I think I may have let on quite a few times that I am a big fan of heavy rock guitar. Like Van Halen and early Aerosmith kind of stuff, anything to do with pyrotechnic guitar really.
Except KISS, I don't like KISS okay, I reckon
they sound like a watered down version of an imagery of 70`s glam rock with a few heavy metal licks added to give them hard rock status.
they sound like a watered down version of an imagery of 70`s glam rock with a few heavy metal licks added to give them hard rock status.
At least Gene Simmons was responsible for one good thing, and it has nothing to do with KISS. He was the one who discovered Van
Halen when they were playing small clubs around when they were still known as Mammoth.
Halen when they were playing small clubs around when they were still known as Mammoth.
He literally was blown away by Eddie Van Halen`s guitar heroics around `76 and `77. He basically got them the record deal which put Van Halen on the path to immortality.
But where did Eddie Van Halen and all the other 70`s heavy rock guitar pioneers get their ideas from?
Pete Townsend from The Who is considered by many to be the first rocker who created a cross between rock and metal consistently, to create a prototype form of heavy rock guitar, and there is one other band, from the
deep south of America, who I think can rightfully lay claim to creating one of the great primal heavy rock guitar albums long before the rise of Eddie Van Halen.
Their name is Lynyrd Skynyrd from Alabama. Their most recognisable song has been and always will be `Sweet Home Alabama`. It`s a great song, it`s a typical example of the style of music which the band made an artform - unrelenting riffs and a spacey rhythm section with punctuated dynamic changes that swing a mean hook.
In 1971, Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded what was intended to be a demo album at Muscle Shoals Recording Studio, a few of the 17 songs were either re-recorded later in the 70`s or made it onto an album at some stage, but most of the songs from Muscle Shoals lay dormant for years in a vault gathering dust.
For all the many pleasant rock songs which Lynyrd Skynyrd are renowned for, the truth is the band never recorded anything as good as this amateurish and primitive heavy rock guitar masterpiece just after the turn of the 70`s.
`Free Bird` leads the charge at the number one spot, followed by the first of many Free inspired rockers `One More Time`.
The maniac vocal assault on `Wino` is bordering on punk intensity, while the more
introspective side to the band is highlighted on tracks such as `Lend A Helpin Hand`and `Was I Right or Wrong`, although the twin guitar assault rarely lets up.
introspective side to the band is highlighted on tracks such as `Lend A Helpin Hand`and `Was I Right or Wrong`, although the twin guitar assault rarely lets up.
Lynyrd Skynyrd never sounded more identical to Free than on the primal pyrotechnic masterpiece `Trust`.
`Gimme Three Steps` is probably their best known song besides `Sweet Home Alabama`, it`s hard to not be entranced by this nitty gritty piece of three chord boogie.
The album ends with a gospel diversion from the guitar excess which preceded it, `Ain`t Too Proud To Pray`, while `Down South Jukin` and `I Ain`t The One` are also definitive examples of the chemistry which Lynyrd Skynyrd had going that day at Muscle Shoals in Alabama.
The band went on to have a moderately successful career under the banner of being a Southern Rock band, but heavy rock guitar was the order of the day back in 1971.
They probably never knew it themselves just how much influence the Muscle Shoals recording had on a legion of hard rock guitarists in the years since.
Loved LYNYRD SKYNYRD back in the day, I always felt they were at heart a country group with big amps ;)
ReplyDeleteMy Favourite group mid 70's was actually Nazareth, and their album "rampant" never was out of my first car and i would have recorded it to a dozen cassette's a year because they used to melt in the heat under the steel dash of an old holden with a retro fitter cassette player in it. Can't say that i liked their other albums as much as that one though and I can still fondly recall heading up to noosa with a bunch of mates, some reefers and "silver dollar forger" blasting out the open windows . Hope I didn't spoil an upcoming blog :)