MUSIC 101: The 1970s

With
M U S I C
P L A Y E R !

The MUSIC PRIMER Series!

A fun INTRO into the great musics
of each decade
in one Music Player!

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M U S I C
1 0 1 :
1 9 7 0 s !

MUSIC 101: The 1970s
by Tym Stevens
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101 SONGS
FROM 101 GREAT ALBUMS!
In chronological order,
one album per act,
one song per album.
Rock! Soul! Folk!
Funk! Prog! Fusion!
Glam! Disco! Soundtracks!
Reggae! Punk! Electronic!



From 1970 through 1979!
A crash course in crucial!


Music Primer series:
300 Albums: 1956-2015
The 1950s
The 1960s

The 1980s
The 1990s
The 2000s

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The Music Player contains one song each
from these 101 classic albums!

1 9 7 0
01) John Lennon, "Plastic Ono Band"
Confessional ballads and grunge.

02) Doris Troy, "Doris Troy"
Rock'n'Soul.

03) Ananda Shankar, "Ananda Shankar"
Sitar Rock.

04) Vashti Bunyan, "Just Another Diamond Day"
Ethereal Folk.

05) The Stooges, "Funhouse"
Hard Rock Jazz Punk.

06) Kris Kristofferson, "Kristofferson"
Outlaw Country.

07) The Doors, "Morrison Hotel"
Blues Rock.

08) The Delfonics, "The Delfonics"
Philly Soul.

09) Rodriguez, "Cold Fact"
Protest Folk Rock.

10) Ike And Tina Turner, "Workin' Together"
Rock'n'Soul.

11) Os Mutantes, "A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desligado"
Tropicália Psychedelia.

12) Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Cosmo's Factory"
Swamp Rock.


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1 9 7 1
13) The Staple Singers, "The Staple Singers"
Gospel Soul.

14) Tonto's Expanding Head Band, "Zero Time"
Electronic experimental.

15) Cradle, "The History" (rec. early-'70s)
All-female Hard Rock.

16) The Last Poets, "This Is Madness"
Protest Rap.

17) Serge Gainesbourg, "Histoire de Melody Nelson"
Cinematic Rock.

18) Isaac Hayes, "SHAFT"
Stax Soul film score.

19) Paul and Linda McCartney, "Ram""
Pop Rock.

20) Ann Peebles, "Straight From The Heart"
Memphis Soul.

21) Hound Dog Taylor, "Hound Dog Taylor And The HouseRockers"
Chicago Blues.

22) Black Sabbath, "Master Of Reality"
Metal Rock.

23) Fela, "With Ginger Baker -Live!"
AfroBeat.

24) Booker T And The MGs, "Melting Pot"
Stax Soul instrumentals.

25) Dennis Coffey, "Evolution"
Funk Rock.

26) Redbone, "Message From A Drum"
Native American Rock'n'Soul.

27) Piero Umiliani, "Synthi Time"
Electronic.


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1 9 7 2
28) War, "The World Is A Ghetto"
Funk.>

29) Fanny, "Fanny Hill"
All-female Rock band.

30) The O'Jays, "Back Stabbers"
Philly Soul.

31) T.Rex, "The Slider"
Glam Rock.

32) Aretha Franklin, "Young, Gifted, And Black"
Atlantic label Soul.

33) Miles Davis, "On The Corner"
Funky Fusion.

34) Deep Purple, "Machine Head"
Hard Rock.

35) Yoko Ono, "Approximately Infinite Universe"
Avant-Garde singer/songwriter.>

36) Bill Withers, "Still Bill"
Soul.

37) Brainticket, "Psychonaut"
Prog Rock.

38) Al Green, "I'm Still In Love With You"
Memphis Soul.


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1 9 7 3
39) George Harrison, "Living In The Material World"
Pop Rock.

40) Led Zeppelin, "Houses Of The Holy"
Eclectic Hard Rock.

41) Sly And The Family Stone, "Fresh"
Funk.>

42) Dr. John, "In The Right Place"
New Oreans Funk.

43) Bob Marley And The Wailers, "Catch A Fire"
Reggae.

44) The Who, "Quadrophenia"
Rock concept album.

45) Herbie Hancock, "Head Hunters"
Funk Jazz.

46) New York Dolls, "New York Dolls"
Trash Glam.

47) The Isley Brothers, "3 + 3"
Rock'n'Soul.

48) Kim Jung Mi, "Now"
Korean singer/songwriter.

49) Curtis Mayfield, "Back To The World"
Social Funk.

50) Hawkwind, "Space Ritual"
Space Prog.

51) Black Nasty, "Talkin' To The People"
Rock Blues.

52) Ellen McIlwaine, "We The People"
Guitar virtuoso.

53) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, "JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR"
Gospel Rock soundtrack.

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1 9 7 4
54) The Ohio Players, "Fire"
Ohio Funk.

55) 10cc, "Sheet Music"
Zappa-esque Pop.

56) Funkadelic, "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On"
Funk Rock.>

57) Badfinger, "Wish You Were Here"
Beatlesque Pop.>

58) Gene Clark, "No Other"
Soulful singer/songwriter.

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1 9 7 5
59) The Pointer Sisters, "Steppin'"
Funk.

60) Los Dug Dug's, "Cambia, Cambia"
Mexican Beatlesque.

61) Bernard Fevre, "Suspense"
Electronic Dance.

62) Babe Ruth, "Babe Ruth"
Funky Rock.

63) Betty Davis, "Nasty Gal"
F-U-N-K.


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1 9 7 6
64) Marvin Gaye, "I Want You"
Erotic Soul.

65) Frank Zappa, "Zoot Allures"
Rock Jazz.

66) Jorge Ben, "Africa Brasil"
Tropicália Funk.

67) Bob Dylan, "Desire"
Poetic singer/songwriter.

68) The Upsetters, "Super Ape"
Reggae Dub.

69) The Modern Lovers, "The Modern Lovers"
Indie Rock.

70) Parliament, "The Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein"
Space Funk.

71) The Runaways, "The Runaways"
All-female Hard Rock.>

72) Stevie Wonder, "Songs In The Keys Of Life"
Funky singer/songwriter.


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1 9 7 7
73) The Clash, "The Clash"
Punk Rock.

74) Kraftwerk, "Trans Europe Express"
Electro.

75) The Jam, "In The City"
Mod Punk.

76) Suicide, "Suicide"
Synth Punk.

77) Fleetwood Mac, "Rumours"
Classic Rock.

78) Iggy Pop, "The Idiot"
Proto-Industrial.

79) Ultravox, "Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Punk Pop.

80) Brian Eno, "Before And After Science"
Indie and Ambient.


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Queen of noise.

1 9 7 8
81) John Williams, "SUPERMAN"
Symphonic soundtrack.

82) Brides Of Funkenstein, "Funk Or Walk"
Funkadelic.

83) Eddie Hinton, "Very Extremely Dangerous"
Muscle Shoals Soul.

84) Patti Smith Group, "Easter"
New York Punk.

85) The Rolling Stones, "Some Girls"
Punky Rock and Disco.

86) Nick Lowe, "Jesus Of Cool"
Power Pop.

87) Buzzcocks, "Another Music In A Different Kitchen"
Punk Pop.


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1 9 7 9
88) Elvis Costello And The Attractions, "Armed Forces"
Punk Pop.

89) Wire, "154"
PostPunk.

90) Joni Mitchell, "Mingus"
Jazzy singer/songwriter.

91) Roxy Music, "Manifesto"
New Wave Disco.

92) Casino Music, "Amour Savage"
French New Wave Disco.

93) David Bowie, "Lodger"
Art Rock.

94) Essential Logic, "Beat Rhythm News"
PostPunk.

95) Pink Floyd, "The Wall"
Cinematic concept album.

96) Talking Heads, "Fear Of Music"
New York Indie.

97) Lijadu Sisters, "Horizon Unlimited"
AfroBeat Pop.

98) The Knack, "Get The Knack"
Power Pop.

99) The Cars, "Candy O"
Art Rock/New Wave.

100) The Pop Broup, "Y"
PostPunk Dub.

101) Nikki And The Corvettes, "Nikki And The Corvettes"
Power Pop.

Rastaman vibrations.

© Tym Stevens

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The Music Primer Series:*
1) 350 GREAT ALBUMS That Will Change Your Life!: 1956-2020

2) MUSIC 101: The 1950s

3) MUSIC 101: The 1960s

5) MUSIC 101: The 1980s

6) MUSIC 101: The 1990s

7) MUSIC 101: The 2000s


* The albums heard on the Decades series are different than the 350 Albums overview.


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Further Study, dept.:

• Revolution 1950s: The Big Damn Bang of Rock'n'Roll!

• 1950s Rock, B: The '70s Disciples, with Music Player!

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• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

• SLICE TONES: Sly Stone And His Infinite Influence!, with 5 Music Players!

• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!
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• BEATLES 'Reunion Anthology': 1970-Now, with Music Player!

• LENNON-esque: All-Star Homage Playlists To His BEATLES And SOLO Styles!, with 2 Music Players!

• McCARTNEY-esque: All-Star Homage Playlists To His BEATLES And SOLO Styles!, with 2 Music Players!

• BEYOND COOL: Badfinger, the Beatles of the 1970s!, with Music Player!
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• THE RUNAWAYS, And Why Women Of Rock Are Essential!

• "Exile On GRRL Street", Or How THE STONES Can Tribute Riot Grrrls Tributing Them!
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• "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies, with Music Player!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

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• 2000 Great Albums on Pinterest!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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SLICE TONES: Sly Stone & His Infinite Influence!

...with 5 Music Players!

SLY STONE has turned 70!
To celebrate, here are Music Players with 4 decades of his disciples!

A music critic once said Soul should be divided into Before Sly and After Sly. In truth, all modern music since 1970 has been influenced by his group.

Here's a music player of The Family Stone's greatest works, followed by 4 Music Players* of 500 artists from all over the spectrum. All are in chronological order.

Music Player Shortcut links:
• 𝟭 SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: 1965-Today
• 𝟮 Sly Stone's influence: 1967-1979
• 𝟯 Sly Stone's influence: 1980-1989
• 𝟰 Sly Stone's influence: 1990-1999
• 𝟱 Sly Stone's influence: 2000-Today

*These are Spotify players. Join up for free here.

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𝟭

S L Y
A N D
T H E
F A M I L Y
S T O N E

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE,
The Music: 1965-Today
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Sly Stone produced the first records of upcoming garage and psychedelic bands in San Francisco, before joining his peers with the spectacular success of his group, Sly & The Family Stone.

The two architects of Funk are James Brown and Sly Stone. While they shared a tight propulsive rhythm, they were different in every other way.

• James kept a tight groove with Jazz touches, centered on rhythm and horns. Sly brought a freewheeling looseness that included wild Rock and avant Jazz.

• James was perfect process, sharp suits, and lock precision. Sly was power afro, brash bohemia, and happy chaos.

• James was backed by soul brothers. The Family Stone was male and female, maple and peach.

• James had national hits but was strongest within the circuit of black radio and clubs. Sly had international success while playing big festivals, including his legendary triumph at Woodstock.

• James was about the community. Sly was about a family of humanity.

Most Funk bands that followed assimilated James' tight groove with Sly's flair and philosophy.

The Family Stone has two phases: STAND and RIOT. All the music from 1967 leading into 1969's STAND album is sunny, fast, optimistic, inclusive. From 1971's THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON onward, the sound turns bluesy, staggered, critical, insular.

They are the two first and most essential Funk albums ever made.

★ Special spotlight should shine on Larry Graham. His invention of 'pluck-n-thump' bass-playing transformed modern music.

First heard on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1970), it turned funky Soul into The Funk, and influenced Yes, Fela, Jaco Pastorius, Bootsy Collins, Gang Of Four, Bill Laswell, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, Primus, Antibalas, the "Seinfeld" theme song, and scores more.

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S L Y
S T O N E ' S
I N F L U E N C E

Sly & The Family Stone opened up a world of possibilities that everyone explored.

Whenever you enjoy thump-ass bass, drum machines, vocoders and pitch shifters, funkadelic guitar, stabbing brass, strutting dance, political soul, empowerment anthems, and diversity bands...
say "Thank You" to The Family Stone!

Listen to the following acts and enjoy their influence in rhythm, sounds, philosophy, and fashion.

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𝟮

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 6 7 - 1 9 7 9

Stevie Wonder; Betty Davis;
David Bowie; Parliament

SLY STONE-esque:
1967-'79
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
*(This Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)

Guests include:

Tony Joe White, James Brown, James Gang, Yes, Funkadelic, Chicago, Traffic, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, Rita Lee, Deep Purple, Miles Davis, Betty Davis, Frank Zappa, War, Roxy Music, Fat Albert, KC & The Sunshine Band, Mother's Finest, Steely Dan!

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𝟯

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 8 0 - 1 9 8 9

Grace Jones; Tom Tom Club;
Prince; Red Hot Chili Peppers

SLY STONE-esque:
1980-'89
by Tym Stevens

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Guests include:

Magazine, Gang of Four, Zapp, Material, David Bowie, Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Prince, INXS, Trouble Funk, fireHOSE, Sly & Robbie, R.E.M., Tackhead, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Lenny Kravitz!

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𝟰

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 9

Lenny Kravitz; Beastie Boys;
Public Enemy; Meshell Ndegeocello

SLY STONE-esque:
1990-'99
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Guests include:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Family Stand, Jane's Addiction, Living Colour, Arrested Development, Primal Scream, Joi, Primus, D'Angelo, Mercury Rev, Dag, Meshell Ndegeocello, Los Lobos, Fatboy Slim, OutKast, Ozomatli, Macy Gray, Beck!

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𝟱

S L I C E T O N E S /
SLY STONE's
I N F L U E N C E :
2 0 0 0 - T o d a y

Nikka Costa; Fatboy Slim;
Alice Smith; Cody ChesnuTT

SLY STONE-esque:
2000-Today
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Guests include:

Nikka Costa, Gorillaz, Barry Adamson, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Gnarls Barkley, The Budos Band, Rhythm King & Her Friends, John Legend, The Roots, Susan Tedeschi, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Alice Smith, Cody ChesnuTT, Galactic, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings!

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"Everybody is a star
One big circle going round and round!"


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!


• Sly Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its Unending Influence!, with Music Player!

• "Everyday People" - Sly Stone > Joan Jett > Arrested Development

• "Sing A Simple Song" - Sly Stone > Jimi Hendrix > James Gang > P-Funk > Chili Peppers > Public Enemy

• "If You Want Me To Stay" - Sly Stone > Bootsy Collins > Red Hot Chili Peppers > Prince > Nikka Costa

• "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!" - Funkadelic > Sly Stone > Beastie Boys

• ROCK Orgy: "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)!"

• "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp

• Sly Stone > Prince, with Music Player!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist

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JAZZ Sex: "How High The Moon" - Les Paul and Mary Ford > Sarah Vaughan > Charlie Parker > Miles Davis > John Coltrane

ROCK, er, um, JAZZ Sex takes you to the moon, Alice.

Today, we measure "How High The Moon".

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"How High The Moon" came from a Broadway revue called "Two For the Show" (1940) and quickly became a standard.


One of the greatest versions was by Les Paul and Mary Ford. The sonic wizards multi-tracked her angel chorals and his electronic guitar tones in a way that sounded as otherworldy to 1950s radio audiences as they do today.

Paul's quicksilver and fierce leads influenced all the Jazz and Rock'n'Roll that would follow.

LES PAUL and MARY FORD -"How High the Moon" (1951)



Ella Fitzgerald did the song many times, and here Sarah Vaughan does a fun homage to Ella's adventurous scatting.

SARAH VAUGHAN -"How High the Moon" (live, 1957)



Bebop pioneers often played the standards straight at dancehalls, and free-associated radically off of their chord structures in Bebop nightclubs.

New songs rose out of "How High the Moon" like these varied classics.


CHARLIE PARKER -"Ornithology" (1946)



MILES DAVIS -"Solar" (1954)



JOHN COLTRANE -"Satellite" (1960)



Outta sight!


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Herbie Hancock > Mongo Santamaria > Herbie Hancock

• "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" - Horace Silver > Earth Wind & Fire > Steely Dan > Stevie Wonder > Madlib

• "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI" - Led Zeppelin > Branford Marsalis > Rolling Stones


• Revolution 1950s: The Big Damn Bang of Rock'n'Roll!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Orgy: "F.U.N.K." by Betty Davis

Betty Davis, NASTY GAL (1975)

ROCK Orgies are songs that call out a lot of other artists and songs.

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Here's the queen of Funk Rock, badder than bad BETTY DAVIS, giving us a crash course in "F.U.N.K."!

BETTY DAVIS -"F.U.N.K." 2.0* (1975)

*This is the second, better version of a video for the same song

Party guests (in order):

The Funk Brothers (Motown house band), Booker T & the MGs (Stax house band), James Brown; Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker (The JBs, P-Funk) The Meters (New Orleans), Sly And The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Al Green, Ann Peebles, Miles Davis, Billy Preston, Carlos Santana, Curtis Mayfield, Barry White, Larry Graham, Isaac Hayes; The O'Jays, Betty Davis, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Rare Earth, Herbie Hancock and Headhunters, Aretha Franklin (seen with Ahmet Ertegun), Rufus with Chaka Khan, Parliament/Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, Marvin Gaye, WAR, Earth Wind & Fire, Bootsy Collins, and -the Man- Sly Stone now.

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BONUS: Here's the sequel video, which expands out with more stellar stalwarts of 1970s Funk.

YVONNE FAIR -"Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" (1975)




-videos by Funk'n'Roll
© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!


• ROCK Orgy: "American Pie"

• ROCK Orgy: "Sweet Soul Music"

• ROCK Orgy: "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)!"


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: Herbie Hancock > Mongo Santamaria > Herbie Hancock

ROCK Sex is all about scratching each other's back; 'you do me, I'll do you'.

Previously I gave examples of how one song can take on new life under different artists, and also how an artist inspires another artist who re-inspires the first artist. Well, today is an example of both.

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Herbie Hanckock was a jolt of new life on the Jazz scene in the early '60s, and he scored an immediate hit from his 1962 debut album penning this hip-swaying classic:

HERBIE HANCOCK -"Watermelon Man" (1962)



Afro-Cuban percussionist MONGO SANTAMARIA was quick to pick up on the Latin Jazz tinge and expand it fully on his classic cover hit. It soon became a standard with great versions by Quincy Jones, Manfred Mann, Maynard Ferguson, and The J.B.'s to follow.

MONGO SANTAMARIA -"Watermelon Man" (1962)



Big Mama Thornton, famed for the original "Hound Dog", made this Blues stride out of it, complete with funny monologue:

BIG MAMA THORNTON -"Watermelon Man" (1970)



Herbie re-invented himself in the early '70s as an afro-futurist, blending tribal instruments with space-age electronics. In similar phoenix fashion he reforged his own classic:

HERBIE HANCOCK & THE HEADHUNTERS -"Watermelon Man" (1973)



You got my back, I got yours.


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Cool Funk Roots: PEREZ PRADO's Mambo

• "Oye Como Va!" - Tito Puente > Santana > Kinky


• "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" - Horace Silver > Earth Wind & Fire > Steely Dan > Stevie Wonder > Madlib

• "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI" - Led Zeppelin > Branford Marsalis > Rolling Stones

• "How High The Moon" - Les Paul and Mary Ford > Sarah Vaughan > Charlie Parker > Miles Davis > John Coltrane


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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Cool Betty Davis Tribute: THE SOUL OF JOHN BLACK

Here's THE SOUL OF JOHN BLACK, the working name of musician John Bigham. This catchy funker swaggers like Al Green in the mood to sing Parliament's "All Your Goodies Are Gone" or Funkadelic's "I Got a Thing".

This is reportedly a tribute to the ultimate Funk hellion, BETTY DAVIS, who deserves all the love she can get.

THE SOUL OF JOHN BLACK -"Betty Jean" (2009)


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Here's Betty herself. Put your seatbelts on and hold on!

BETTY DAVIS -"Nasty Gal" (1975)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!

• ROCK Orgy: "F.U.N.K." by Betty Davis


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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MY SOUL HAS BEEN PSYCHEDELICIZED: The Afro-delic Dimension of Psychedelia

...with 2 Music Players!

Sly And The Family Stone


PSYCHEDELIC SOUL: 1966-'72
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

*(The Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)


"Now the time has come. There are things to realize."
-The Chambers Brothers


It ain't psychedelic unless it's all the colors. Here's some more of the Psychedelia story, told from some new sides.

Rock'n'Roll is only black and white on the page. In real life, it's a prism. Everybody was part of it, and in all ways. It's simple enough to define Garage rock as R'n'B or Blues riffs with much added fuzz and attitude. Or Psychedelia as the same gone more trippier and expansive. So it should be simple enough to include everyone who was doing that music. In real life, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, The Isley Brothers, Black Merda, Funkadelic, and Miles Davis have as much to do with the Psychedelic era as their comrades Vanilla Fudge, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Janis Joplin. The books and the box sets won't tell you that, so I am.

The mainstream culture at large in the 60's was for the Included. TV ads/ shows, churches, schools, and industry were very good about reminding everyone what those parameters were, and how you did or didn't fit into them. But in the biggest generation ever, that left a lot of ostracized people to meet each other and bond together. Ban The Bomb activists, Folk protesters, Rock hedonists, Jazz hipsters, ecologists, vegetarians, Civil Rights rebels, student uprisers, international dissidents, disillusioned soldiers, young college women, banned writers, progressive teachers, pacifist clergy, migrant workers, repressed voters, gays, starving artists, fashion forwards, philosophers, poor people...the list was limitless. By sharing common grievance they began to see an end to limitations when they pooled their strengths. That's the real 60's...the Empowerment Era. En masse, their alienation created a sub-nation, a counterculture. It's mantra was freedom, in the sense of stripping away artifice and making art out of personal truth.

Revolt into style; that had been Rock'n'Roll in 1955. But by the mid-60's there were now so many styles it was united mainly by a philosophy: do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. For every person who ever felt alienated, put down, pushed out, invisible, freakish, or misunderstood, this was revolutionary. The outlook of inclusion made the world a theatre of the possible.

Jimi Hendrix was infinite. He was cubism, looking from all angles for a fuller view. Your one thing was only that. He was past anyone's petty limits like the river, like rainwater, like the wind. His first cover song was Dean Martin, his first concert Elvis, he was there in the Seattle club when The Kingsmen inverted Louie Louie into garage rock, he supported soul acts while soaking up Dylan and the Beatles, Lenny Bruce and Miles, comic books and Bradbury. He watched even bad guitarists to learn from their mistakes. He was a mosaic man, African and Irish and Cherokee, was modernity itself. He was an intersection for the past and the future, for the organic and the electronic, the gypsy and the astronaut, for abrasion and elegance. He was the fulcrum for all things to come.

Jimi always got fired. Three gigs in, the Soul headliner would get shown up by his guitar show-outs and out he went. Greenwich Village and then London gave him wider range to play in. The Chambers Brothers were doing alright singing blues and gospel on the folk circuits, but they had this one crazy electric song that lit up crowds while shorting out record execs. Dylan went electric heretic too and the time had come. Tune up, plug in, rock out.

It's all about interchange and inner change. Culture is an intersection of ideas, constantly meeting and mutating. All input is welcome so don't be put out. Exchange and change with it. "Got To Get You Into My Life" was a response to Stax Records. Jimi donned his first Edwardian coat and afro after Dylan's "Blonde On Blonde". Keith Richards envisioned "Satisfaction" as an Otis Redding song with his guitar subbing for the horns (which Otis returned in kind with his cover version). Sly Stone was a San Fran DJ who actually drove ratings up for his soul broadcast throwing in Lord Buckley skits, The Beatles, and Classical pieces; he produced the hits "Just a Little" and "Laugh Laugh" for The Beau Brummels, and The Great Society's original version of "Somebody To Love". The first band Neil Young was in had Rick James as the singer. Char Vinnedge loved The Beatles, but the more she heard Jimi the more fuzzed out her band The Luv'd Ones got. "Sgt. Pepper" was the moment George Clinton knew his charade of trying to be the Temptations was through forever. Motown itself schismed the day producer Norman Whitfield started churning out psychedelic masterpieces in response to Sly. That's Duane Allman roaring out the mighty licks behind Aretha on "When This Battle Is Over". Billy Preston would become the Fifth Beatle, fueling "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down" with his keys; and the Sixth Stone, with "Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" and "Melody". HAIR, "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical", destroyed the color line on Broadway, and every taboo about sexuality, nudity, language, dissidence, and musicality with it. Visiting America, Fela was as radicalized by the politics of the counterculture as he was by the beats of James Brown. After the technicolor smorgasbord of the Monterey Pop Festival, reality had become a sampler buffet for everyone to enjoy together.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

From Monterey '67 through Woodstock '69 that cross-fertilization was like a global hothouse of creativity. It rolled over into the early 70's, but something changed. Popular acts in the mid-60's had all been played side-by-side on AM stations. Then FM allowed college stations a new bandwidth for extended and experimental music. All very expansive and inclusive. But in the wake of Woodstock, the counterculture nation were now seen as a marketing pool. FM radio then re-segregated the audience by specifically dividing Hard Rock away from Heavy Soul through the 70's. Even though Santana, Miles Davis, Sly & The Family Stone, The James Gang, Mandrill, Blood Sweat & Tears, Funkadelic, Chicago, and Billy Cobham were playing variants of funky jazz rock, they were divided on radiowaves by Commercially-enforced, racialized programming. It interrupted the culture by blockading the intersection of ideas. This polarized the audience, helped seperate the movement, and left us with the segregated, Marketing police state of radio today.

Here's my middle finger upside their face. I say that this no longer gets to dictate the narrative of Rock'n'Soul. I say, "Oh bondage, up yours! I'm putting The Rotary Connection back in. And here's Edwin Starr telling warmongers to kiss his ass, and here's peach and maple girls from HAIR singing 'White Boys are so damn yummy and Black Boys are delicious'. Oh I got something for ya, here's Funkadelic rocking 'Funky Dollar Bill' harder than Sabbath. Or when they backed co-writer and singer Ruth Copeland. How about The Bar-Kays' 'Black Rock' LP on Stax? Social commentary? I got Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' album and The Last Poets and Curtis Mayfield. Here's Marsha Hunt jamming with Deep Purple with a fro bigger than my loud mouth. Here's Merry Clayton doing her own blast on the 'Gimme Shelter' she dueted with Mick on...oh wait, where are you running to, Radio? Trying to hide behind the CD Archivest? Well, here's crazy-ass stuff from Chubby Checker, Nina Simone, and Betty Harris. Whatcha gonna do now? Now the time has come. There's no place left to run."

Okay, I didn't really say that. But I'm telling you, and between all of us en masse we can get this party started back right. My outlook is inclusion and to me this world is still a theatre of the possible. I'm not alone. We are surrounded by children of the revolution everyday. The Afrodelic pioneers I'm championing are the fathers and mothers of P-Funk, Earth Wind & Fire, Betty Davis, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Bad Brains, Afrika Bambaataa, Was (Not Was), Tom Tom Club, Prince & The Revolution, Terence Trent D'arby, Living Colour, Fishbone, 24/7 Spyz, Public Enemy, De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Lenny Kravitz, Neneh Cherry, Soul II Soul, Pop's Cool Love, Arrested Development & Dionne Farris, Digable Planets, The Family Stand, Cree Summer, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, Kelis, Joi, Most Def's Black Jack Johnson, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Galactic, India.Arie, and Nikka Costa. Shoot, I'll run my mouth off on it all day, you think I won't? (Just wait till I scare the hell out of you with my tsunami about Funk music.) Rock'n'Roll is only black and white on the radio. In real life, it's a prism. We might get burned up by the sun, but we had our fun.

It's not Psychedelic unless it's all the colors. Let's kick out the jams, Brothers and Sisters!



PSYCHEDELIC SOUL: 1973-Today
by Tym Stevens
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© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• DON'T TREAD ON ME: The Original Punk of 1960s Garage Rock, with Music Player!

• HERE IN PURPLE VELVET NOW: The Psychedelic Revolution, with 2 Music Players!

• BEATLESQUE Songs: 1967-esque, with Music Player!

• Sly Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher" And Its Unending Influence!, with Music Player!

• BEYOND COOL: Pedro Bell, Funkadelic's visionary!


-The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist

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