ trend. Became very successful with the blues based sound. The first tragedy was the death of Duane in a motorcycle accident. The loss of his leadership and guitar playing hurt the band considerably. A year later the band’s bassist, Berry Oakley, was killed in a motorcycle accident near the same place as Duane. Despite this, they continued to record and were successful. Continued to have moderate success into the 80’s. The Allman Brothers were a real key to the beginning of the southern rock sound. –Ramblin’ ManRamblin’ Man

8. Lynyrd Skynyrd Following in the sound and tradition of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd started in Jacksonville, Florida. Established a reputation as a live performance band. Has one of the greatest rock songs of all time “Sweet Home Alabama”.“Sweet Home Alabama”. Three of the four albums in the early 70’s made the top 10. Tragedy struck in 77’ when their charter plane crashed, killing vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and two other band members. Continued to record and release earlier recorded works, but never achieved the same level of success. Also: Free Bird!Free Bird!

9. Kansas Completing the American mainstream was the group Kansas. We move from the south to the Midwest. Sometimes considered a progressive rock band, they included Violin. Formed in Topeka, Kansas. Biggest hit: –Dust in the windDust in the wind

10. Styx Considerably hard to categorize, the group Styx could be considered Mainstream or Progressive rock. Put out five platinum albums throughout the 70’s. Best Selling Album was “Grand Illusion” –Mr. RobatoMr. Robato –Come Sail AwayCome Sail Away –RenegadeRenegade

11. Foreigner Tying the British and the American Mainstream together was the group Foreigner. Formed by three New Yorkers and three Londoners. Their first album “Foreigner”, released in 77’, had great success. They could move from mainstream to Heavy Metal and back. Had their Greatest success in 85’ with “I Want to Know What Love Is”“I Want to Know What Love Is”

12. American Heavy Metal

13. The First U.S. Heavy Metal As was the case in England, some American mainstream bands of the late 1960’s turned the power up a bit higher and drifted steadily into heavy metal. The group Steppenwolf was the first to make it big, although they were barely Heavy Metal: –Born To Be WildBorn To Be Wild Others included Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, MC5, Grand Funk Railroad, and Alice Cooper. Blue Cheer was a power trio from San Francisco. Iron Butterfly will be remembered mainly for the song “In-A-Gadda- Da-Vida”, a 17 minute song.“In-A-Gadda- Da-Vida” Grand Funk Railroad –Queen BeeQueen Bee

14. Heavy Metal Cont…. Several of the U.S. Heavy Metal influences came out of Michigan. The term ‘Heavy Metal’ came from Steppenwolf’s lyrics “Heavy Metal Thunder” and was shortened. The first Detroit band was MC5. Recorded a live concert and got in trouble for the profanity on it. –Kick out the JamsKick out the Jams

15. Alice Cooper The once shocking and incredibly hard sound of Heavy Metal eventually receded to the level of mainstream. A new kind of music was needed to up the ante. It came in the form of “Shock Rock” and Alice Cooper was the first of its artists.

16. Alice Continued…. If the Stones had initiated the antihero trend in rock, it was inevitable that someone would take that concept to its “Logical” extreme; not simply an avoidance of the traditional hero concept but an active attempt to be as repulsive, disgusting, and perverse as possible. Alice Cooper is the name of the band as well as the stage name of its lead singer, Vincent Furnier. Was originally signed by Frank Zappa, and his first two albums were commercially unsuccessful. Cooper took his stage name from the story of a 16 th century woman who was burned at the stake for witchcraft. –He believed that he was her reincarnation.

17. Cooper concluded…. Alice Cooper created a highly theatrical stage act that consisted of tidbits of violence, the occult, sadomasochism, and animal abuse. In 69’ while performing at a local Detroit ballroom, Cooper ended the evening’s entertainment by throwing several live chickens out into the crowd; they responded by ripping the chickens to shreds. This convinced him that the ‘shock’ was more effective than the ‘music’. Signed to Warner Brothers, produced several commercially successful albums. He will go down for his theatrics more then his music. –School’s OutSchool’s Out

18. Kiss To ‘One Up’ Alice Cooper, Kiss went all the way to full makeup. Made the connection between Heavy Metal and Glitter Rock, with a macho image and no androgyny. The heaviest U.S. group of the time. Kiss developed a huge fan base, fantastic live shows. Had mock blood, vomiting, fire breathing, explosions and fireworks, dry ice fogs, and rocket-firing guitars in performances. They only had one top ten hit –I Wanna Rock and Roll all Night.I Wanna Rock and Roll all Night.

19. Rush Avoiding the stage theatrics and concentrating on the music was the Canadian based group, Rush. Lead singer Geddy Lee, and super rock drummer Neil Pert created a unique sound that gave them a cult following. Have gradually gone from a pure Heavy Metal sound to a more Progressive Rock sound. –Finding My WayFinding My Way