Favourite 60's and 70's Classic Rock Bands

DH56 · Post by **DH56** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:05 pm

Considering the sheer number of fantastic Classic Rock bands in the decades of the 60’s and 70’s made it hard for me to come up with a just handful of greats, and of course some of my not so well known personal favorites like Captain Beyond made it necessary to overlook some other more well known artists like Alice Cooper, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk, The Doobie Bros. et al. I tried to pare it down to just 20 but I just couldn’t do it! Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun for the oldsters to reminisce and to also see others list’s of their fave 60’s and 70’s acts.

So, here is my list of personal favorites:

1) The Beatles
2) The Beach Boys
3) The Rolling Stones
4) The Kinks
5) The Who
6) Pink Floyd
7) Cream

Led Zeppelin
9) The Moody Blues
10) Jethro Tull
11) Jimi Hendrix
12) Santana
13) The Doors
14) Chicago
15) Yes
16) Genesis
17) ELP
18) Deep Purple
19) Aerosmith
20) The Allman Brothers Band
21) Queen
22) Rush
23) Traffic
24) Little Feat
25) Captain Beyond
26) Steely Dan
27) Frank Zappa
28) David Bowie
29) The Band
30) Ten Years After

Let's see yours!

csteen · Post by **csteen** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:34 am

I am Glad you mentioned Frank Zappa. I am sitting here browsing the web and listening to Joe's Garage Acts I,II,III and IV. Zappa has been a standby for me for many years now. The Beatles, Aerosmith and Steely Dan also.
I can spend a great deal of time night after night listening to the fine live concerts of the Grateful Dead that are now online.
Oh yes and I really love the Allman Bros. as well. Along with a mix of all the others you listed.

ROCK ON............

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:37 am

I like most of what's on your list. I'm glad To see Captain Beyond on your list. As you said they are not well know but I really love the stuff they did. Had to run off to YouTube to listen to a few oldies.

But how could you leave out Alice Cooper

DH56 · Post by **DH56** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:42 pm

But how could you leave out Alice Cooper

Ah yes, but who to take out? I could have of course made the list 50 long and added AC and more, but then it gets a little too busy. There are just so many other influential UK bands like Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Dave Clark Five, The Yardbirds, Spooky Tooth, and how about the San Francisco Sound with Jefferson Airplance, It's A Beautiful Day and Moby Grape.

Shoot! I even still enjoy the Monkees and Vanilla Fudge as well as all of the early to late 60's pop rockers like Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Grassroots, Sugarloaf, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Buckinghams, The Byrds, The Hollies, Blood, Sweat & Tears and so many others.

Add to that mix the smooth R&B of Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, The Temptations, The Four Tops and Smokey Robinson right on up to funk rockers like Parliament/Funkadelic and The Ohio Players and you have an era that is unlikely to ever be repeated.

As for the Captain, it makes my Top 10 list of Classic Rock albums every time because it is that good! The effortless switch from heavy rock to jazzy time signatures and even some Yes-like New Age interludes to the smooth riffing of Rhino along with the brilliant drumming of Bobby Caldwell is just too cool!

"Thousand Days of Yesterdays...Time Since Come and Gone"

button · Post by **button** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 6:52 am

i ain't no oldie but I'm getting in on this because music, awesome music...

60s
booby darin, nine simone, the beatles, the drifters, the beach boys, bob dylan, percy sledge, simon & garfunkel, stevie wonder, the supremes, aretha franklin
cream, david bowie, grateful dead, janis joplin, jefferson airplane, pink floyd, the doors, the velvet underground, CCR, laura nyro, the delfonics, carpenters, clarence carter, diana ross, fleetwood mac, isaac hayes, neil young, nico, shocking blue

70s
cat stevens, funkadelic, joni mitchell, marvin gaye, tangerine dream, bobby womack, lou reed, nick drake, parliament, patti smith, sam dees, blondie, talking heads, billy joel, jeff wayne, kate bush

Giner · Post by **Giner** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:05 pm

DH56, you and I are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. I grew up in bands doing loads of that stuff in the UK in the 60's.

DH56 · Post by **DH56** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 12:34 am

DH56, you and I are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. I grew up in bands doing loads of that stuff in the UK in the 60's.

Yeah, there were so many great bands that it made it hard to come up with such a short list.

And I love that Aretha and The Delfonics were mentioned! I had never heard of them (Delfonics) until I saw the QT movie Jackie Brown. And the list goes on...The Temptations, Sam and Dave, Smoky and the Miracles, The Four Tops, Al Green, The Ohio Players, The Isley Brothers, Earth Wind & Fire.

Man, did we live through a dynamic time for great music or what?

Vlad_77 · Post by **Vlad_77** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:17 pm

Too young to have grown up with the music of the 60s and 70s but, it is the rock I love most. I think in a sense that we who caught the music afterward have the advantage of hearing not only the legacy but the profound impact of the music of these two unmatched decades.

So, without further ado (and I am mixing the two decades.)

1. The Beatles (no one at at least for me even approaches them, but, I do have to make a list)

2. Pink Floyd
3. The Moody Blues
4. The Who
5. Deep Purple
6. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
7. The Alan Parsons Project
8. Marillion
9. Yes
10. Paul McCartney and Wings
11. CCR
12. The Doors
13. Black Sabbath
14. The Band
15. Supertramp
16. All of the British Invasion bands except The Kinks and The Rolling Stones (although between the two, I can tolerate the Stones)
17. Tangerine Dream
18. The Byrds
19. Fleetwood Mac
20. Rush

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:52 pm

Excellent list, Vlad.

I've been a fan of most of those bands for as long as I can remember. Prog rock was my favorite during the 70's and early 80's... then I started listening to tunes from Icehouse, Talk Talk, Psychedelic Furs, etc.

Giner · Post by **Giner** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:33 pm

Have to admit, once it got beyond '76, '77 or so, I kind of lost momentum. Come 1980, it all fell apart for me. Not entirely, but the advent of punk and synth pop sure put a hole in my former interest. It's probably a generational thing. The music of one's impressionable years is that which sticks most indelibly. Ah, the march of time.

DH56 · Post by **DH56** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 1:31 am

I was listening to my Walkman on the airplanes coming back from California before Christmas and I started listening to a lot of my favourite Beatles tunes and it reminded me of why Vlad and I both pipped them as our #1's.

For me it was a no brainer for I had the opportunity to grow up with Beatles music as the background to my formative years. Even more impressive is that Vlad did not, but he can still appreciate the sheer magnitude of both the quantity and quality of their musical output over those eight years.

And the fact that they did all of that with antiquated technology (with a big tip of the hat to Sir George Martin and their engineers) makes it even more amazing.

"There are places I remember" sang John in 1965 from "In My Life". Yeah, there are places I remember too, and they will always have the distinction of being made even more memorable by being accompanied by some of the most memorable music ever made.

I wonder...in 50 years hence, will people look back at this technology driven "mechanical" era now and say "man, that RAP and Hip Hop is just the duck's nuts!"

csteen · Post by **csteen** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:13 am

DH56 wrote:
I wonder...in 50 years hence, will people look back at this technology driven "mechanical" era now and say "man, that RAP and Hip Hop is just the duck's nuts!"

I can't stand ducks nuts so if I am alive in 50 years I believe I will refer to Rap as the ducks nuts!

DH56 · Post by **DH56** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:29 pm

Stone the bleedin' crows csteen! After reading your post I had to go find an old post by the shreddinator to ascertain whether I had misused the "duck's nuts" comment unknowing-like!

But lo and behold...no, the proper use was duly confirmed! Well you are free to dislike the aforementioned appendage, but shred's meaning from Aussie-land was clear and to the point.

So here it is from a post long ago in a galaxy far awayyyyyyy........

Does'nt bother me when people bag the Integra 7. They will never buy it and that means more for me. And when I'm playing those Supernatural sounds I really don't mind I have only 4 expansion slots. I like to mix The Motif sounds with the Roland because I find when you use several sounds from the one manufacturer it gets a bit samish(is that a word?) I'll get a Kronos next. All this gear is the ducks nuts and I can't believe the amount of people that are never happy no matter how much they get. I suppose it's human nature. So while all those people complain I'm as happy as a pig in ....... woo - hoo.

Now the question is...what will music sound like in 50 years? I get a big chuckle when some of those space movies set in the future have their idea of what "futuristic" music sounds like.

Oh well, if it is still Rap in 50 years, I will be long gone!

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:11 pm

I'm quite surprised that nobody mentioned Gentle Giant.

csteen · Post by **csteen** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:27 pm

No ducks nuts for me thanks.

We don't use them here state side. lol