FRUSTRATED by the lack of a Third World
War, the latent violence in men found a
new outlet in international terrorism during
the first half of the 'Seventies, as they found
how vulnerable a modern society was trying
to keep order over its teeming millions.
Airplanes were hijacked, celebrities kidnapped, and to
add to the confusion there was an oil crisis, a trade
recession and raging inflation. The headlines and
escapism of Fifties rock'n'roll faded ever-distant
while the optimism of the 'Sixties was quenched.
In its place came a kind of neurotic frenzy typified in Britain b the glam-rock boom, in which rock musicians left
over from the previous decade found ultimate success.
T. Rex was the first, an electrified version of the underground group raised on poetry and fairytales.
Headed by a good-looking,
curly-headed Marc Bolan,
T. Rex horrified their old
fans and delighted a new
generation of careless
teenyboppers.
Bolan was rivalled by a
Wolverhampton group,
Slade, who had begun
their career with a skinhead image, This proved
too aggressive and unfriendly and gradually
they evolved into Friendly
Neighbourhood Yobs ,
singing with coarse gutteral bellows over exaggerated rock backbeats.
Slade capitalised on another
facet of British society - the love of football. Along
with Rod Stewart and the
Faces, Slade got audiences
to sing along in the kind
of community fashion prevalent on the football terraces.
The glam-rock stars wore
make-up, put tinsel in
their hair, and wore garish silks, satins and gold
lame - the very kind of
excesses that trendy underground rock had been
laughing at for a decade.
But a new teenage audience
had spilled forth from the
primary schools and knew
nothing about high rock
fashion, taboos or in-jokes.
They gleefully accepted
Gary Glitter, another
Sixties rocker (Paul
Raven), who could scarcely believe his success as
he danced podgily around
the stage and exposed a
hairy chest to delight the
screaming hordes.
Sweet, a decidedly tough
bunch short on tempers,
but stoutly resolute,
bravely embarked on an
orgy of ersatz camp.
Jagger had been described accurately as "androgynous." Sweet looked
like Androids from
another planet.
Of the entire clam-camp-Glitter rock boom, one
artist,
emerged with integrity who made a
genuine musical contribution and effected some
social change.
David Bowie had been a
well-known rock business
figure in London during
the 'Sixties. He formed
various bluesy bands,
played at the legendary
Marquee, recorded a remarkable solo album for
Decca, and was generally
regarded as likeable, promising and eccentric.
In 1969 he hit with "Space
Oddity," but then faded
from the scene. His first
brush with audiences,
touring with an acoustic
guitar and a Bob Dylan
hair style, resulted in
being jeered at by skinheads, which sent the
delicate youth fleeing.
Finally, he got his business
and recording scene together in 1971 and released "The Man Who
Sold The World."
This was followed by such
albums as "Ziggy Stardust" "Hunky Dory,"
"Aladdin Sane," and "Diamond Dogs," which
helped forge Bowie into
one of the most magnetic
and remarkable of all
rock idols.
His professed bisexuality
acted as a rallying point
for Gay Lib, although
Bowie himself didn't have
much time for such
organised exhibitionism.
He preferred to remain
aloof, cosmic and prone
to constant change of
dress, image, and music.
After announcing his retirement from rock he
went to America to make
movies, but returned to
touring once more.
Another artist who had
begun his career in the sixties, Bob Dylan, made
a sensational return to
active performing when
he began a 40-concert
tour of 21 American
cities in 1974, and followed this up with more
concerts in '76.
THE Seventies were an age
of rather mournful nostalgia for the past. Events
had moved so rapidly it
seemed a good time to
stand still and cast a reflective eye over the golden age of rock and roll.
There was a burst of
nostalgic movies, while
bands like Sha Na Na dedicated themselves to recreating old teen hits.
In England, there were frequent attempts at rock'n'roll revivals and Chuck
Berry gained undreamed
of success and popularity
with his concerts at a
Wembley Rock Festival
and at Lanchester Festival.
He even gained a pop
single hit with "My-Ding-A-Ling." There were con-
stant rumours of the
Beatles re-forming, even
while Paul McCartney
pronounced himself sick
of the subject and formed
his own group, Wings,
with his wife Linda, and
while John Lennon was
firmly exiled in New
York with his wife Yoko
Ono.
The Beatles had been
through fire and brimstone
in one closing
stages of their career and
seemed only too glad to
put behind them memories of the Maharishi,
meditation, Allan Klein,
the rise and fall of Apple,
the Magical Mystery
Tour, Yellow Submarine
and "Sgt Pepper."
George Harrison hid behind
his beard but released
"All Things Must Pass"
and organised the Concert For Bangladesh, with
his old friend Bob Dylan
making a rare 1971
appearance.
Ringo starred in a few
movies and even got the
occasional chart hit like
"Back Off Boogaloo."
John released a series of
remarkable songs, including the tender "Imagine,"
hailed as a rock classic.
The Beatles had broken
up, but there was no
stemming their output.
Other artists who had
seemingly shot their bolt
in the 'Sixties and had
retired to nurse their
grievances and their
health made return trips
in the 'Seventies.
Eric Clapton, exhausted by
years of touring with the
Yardbirds, John Mayall, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Derek
and the Dominos had
tucked himself away in
his country home for
almost two years before
forming a new band in
1974.
Jack Bruce tried several
combinations, playing
with Tony Williams' Lifetime, Graham Bond
(again), Mountain, West,
Bruce & Laing and then
in 1975 with his own
band, featuring briefly ex-Rolling Stones guitarist
Mick Taylor and jazz
pianist Carla Bley.
Ginger Baker had formed
his high flying Airforce
band on the demise of
Blind Faith, then when
they split (largely due to
the size of the band and
the temperature of the
musicians), he went to
live in Nigeria, where he
built his own studio.
Then Ginger came back in
1975 with a new band,
the Baker Gurvitz Army.
THE early Seventies saw
the rise in popularity
of the supergroups: Yes,
ELP and Genesis, and
most of all Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy Page formed the
group after the demise of
the Yardbirds in 1968. During '69 the band toured
America and released its
first album for Atlantic.
It was an immediate
success in the States and
then Britain.
With the golden-haired vocalist Robert Plant as
their stand-out front man,
a powerhouse drummer in
John Bonham and Jimmy
Page's own guitar showmanship, the group - completed by John Paul
Jones on bass and keyboards - was an unbeatable combination.
They broke attendance
records around the world,
sold albums by the million and created some of
the exciting heavy rock
of the decade.
The sheer brutal power of
Zeppelin's music led to
the birth of "heavy metal
rock", typified by such
bands as Uriah Heep,
Black Sabbath and America's Grand Funk Railroad.
They had none of the
subtlety of earlier groups
like Buffalo Springfield,
Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service
or even the Grateful
Dead.
But "heavy metal" appealed
to the mass of kids who
liked to get their heads
down and shaking, while
fortified with either
"uppers" or "downers",
and bottles of cheap wine
and beer.
While the solo superstars - Rod Stewart, Elton
John, Mick Dagger, Paul
McCartney, Bob Dylan,
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell - became the royalty of
rock, their knights were
the vast variety of groups
of all schools that continued to spring up.
Some, like Frank Zappa and
his various bands, could
not be put into any
particular school. As a
composer and guitarist,
Zappa continued to experiment with the humorous, bizarre and
sophisticated aspects of
rock and satire.
But there were bands who
concentrated on earthy
funkiness of boogie and
blues - the Allman
Brothers, Doobie Brothers, Little Feat and
Montrose.
America unleased new sophistication with New
York's Steely Dan,
whose technical ability
and song-writing was in
direct contrast to New
York's rather tatty and
weak-kneed, attempt at
glam-rock typified by the
New York Dolls (the
most celebrated of a
sorry bunch).
None of the new American
bands could match the
British groups in terms
of solid stage performance and unity of pur-
pose.
Even Steely Dan proved
disorganised and mercurial on their visit to
Britain, capable of brilliance or mediocrity.
But then British groups like
Yes, for all their scholarly dedication could not
equal the frightening,
horror rock devised by
Alice Cooper, a beer
drinking transvestite with
a penchant for killing
chickens on stage, a pet
snake and a pair of holed
stockings.
Alice Cooper was one of
America's greatest rock
attractions in the Seventies, eclipsing all the
hard rockers from Black
Oak Arkansas to Grand
Funk. Railroad.
The process of rock criticism in newspapers and
periodicals became ever
more difficult and usually
resolved itself into a
petulant permanent huff,
denigrating everything
that moved for fear of
the author being caught
out liking something that
might prove unfashionable
in the future.
THOSE who sickened of
the Rock Machine and
its failure to turn them
on any more turned to
jazz, the neglected art
form, which had become
almost obliterated in the
Sixties.
But jazz was not dead, and
in the Seventies was
becoming healthier. Although many of the
founding fathers were
gone, Duke and Louis
among them, there was a
burgeoning of jazz-rock,
the "if you can't beat 'em join 'em' spirit,
typified by jazzmen's use
of electronic keyboards
and rock drum beats.
There was a re-kindling of
interest in swing style
big bands, and jazz-rock
big bands, like Chicago,
and Blood, Sweat &
Tears.
Buddy Rich, the drummers'
idol, formed a brash,
noisy but exciting big
band which achieved remarkable popularity at
the height of the hippy
year of '67 and continued
to tour thereafter.
The jazz-rock bands included Weather Report,
11th House and the
remarkable Mahavishnu
Orchestra, led by John
McLaughlin and featuring
drummer Billy Cobham.
McLaughlin, a British guitarist, had played with
Graham Bond and
Georgie Fame in the mid-Sixties, then became a
part of the Free Jazz
Movement, playing in
Europe, before joining up
with Miles Davis.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
was based on John's new
philosophy of life inspired
by the teachings of his
guru Sri ChinMoy. The
band was almost over-whelming in its power
and instrumental proficiency, although historically it followed a lead
set by Tony Williams'
Lifetime.
Electricity and jazz had met
up in the Sixties, with
the employment of keyboard player Joe Zawinul
in the Cannonball Adderley Sextet.
By the Seventies there
were many groups improvising and yet employing
the modern instruments
and rhythmic attack, like Chick Corea's Return To
Forever, Billy Cobham's
Band, Nucleus, Isotope.
Progressive rock was entirely eclipsed by the jazzrock bands. A European
movement began where
serious, studious young
men brought classical
training to bear on their
instrumental approach to
rock.
In Germany came Can,
Kraftwerk and Amon
Duul. In Italy emerged
PFM, from France came Magma, while Finland
produced Wigwam.
In Britain, until its recent
demise, Robert Fripp kept
the King Crimson flag
flying, and all kinds of
new directions were explored by composer Mike
Oldfield, who scored
extraordinary chart
success with "Tubular
Bells" and "Hergest
Ridge," albums of his
own instrumental compositions land performance.
Pink Floyd remained synonymous with under-ground experiment, and
their "Dark Side Of The
Moon" stayed in the
best-selling lists for two
years.
Apart from jazz-rock, and
,progressive rock, there
was free form jazz, which
had its origins in the
mid-Sixties , when musicians followed the route
charted by tenorist John
Coltrane and altoist Ornette Coleman.
Free jazz aroused anguish
and even hatred among
older jazz fans and musicians, and certainly alienated potential audiences
by its overthrow of all
concepts of rhythm, harmony, chord structure,
and melody
The concept of total freedom in playing led to
some beautiful chance
performances and the
emergence of musicians
of undoubted skill, fire
and conviction, in America, Britain and Europe.
The saxophonist Albert
Ayler, who was to die in
mysterious circumstances
in New York in the late
Sixties (his body was
found in a river), played
with Cecil Taylor in New
York and recorded for
ESP-Disk with Sunny
Murray.
He was a member of the
Jazz Composers' Guild,
and became regarded as
the Charlie Parker of free
music. Other giants of
what was also to be
referred to as simply the
New Music were Eric
Dolphy, Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton and, in
Europe, drummer John
Stevens, founder of the
Spontaneous Music Ensemble, guitarist Derek
Bailey, and saxists Evan
Parker and Trevor Watts.
Jamaican born altoist, the
!ate Joe Harriott had also
pioneered a freer approach to jazz improvisation in the early Sixties.
Elements of free jazz, rock
and classical music have
all been drawn together
in different fashions to
varying degrees by the
experimental musicians of
the Seventies.
Some classical influences
were employed in less
sophisticated fashion but
with great popular
success by artists like
Keith Emerson, Rick
Wakeman and Jon Lord.
With the emergence of free
jazz, it might have
seemed older forms of
the music were doomed
to extinction, but in the
Seventies there was still
a solid following for big
bands (Glenn Miller's
band suddenly received a
wholly unexpected boost
at the beginning of
1976), traditional jazz
was as strong as ever in
the grass roots local jazz
clubs, while contemporary
jazz of all kinds thrived
A at London's Ronnie Scott I
Club.
AND what was the effect
of all these years
of change and upheaval,
experiment and progress?
Well contemporary pop
music, despite its teenage
manifestations like David
Cassidy, the Osmonds,
the Bay City Rollers,
Roxy Music, Queen, and
Mud, is firmly established
as the music of the
people of all ages.
Even TV police recruitment
commercials have the flavour of the "Theme From
Shaft," while a huge
range of ages appreciate
the music of the Who
and "Tommy."
From teenyboppers. to
young marrieds and pensioners, pop music has
become an all-embracing
supplier of excitement,
escape, romanticism and fantasy.
It can be an intellectual
study for some, or an
excuse for a drunken
punch-up for others.
Students pore over the
significance of pop art
and Bryan Ferry's place in the history of art
colleges.
Heavy Sunday newspaper columnists marvel at the
drawing power of artists
like Elton John and the
life-style of jet-setting
Rod Stewart.
Kids jive in the aisles to
the reggae of Bob Marley
and the Wailers, or
scream their heads off at
the Rollers.
Rock critics castigate upstarts like Steve Harley
and smile upon a Bruce
Springsteen who has all the right qualifications
for the Rock Hall of
Fame.
Pop fans queue up for
Kenny and Alvin Stardust. While in lonely bedsitters, romantics sigh
over the songs of Simon
& Garfunkel, Cat Stevens,
John Denver, Leo Sayer
and Joni Mitchell.
Never has there been so
much music for so many.
Elton John bestrides the
white rock and. roll and
middle of the road audience like a colossus,
while the cross breeding
of influences continue, as
black music gets more
"white" with the introduction of the Philly
Sound pioneered by producers and record bosses
Kenny Gamble and Leon
Huff, who have brought
upon us Harold Melvin
and the Bluenotes, the
Mays, and the Three
Degrees, selling records
by the million.
And of course white music
gets more "black,"
whether played by the
Average White Band or
the Muscle Shoals
Rhythm section.
The great watershed of
rock has not entirely
devoured its original lifegiving streams. While the
bluesmen have largely
died away, country music
remains a hugely popular
farce in America and
Britain, with its stars like
Johnny Cash, and more
modern additions such as
Tammy Wynette, still
feeding the pop mainstream with either raw
country or its orff-shoots,
country rock, like the
Eagles and Flying Burrito
Brothers.
If rock itself seemed to
turn sour and lose its
direction during the Seventies, then popular
music in its many disguises and forms can only
continue to expand and
astound, as long as there
are people to play, and
People to listen.
1970
JANUARY: Bonzo Dog Band
split up after four years
Steve Ellis leaves Love
Affair King Crimson loses
saxist tan McDonald and drummer Mike Giles. Rolf Harris
number one with " Two Little
Boys " Roland Kirk plays
London Festival Hall with Manfred Mann, and Julie Driscoll
with Keith Tippets Band
Melody Maker says Moody Blues will be
group of the Seventies Carl
Wayne quits Move to go solo
Blue Mink hit with Melting Pot " Mitch Mitchell
joins the Jack Bruce Band.
Blood, Sweat & Tears make
huge impact in America.
FEBRUARY: Decimalisation
threatens to increase price
of albums-to nearly £2. Herb
Alpert disbands Tijuana Brass
Nice perform concerts and
record with classical American conductor Joseph Eger
King of Swing, clarinettist
Benny Goodman, plays concerts
with British all-star band
Jack Bruce featured in BBC
documentary film Rope Ladder
To The Moon Simon & Garfunkel release " Bridge Over
Troubled Water " LP.
MARCH: Lee Marvin hits with
"Wand'rin Star "British pressing of Bob Dylan
bootleg " The Great White Wonder " is banned New group
Juicy Lucy features steel guitarist Glen " Fernando " Campbell
Marc Bolan goes to watch
Bert Weedon play with Marty
Wilde 'Tommy Bruce and Joe
Brown at Roundhouse Rock Revival Show in London
David Bowie plays concerts with
new group " Hype " featuring
Mick Ronson on guitar and Tony
Visconti on bass Grateful
Dead release " Live Dead " album Black Magic new
craze among groups, led by
Black Sabbath and Black Widow. Frank Zappa releases " Hot
Rats " album Tamla Motown star Tammi Terrell dies
aged 24 Yes play concert
with strings at London's Queen
Elizabeth Hall Crosby,
Stills, Nash & Young release
" Deja Vu " album.
APRIL: Creedence Clearwater
Revival play Royal Albert
Hall " Bridge Over Troubled Water " by Simon & Gar-
funkel No 1 Singer Roy
Warner arrested in San F an-
Harper arrested In San Fran-cisco for trespassing Drummer Spencer Dryden quits Jefferson Airplane Drummers
Ginger Baker and Phil Seamen
duet in Airforce concert at London's Lyceum Huge country
and western festival held at
Empire Pool, Wembley Spooky Tooth split . 1970
Pop Proms held at London's
Roundhouse with Traffic, Mott
the Hoople, If, T. Rex, Elton
John and Johnny Winter
Keith Emerson admits Nice
have split and reveals plans for
new group, featuring ex-King
Crimson bassist Greg Lake.
They are still looking for a
drummer Blade support
Yes at the Marquee Peter
Green plans to quit Fleetwood
Mac Tom Jones mania
rages in America Taj Mahal, Johnny Winter, Santana
and It's A Beautiful Day star in
Sounds Of The Seventies concert Paul McCartney releases McCartney " album.
MAY: Frank Sinatra plays
London's Festival Hall
with Count Baste Orchestra.
Leonard Cohen plays the Royal
Albert Hall Ten Years After
grow in importance and popularity . Reading Pop Festival,
held on the local football pitch,
abandoned after cloudburst
floods Fleetwood Mac. Chicken
Shack Lead guitrist Peter
Banks quits Yes and is replaced
by Steve Howe of Bodast
Chicago blues pianist Otis
Sperm dies Eric Clapton
records in London with Howlin'
Wolf and Rolling Stones
Duke Ellington's great alto saxist Johnny Hodges dies US
drummer Louis Bellson records
with British band Film
Woodstock premiered in Britain
Groundhogs release
" Thank Christ For The Bomb "
LP New Jazz Orchestra
plays concert tour with Colosseum Carl Palmer joins
Keith Emerson and Greg Lake
and completes ELP.
JUNE: Led Zeppelin Jefferson
Airplane, Frank Zappa,
Canned Heat, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf, the Byrds, Moody
Blues, Flock, Santana, Dr. John,
Hot Tuna among colossal bill at
Bath Festival. Tickets - 50
shillings, in advance
Mungo Jerry hit with In The Summertime Uriah Heep,
heavy group, launch slogan
" Very 'eavy, very 'umble "
Organist Rick Wakeman joins
the Strawbs. Dick Morrissey
and Terry Smith form jazz-rock
band If Eric Clapton records solo album Status
Quo re-launch.
JULY: Jefferson Airplane cut
d short appearance at Bath
festival in heavy rain and plan
free concert in London. Led
Zeppelin hailed as hit of festival with five encores in front
of 150,000 fans Andrew
Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
announce plans for double album called " Jesus Christ
Superstar " Hippies complain locals sold bread at two
shillings a slice after Bath Festival Free hit with " All
Right Now " Tyrannosaurus
Rex release " T. Rex " album,
and Play London's Lyceum
Isaac Hayes acclaimed for his
" The Isaac Hayes Movement "
album, his second Deejay
Kenny Everett sacked by BBC,
partly over comments in Melody Maker
about Radio One.
AUGUST: Mammoth line-up
of American and British
talent at third Isle Of Wight
Rock Festival. Three days of
music include Jimi Hendrix,
Joni Mitchell, Tiny Tim, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Ten
Years After, the Who, Doors,
Donovan, Miles Davis, Chicago
and Jethro Tull ELP cut
first album After attempts
to suppress it, National Jazz
Federation hold their festival at
Plumpton Rolling Stones
clash with business manager
Allen Klein Dave Clark
Five break up after seven yeas
Black Sabbath release
" Paranoid " single.
SEPTEMBER: Joni Mitchell
hailed as star of Isle Of
Wight Festival - T. Rex
release " Ride A White Swan "
single Maggie Bell of Stone
The Crows hailed as great new
British girl singer Pianist
composer Keith Tippett launches
44-piece jazz orchestra
Hawkwind complain they don't
get many bookings, for being
too progressive A1 " Blind
Owl " Wilson, guitarist with
Canned Heat, dies. American guitarist Duane Allman joins Derek and the Dominos, Eric Clayton's new band
Death of Jimi Hendrix
shocks music world.
OCTOBER: Elton John hailed
as " underground superstar " Death of Janis Joplin once again shocks music
world, soon after Hendrix's
death Rory Gallagher, Irish
blues guitarist, splits up Taste.
NOVEMBER: Buddy Rich slams
rock music and the drum
battle between Elvin Jones and
Ginger Baker Billy Connolly splits from Humblebums
Jim Morrison, lead singer
with Doors, released on bail,
pending appeal against convictions for indecent exposure and
profane language at a Miami
concert MGM Records president Mike Curb announces a
" ban " on drug-taking groups
Keith Tippett debuts Centipede, a 50-piece band US
promoter Bill Graham says he
is sick of being called "a capitalist pig " Steve Howe
of Yes hailed as new guitar
hero Grand Funk Railroad
cause " fantastic scenes " in
America.
DECEMBER: George Harrison
releases triple album " All
Things Must Pass " Revolutionary jazz saxophonist Albert
Ayler dies Much-publicised
drum battle at Lyceum between
Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones
is cancelled because of Musicians Union interference and is
re-planned for February.
Slade complain of skinhead
image Monty Python's Flying Circus release album as
show gets top TV rating, and
is a cult among rock fans
" Jazz is fighting for its life,"
reveal top critics " Ride A
White Swan ' hits No 3
in Melody Maker chart, as Bolan mania
breaks. His audience changes
from underground freaks to
teenyboppers The Rolling
Stones' Altamont movie, Gimme
Shelter. opens in New York.
London Wainwright hailed as
" The new Dylan "
1971
JANUARY: Conservative government Post Office Minister
Christopher Chataway says he
wants BBC Radio One's 247
metres medium wavelength for
local commercial radio. Labour
MPs fight move Eccentrically dressed singer Gilbert
O'Sullivan breaks through.
Singer Sandy Denny splits up
Fotheringay Guitarists Stan
Webb disbands Chicken Shack
after four years Paul McCartney winds up the Beetles. Airforce break up.
FEBRUARY: Led Zeppelin announce plans to play small
clubs, including the Marquee
Ginger Baker finally battles
with Elvin Jones at London's
Lyceum. Result - a truce ,
Laura Nyro makes first appearance in Britain, also Linda Ronstadt Ike and Tina Turner
bring " most exciting stage act
ever," to Britain British
dance band leader Harry Roy
dies. Rolling Stones announce plans to quit Britain to
live on Continent Jazz benefit concert held in London for
trumpeter Buck Clayton who
cannot play again George
Harrison No 1 album with " All
Things Must Pass," and No 1
single with " My Sweet Lord "
Frank Zappa starts filming
200 Motels. Rod Stewart
and Faces conquer America.
British jazz alto saxist Derek
Humble dies aged 40
Georgic Fame and Alan Price
team up.
MARCH: " Jesus Christ Superstar album huge hit in
America Baritone player
John Surman voted top musician in British section of Melody Maker
jazz poll US group Iron
Butterfly split after European
tour with Yes Jamaican
flautist and saxist Harold McNair dies - Velvet Underground album " Loaded " hailed
in Melody Maker as " most important pop
record issued in years "
Elton John's Festival Hall, London, concert rated " A milestone in his career " " Ireland unites under Zeppelin,"
says Melody Maker Welsh group Man
gain a following Rolling
Stones take out ad warning the
public against Decca album release " Stone Age," saying " It
is, in our opinion, below the
standard we try to keep up ". Stan Webb says he's " over
the moon " with a new version
of Chicken Shack.
APRIL: Rolling Stones in row
at Marquee Club with owner
Harold Pendleton during TV
Filming. Keith Richard seen to
aim guitar at his head Rory
Gallagher forms new group.
Ban on Black Sabbath, at Royal
Albert Hall lifted British
" bootleggers " fined in Magistrates' Court. Ragtime revival starts in Los Angeles.
Government Bill threatens pop
festivals Grateful Dead
play vast " Dance Marathon "
all-night session in New York.
MAY: US promoter Bill Graham announces Fillmores
East and West will close
British jazzband leader Ken
Colyer says he is quitting
Funkadelic soul group run into
trouble with British promoters
because of sexy act . First
Garden Party held at London's
Crystal Palace featuring the
Faces, Floyd. Jefferson Airplane grow into Jefferson Starship Melody Maker raves over new
girl singer Carly Simon
Weather Report hit in the States
Free split Mick Jagger marries Blanca in France. Alice Cooper breaks
through. Eric Clapton breaks
up Derek And The Dominos
after " a row in the studios."
JUNE: Genesis play breakthrough concert at London's
Lyceum Osibisa launched
in America Riots break out
at American Jethro Tull concerts Blues giant B. B. King records in London with
Ringo Starr Glastonbury
Fayre features last fling of British underground John Lennon, Frank Zappa and Yoko
jam in New York British
bassist and composer Graham
Collier wins press prize at Montreux Jazz Festival Carole
King hailed as international
superstar Sweet hit with ' Co Co.'
JULY: Prince Bernhard of the
Netherlands invites Elvis
Presley to play a charity concert for the World Wildlife
Fund. No dice Bootlegging
of top rock bands reaches epidemic proportions Sha Na Na revive golden oldies from
rock 'n' roll Jazz giant
Louis Armstrong dies at Corona,
New York, aged 71, two days
after his birthday Newport
Jazz Festival closed after fans
riot and cause thousands of
dollars worth of damage.
Melody Maker says that "rumours of Jim
Morrison's death in Paris are
exaggerated," but then admits
that the rumours were true.
Morrison was found dead in his
bath in a Paris apartment on
July 3, but his passing was
kept secret for several days.
Funeral of jazz trumpeter Charlie Shavers Bob Dylan,
George Harrison, Ringo Starr,
Eric Clapton and Leon Russell
hold historic concert in aid of
stricken Bangla Desh at New
York's Madison Square Gardens.
AUGUST: Paul McCartney
forms own group with wife
Linda called Wings T. Rex - No 1 with " Get It on " -
booed at Weeley Festival on
Bank Holiday, Hells Angels
fight with tough South London
catering men Rick Wakeman quits Strawbs and replaces
organist Tony Kaye in Yes.
A fourth Isle Of Wight Pop Festival is cancelled.
SEPTEMBER: Drummer Robert
Wyatt quits Soft Machine
Who headline charity concert at London's Oval cricket
ground in aid of Bangla Desh
Black Sabbath break
through as " Britain's answer to
Grand Funk " Emerson,
Lake and Palmer take most top
positions in Melody Maker Poll BBC
TV replaces Disco 2 series with
new show, The Old Grey
Whistle Test.
OCTOBER: Jack Bruce Band
goes on the road with Graham Bond and Chris Spedding
Deep Purple cause riots
at London's Royal Albert Hall
Rod Stewart tops singles
chart with " Maggie May "
Melody Maker review says Gilbert O'Sullivan is " only genuine new talent of the Seventies " Who
plan to open new London venue,
the Rainbow Theatre.
NOVEMBER: Drummer Jon
Hiseman splits up his group
Colosseum. His guitarist Clem
Clempson replaces Peter Frampton in Humble Pie Top US
jazz stars in Melody Maker Jazz Weekend
in London include Ornette
Coleman and Miles Davis
Guitarist Duane Allman killed in
motorcycle accident near his
home in Macon, Georgia
Scots group Nazareth launched
at Soho strip club Wings
are launched at a London ballroom Bootleg album sales
cost record industry f100 million a year. Record companies
band together on international
level to fight bootleggers.
DECEMBER: John Lennon
raps Paul McCartney's comments about Apple, Allan Klein
and other controversial subjects
Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson
and Kenny Clare play a drum
battle at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall World's Greatest Jazzband plays Britain.
1972
JANUARY: Pop giants of the
year are Marc Bolan, Rod
Stewart and Keith Emerson.
Says Rod Stewart to Melody Maker: " I'm
bloody sure I could start a riot.
If I told them (fans) to stamp
on the cops, they would ". Jeff Beck rehearses a new
band. Rory Gallagher plays.
Belfast at height of "The
Troubles " Pete Sinfield
quits King Crimson. Isaac
Hayes mysteriously cancels
European tour. , New Seekers
hit with " I'd Like To Teach
The World To Sing ". Says
Melody Maker: " Possibly David Bowie
could be the biggest thing to
come out of Britain this year". 'A new group is setting
America alight, The Mahavishnu
Orchestra featuring British
guitarist John McLaughlin.
Start of Bowie-mania. Quadraphonic sound is the latest
recording technique ,. Bassist
Jack Bruce joins US group
Mountain.
FEBRUARY: Plan for multi-
racial group Osibisa to play
in south Africa to black
audiences thwarted by Musicians' Union. Cat Stevens
hits with ""Teaser And The
Firecat " album. Don
McLean tops American chart with " American Pie ".
Singer Smokey Robinson quits
the Miracles after 14 years.
New band formed - Roxy
Music Power cuts and
national fuel crisis hit rock
concerts. Groups use mobile
generators. " I have the
ability 'to think like a thief,"
rock's controversial manager
Allan Klein tells Melody Maker. Boom
in reggae music from West
Indies. Trumpeter Lee
Morgan shot dead during a gig
at Slug's Club in New York.
MARCH: Yes conquer
America on first sell-out
tour. John Mayall augments
band with US jazzmen - Protests raised at Government's
Night Assemblies Bill. aimed
directly at pop festivals. London's Rainbow Theatre
closes after five rnonths.
A 24-year-old labourer is jailed
for a year after pushing Frank
Zappa off stage at the Rainbow
in December 1971, when Zappa
fell into the orchestra pit and
suffered fractures, cuts and
bruises. Top American stars
Aretha Franklin, Sammy Davis
Jr. and Quincy Jones give bene
fit concert in Los Angeles for
black militant Angela Davis. New teenybop star emerges
in America - David Cassidy.
APRIL: BBC Radio Jazz Club
bans avant garde music. Grand Funk Railroad on
verge of split. Manager Terry
Knight sues the group. , Melody Maker
says triple album " Escalator
Over The Hill," by Carla Bley
and Paul Haines is "one of
the finest achievements of the
age ". Avant garde player
Ornette Coleman premieres new
composition with 86 piece
orchestra at London's Royal
Albert Hall. Strawbs lose
their folk image, as they lilt
with " Grave New World."
MAY: Hawkwind robbed of £8,000 worth of equipment - band on verge of splitting. Bickershaw Festival
features Grateful Dead, Dr.
John, Country Joe and Donovan. Pop Festivals reprieved
when Night Assemblies Bill is
sunk. Founder member of
Stone The Crows, guitarist Les
Harvey, is killed when electrocuted on stage. Bluesman
Rev Gary Davis dies. Jazz
veteran Gerry Mulligan records
a rock album. Plans to
re-open London's Rainbow
Theatre. Also plans to open
sundown rock venues at London cinemas announced.
Great Western Express hold
Spring Bank Holiday festival
with huge bilI including Faces.
JUNE: Top three positions in
chart held by (1) T. Rex
with " Metal Guru," (2) Elton
John with " Rocket Man," and
(3) David Cassidy with " Could
It Be Forever " As David
Bowie tours, he announces release of new album "The Rise
And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And
The Spiders From Mars" Listen and Lloyd Watson win
the first Melody Maker National Rock/Folk Contest at London's
Roundhouse Stones kick
off marathon "back to the
roots," American tour , " I'd
really dig to play Britain,"
says Elvis Presley at press
conference. He doesn't , Jimmy McCulloch replaces the
late Les Harvey as Stone The
Crows' lead guitarist Blues
singer Jimmy Rushing dies in
New York - Dave Greenslade plans new band, Greenslade Lindisfarne hit with " Fog On The Tyne " album. R&B singer Clyde McPhatter
dies in New York.
JULY: Mystery over future of
ELO and the Move.
Wishbone Ash robbed of all
their equipment in America.
Say Led Zeppelin: "We are
getting incredible reactions in
America and nobody back home
cares about us ". Donny
Osmond No 1 with " Puppy
Love ". Roy Wood quits
ELO and hands it over to Jeff
Lynne. Singer Suzi Quatro
arrives from States in London
and signs with Mickie Most.
Yes drummer Bill Bruford quits
to join King Crimson. Is replaced by Alan White. Gary
Glitter hits with " Rock And
Roll Part It ". Bluesman
Fred McDowell dies in Memphis.
AUGUST: Chuck Berry, Bo
Diddley and Bill Haley in
huge Rock 'n' Roll Show at
London's Wembley Stadium.
Little Richard is booed off. Ex-Vanilla Fudge men Tim
Bogert (bass) and Carmine Appice (drums) join up with Jeff
Beck in new superproup.
Jazz clarinettist Mezz Mezzrow
dies 4n Paris. Chick Corea
forms -new group Return To
Forever. LP prices jump.
SEPTEMBER: Mrs Mary Whitehouse, of National Viewers
and Listeners Association,
protests at Alice Cooper's
" School's Out " single.
Peter Frampton forms new band
Frampton's Camel. Jazz
tenorist Don Byas dies in Amsterdam . Singer Sandy
Denny disbands. Yes
premiere their new album
" Close To The Edge " at
Crystal Palace garden party - Also billed are Lindisfarne and
Mahavishnu Orchestra with
new drum star Billy Cobham. Emerson, Lake and Palmer
play Melody Maker Pollwinners' concert at the Oval Cricket
Ground, London.
OCTOBER: Black Sabbath saythey will quit touring
America due to exhaustion.
Melody Maker sponsors visit of Newport
Jazz Festival giants to London
featuring Jimmy Smith and Art
Blakey, but concerts are a flop
BBC reject a Bowie film
for Top Of The Pops. Sweet
say they are tired of being dismissed as a " teenybop band ". David Bowie arrives in
New York and causes sensation. 'Great British jazz drummer Phil Seamen dies.
Curtis Mayfield tops American
charts with " Superfly " album. New group 10cc formed. Melody Maker reports on new American group, Sparks. Jackson 5 and the Osmonds arrive in
Britain to scenes of fan
hysteria. Creedence Clearwater Revival split.
NOVEMBER: London's Royal
Albert Hall ban an orchestral version of the Who's
" Tommy". Spooky Tooth
re-form. Juicy Lucy split. Rick Wakeman completes
work on first solo album ' The
Six Wives of Henry VIII"
New York Dolls' drummer Billy Murcia dies in London aged 18.
DECEMBER: Billy Connolly
releases solo album.
Chuck Berry number one
with " My Ding-A-Ling '
Bob 'Dylan starts work on film
appearance in Pat Garrett And
Billy The Kid. , Jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham dies in
New York. Marc Bolan and
Ringo Starr film Born To
Boogie. Eric Clapton announces a comeback concert. Melody Maker names " Ziggy Stardust " album of the year.
Jazz singer Bobby Green dies.
1973
JANUARY: Death announced
of Jamaican-born altoist Joe
Harriott (44). Folk group
Pentangle split. Little Jimmy
Osmond hits with " Long Haired
Lover From Liverpool ".
Pete Townshend helps Eric Clapton make a comeback show at
London's Rainbow Theatre.
New group Gryphon blend 13th
century music with rock ,
Bette Midler tipped for stardom. David Bowie number
one with "Jean Genie". Jazz
trombonist Wilbur de Paris dies
in New York. Stevie Wonder
releases "Talking Book" album
to rave reviews. Gospel
singer Clara Ward dies in Los
Angeles.
FEBRUARY: Audience lead
singer Howard Werth suggested as replacement for Jim
Morrison in Doors. Two
of London's Sundown Theatres,
at Brixton and Mile End, close
as "there are not enough big
name groups for us to keep
running." Liverpool's Cavern
Club also due to close.
Tributes pour in to legendary
trombonist Kid Dry who died
in Honolulu. Dutch rock group Focus hit with four records L in album and singles
chart. Pete Townshend of
the Who tells of "the curse of
'Tommy ' ". British drummer Jackie Dougan killed in
Australia. Emerson, Lake
and Palmer set up own label
Manticore. Gamble and
Huff hit with Philly Sound, as
albums by Harold Melvin and
the Blue Notes and the O'Jays
are released.
MARCH: 5,000 Rolling Stones
fans riot in Adelaide, Australia. Pink Floyd launch
new album, "Dark Side Of The
Moon," at London Planetarium. Elton John tops British and
American album charts.
Pickpockets stab policeman outside Rainbow Theatre London
as James Brown plays concerts. Mike Jeffrey, ex-manager
of the Animals and Jimi Hendrix, dies. Trumpeter Miles
Davis arrested and charged
with possesing drugs and a dangerous weapon. Osmonds
arrive in London. Fan hysteria
causes national concern.
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, organist with the Grateful Dead, dies
aged 27. Rock music takes
over from movies as major
Hollywood industry.
APRIL: John Lennon appeals
against US deportation order. Management contract
between Allan Klein and three
Beatles, excluding Paul McCartney, expires and is not renewed. Melody Maker previews Bruce Springsteen, the Waiters and the Average White Band Diana
Ross plays Billie Holiday in new
movie Lady Sings The Blues
"Up in Manchester 10 cc
are laying down tomorrow's
pop classics," says Melody Maker.
Writer George Melly returns to
singing. Says Rod Stewart:
"Our new album is a disgrace,
a bloody mess."
MAY: Melody Maker investigates new
phenomenon Pub Rock and
spotlights Bees Make Honey.
Elton John launches own label.
Rocket Records. David
Bowie starts "farewell" British
tour. London's Marquee
Club celebrates 15th anniversary. Liza Minnelli arrives in
London for show. Sensational Alex Harvey Band make
debut. Lindisfarne re-form. Neighbours threaten Crystal Palace Garden Parties with
complaints. Ronnie Lane
quits the Faces to pursue solo
career.
JUNE: Suzi Quatro hits with "Can The Can" and is
hailed as a female Bolan.
Japanese bass player Tetsu
Yamauchi replaces Ronnie Lane
in the Faces. Clarinettist
and band leader Sid Phillips
dies aged 65. Jazz trombonist J. C. Higginbotham dies
in New York. Lou Reed
hits with " A Walk On The
Wild Side " President
of CBS Records Clive Davis fired
after allegations of "misappropriation of funds". Marc
Bolan says: " Glam rock is
dead!" Jazz tenor sax star
Tubby Hayes dies in London,
aged 38. The Strawbs split. Mike Oldfield launches
"Tubular Bells" album and concert, destined for three year run
of success. Ian Gillan says
he's quitting Deep Purple.
Carpenters release "Now And
Then" album.
JULY: Slade mania as group
top chart with "Skweeze
Me, Pleeze Me. Jack Bruce
pulls out of West Bruce and
Laing. Eno quits Roxy
Music and plans group called
Loane And The Little Girls.
Ray Davies says he is quitting
the Kinks at White City Concert. Family plan to split.
New band Steely Dan cause
interest in America. Rain,
mud and Hells Angels make
Buxton Festival a washout.
New group queen hailed as
"Britain's New York Dolls."
AUGUST: Band, Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead
play to 600,000 at Watkins Glen
Festival, New York. Uriah
Heep fans pelt Sensational Alex
Harvey band at London Music
Festival, Deejay Pete Drummond storms off stage. Jazzman Eddie Condon dies aged 67. 200,000 dollars stolen
from Led Zeppelin in hotel safe
raid in New York. Eddie
Jobson joins Roxy Music.
Isle of Man jazz festival cancelled after fire destroys Summerland ballroom. Japanese
bassist Tetsu Yamauchi refused
work permit or membership of
Musicians Union to play with
Faces. Alan Price stars in
new film 'O Lucky Man'.
Barry White new soul superstar. New British singer
launched - Leo Sayer.
Jethro Tull announce retirement
because of "abuse heaped on
their show," the controversial
" Passion Play. Carpenters
head nostalgia boom with
" Yesterday Once More".
Neil Young says he wants. to
play small clubs again.
SEPTEMBER: Lou Reed, Jeff
Beck, James Taylor play
at Melody Maker-sponsored Crystal Palace
Garden Party show. That'll
star David Essex hits in That'll
Be The Day, and Godspell and
enters chart with "Rock On". Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson held-up by gunmen in
New York. Commander Cody
and His Lost Planet Airmen
make waves with new album
" Country Casanova ". New
Orleans clarinettist Albert
Nicholas dies. Rolling
Stones play historic concerts at
Empire Pool, Wembley Bryan Ferry releases A Hard
Rain's A-Gonna Fall ".
David Bowie and Yes sweep
the board in Melody Maker Pop Poll results. American tenor sax
giant Ben Webster, ex-Byrd
Gram Parsons and singer Jim
Croce all die.
OCTOBER: Drag singer Wayne
County signed by Tony
DeFries to Bowie's management
company, MainMan. Rick Wakeman plans solo concert.
Japanese bassist Tetsu joins
Musicians Union. New
group Cockney Rebel release
" Sebastian" single. Commercial radio launched in Bri-
tain World plastic and
vinyl shortage hits record industry. Sister Rosetta
Tharpe, US gospel singer, dies. Girl injured as wall collapses under fans welcoming
Osmonds to Heathrow Airport
N. Gene Krupa, world's most
famous drummer, dies.
NOVEMBER: Pink Floyd and
Soft Machine play benefit
concert for crippled Robert
Wyatt, ex-Softs drummer.
Ex-Nice men Brian Davison and
Lee Jackson form new band
Refugee with Swiss organist
Patrick Moraz. Who walk
off stage during British tour in
row with sound and light man. Ronnie Lane forms Slim
Chance band, and releases
"How Come" single. Save
The Rainbow campaign started
as theatre is threatened with
demolition.
DECEMBER: Energy crisis hits
rock. Former Shadows bass
guitarist John Rostill found
dead at his home aged 31.
New York Dolls arrive in London. Petrol shortage hits
British groups. Bob Marley
and the Wailers cancel British
tour owing to snow and return
to Jamaica. Alvin Stardust
hits with "My Coo-Ca-Choo".
"Tammy," the Who's rock
opera, staged as a musical by
Lou Reizner at London's Rainbow. Riot breaks out at Mott
The Hoople concert at Odeon,
Hammersmith. Mahavishnu
Orchestra split as drummer
Billy Cobham hits with "Spectrum" album. Singer Bobby
Darin dies.
1974
JANUARY: Leo Sayer predicted as the star of '74. 20 million ticket applications
received for Bob Dylan's 21-city
tour of America Judy
Collins plays "farewell" concerts in New York Chicken
Shack split Rick Wakeman
gives solo concert at London's
Royal Festival Hall featuring
his orchestral work "Journey
To The Centre Of The Earth "
Mick Ronson David Bowie's
guitarist, launches solo career
with single Love Me Tender."
AIIman Brothers cancel
British tour.
FEBRUARY: Mud No. 1 with
"Tiger Feet'' John
Denver tops US album chart.
Drummer Billy Cobham says
split Mahavishnu Orchestra
"ended in total fiasco." Guitarist John McLaughlin says: ''It
was natural evolution"
Doobie Brothers tour Britiain
Alan Stivell triumphs at
Midem. French music festival. Japanese percussionist and
composer Stomu Yamash'ta
tours Britain with East Wind. Bruce Springsteen gains
popularity in America Eno
releases first solo album "Here
Comes The Warm Jets". Old
British rockers Billy Fury,
Marty Wilde and Heinz return
for a rock package show.
Carpenters slam rock groups.
MARCH: Musicians Union
cleared in High Court of
trying to prevent a Gary Glitter
tour of Rhodesia Mick
Ronson flops at Rainbow
Theatre solo concert. "He
wasn't ready for big hype," is
Melody Maker verdict Wombles, TV
children's characters, hit with
"The Wombling Song"
George Harrison announces
plans to tour Wings hit
with "Jet" single Vinegar
Joe break up and Elkie Brooks
and Robert Palmer go solo.
British bandleader Cyril Stapleton dies Chick Corea's
Return To Forever make first
British tour Queen hit
with Seven Seas Of Rhye "
and riots break out on their
Scottish tour Bad Company
make sensational debut, featuring members of Free and Mott
the Hoople King Crimson
release " Stories And Bible
Black album Bay City
Rollers hit after two years' absence with "Remember" as
lead singer Nobby Clark quits
to go solo.
APRIL: Cat Stevens plagued
by pirate ticket touts and
programme sellers on his British tour British singer Cleo
Laine, wife of jazzman Johnny
Dankworth, sells out on American tour Herbie Hancock
hailed as hottest jazz artist in
America, as he hits with "Head
Hunters" album Emerson,
Lake & Palmer play Wembley
Empire Pool, their last appearance for some 18 months
New group Sparks make waves
Yes play Paris, which
causes a riot.
MAY: Mahavishnu Orchestra
re-formed with string and
brass sections British folk
rock group Steeleye Span write
a traditional mummers' play
Tom Scott and the LA
Express back Joni Mitchell
Ragtime boom headed by
Joshua Rifkin Ronnie Lane
launches. " Passion Show "
tour in circus tent Pioneer
British jazz and rock musician
Graham Bond killed when he
falls in front of a tube train at
Finsbury Park Led
Zeppelin launch SwanSong label
Leo Sayer drops his
"clown" look George
Harrison launches own Dark
Horse label Who, Lou
Reed, Humble Pie, Bad Company play Charlton football
ground, London Duke
Ellington's tenor sax soloist
since 1950, Paul Gonsalves, dies
Steely Dan play debut
British concert in Manchester.
JUNE: Death of Duke Ellington announced. The
world's greatest jazz composer
and bandleader dies in New
York aged TS after an illness
lasting several months. Duke's
musical career spanned more
than 50 years. His famous orchestra continues under leader-
ship of son Mercer Steely
Dan cancel British tour because
of illness. Girl fan suffers
fatal heart attack at David
Cassidy concert in London
New British groups emerge:
Starry Eyed And Laughing
and G. T. Moore and His
Reggae Guitars Cockney
Rebel tour with special guests,
Be-Bop Deluxe Rick
Wakeman quits Yes as his
current solo album tops chart
Eric Clapton band starts
American tour with girl singer
Yvonne Elliman Druid and
Jonathon Coudrille win the
Melody Maker's National Rock/Folk Contest at London's Roundhouse. Cockney Rebel and Sparks
hailed as new pop supergroups
Alice Cooper's mansion in
Greenwich, Connecticut razed
to ground by fire.
JULY: Chapman Whitney,
Gong, Kevin Ayers and
Nico play free concert in
London's Hyde Park Latest
New York bands: Stilettos,
Another Pretty Face, Television,
Wayne County and Teenage
Lust Dizzy Gillespie stars
at Newport Jazz Festival in New
York Allman Brothers
Band, Van Morrison, Doobie
Brothers and Tim Buckley play
a " Bucolic Frolic "at
Knebworth Park, Herts
New York Dolls pull out of
poorly attended Rock Proms at
London's Olympia Georgic
Fame re-forms the Blue Flames
and records for Island
Ronnie Wood of the Faces plays
solo concert at London's Kilburn State with Rod Stewart
guesting Drummer Billy
Cobham feuds with Buddy Rich
and Alphonse Mouzon Rick
Wakeman performs "Journey
To The Centre Of The Earth"
at Crystal Palace Garden Party
Van Morrison booed at
Montreux Jazz Festival, Sonny
Rollins makes sensational appearance, plus Larry Coryell
and 11th House Ronnie
Lane's Slim Chance split up
Cockney Rebel split.
AUGUST Guitarist Jeff
"Skunk" Baxter quits
Steely Dan Mama Cass
Elliot dies in London. Rising
stars - the Alex Harvey Band
Scots singer and comedian
Billy Connolly becomes Scottish
superstar, "and threatens England " Orchestral version of
Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells"
planned London holds
"Festival Of Real Music" featuring the Pub Rock bands.
Mick Jogger says the books
about him were "fiction" and
he doesn't want to see another
Santana drummer Michael
Shrieve quits the band
Singer Andy Fairweather Low
makes a comeback
Refugee split up and organist
Patrick Moraz joins Yes, replacing Rick Wakeman Tenor
player Gene Ammons dies aged
49, and bluesman Lightnin'
Slim, 59 Be-bop Deluxe
split up then re-form
George Harrison launches new
group Splinter.
SEPTEMBER: Row over police
brutality in clearing
Windsor Free Festival site of
campers Roger McGuinn,
Toots & The Maytals and Roy
Harper play free concert in
London's Hyde Park 20,000
jazz fans attend a three-day Bix
Beiderbecke Memorial Festival
in Davenport, Iowa Robert
Wyatt plays solo concert at
London's Theatre Royal with
Mike Oldfield, Julie Tippets
and others Grateful Dead
play three days at London's
Alexandra Palace Guitarist
Ariel Bender quits Mott The
Hoople Melody Maker predicts Sailor
for stardom Crosby, Stills.
Nosh & Young, Joni Mitchell
and The Band play Wembley
Stadium Satirical band the
Tubes become popular in San
Francisco Trod trombonist
Chris Barber celebrates 25
years as a bandleader Bad
Company sweep the board in
Melody Maker Pop poll results Ex-Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson
joins Mott The Hoople
Guitarist Robert Fripp breaks
up King Crimson.
OCTOBER: Singer Maggie Bell
starts first British solo
tour Robbie McKintosh,
drummer with the Average
White Band, dies after given a
fatal drugs overdose at a Los
Angeles party Buddy Rich
tours Britain with a small
group, featuring Teddy Wilson
Black trio Labelle gain
following in New York
Singer David Clayton-Thomas
rejoins Blood, Sweat &
Tears Supertramp tour,
performing their "Crime Of The
Century" album Genesis
scrap their British tour as
guitarist Steve Hackett severs
tendon in his hand and is
unable to play Incredible
String Band breaks up
Actor Peter Sellers plays ukelele for Steeleye Span Soul
artists saturate pop chart.
George Harrison begins first
American tour since the
Beatles.
NOVEMBER: Queen hit with
"Killer Queen"
George Harrison meets the
press in Beverly Hills and
says: "It's all a fantasy,
putting the Beatles back together". Wild party held in
London's Chiselhurst Caves for
launch of Pretty Things' "Silk
Torpedo" album on new Led
Zeppelin label. David Essex movie Stardust a smash hit.
Jethro Tull make triumphant
British tour comeback.
Drifters and Crystals back in
chart. Sparks plan to quit
Britain for a year. Jethro
Tull play London's Rainbow
and the Pink Floyd play Empire
Pool, Wembley. Ginger
Baker launches new band, the
Baker Gurvitz Army.
DECEMBER: John Lennon
jams with Elton John on
stage at New York's Madison
Square Gardens, singing "I Saw
Her Standing There" and
"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Disco Tex hits
with "Get Dancing". Eric
Clapton plays at London's
Odeon Hammersmith. Faces
and Elton John both give
London Christmas concerts.
Hawkwind sell out on British
tour. Lynyrd Skynyrd a
sell-out at London's Rainbow
Mott The Hoople split.
1975
JANUARY: Melody Maker predicts stardom for Supertramp.
Status Quo win huge following
for their earthy R&B. Pub
rock groups star on Naughty
Rhythms Tour. Pasadena
Roof Orchestra revive Twenties
dance music. American
reports say concerts slump and
less new talent appearing.
Economic recession hits rock
business. Warner Brothers
Music Show hits London featuring the Doobies, Tower Of
Power, Little Feat, Graham
Central Station. Montrose and
Bonaroo. Elvis Presley
celebrates 40th birthday.
Rolling Stones seek new guitarist as Mick Taylor quits to form
new Jack Bruce Band with
Carla Bley. Ken Russell's
new film Tommy previewed.
FEBRUARY: Rainbow Theatre
due to close down again. Lindisfarne split Ginger Baker starts comeback tour
in Europe Ex-jazzman Donald Byrd wins success in
America with funk music.
Humble Pie on verge of split. Captain Beefheart missing
in America, British tour scrapped. John Holt, Rupie Edwards and Ken Boothe hailed as
reggae superstars. Anthony
Braxton and Derek Bailey
record an historic duo album in
London. Ticket touts plague
Hawkwind's British tour.
R&8 pioneer saxist Louis Jordan dies in Los Angeles aged
66. Folk singer Al Stewart
quits Britain to live in America. After "Hendrix copyist"
controversy, Robin Trower gets
rave reviews.
MARCH: Massive campaign
to launch Moody Blues
Justin Hayward and John
Lodge as solo artists. Kojak
star Telly Savalas hits with
"If". Average White Band
hit with " Pick Up The Pieces"
and announce plans to quit
Britain for America. Giant
nine-hour rock show closes
London's Rainbow Theatre.
Peter Gabriel freaks Paris audience with split image projection of himself on stage with
Genesis. Suzi Quatro,
Arrows Cozy Powell tour flops. T. Rex split. Mick
Ronson and ]an Hunter tour as
Hunter-Ronson. Chieftains,
Irish traditional group, play
sell-out concert at London's
Albert Hall. British jazz
band leader and clarinettist
Sandy Brown, and bluesman T.
Bone Walker die.
APRIL: Rick Wakeman announces plans for rock
show on ice Roy Harper
forms new band with Bill
Bruford on drums and Chris
Spedding, guitar. Wild
ticket rush for forthcoming
Zeppelin dates. Bob Dylan
jams with Neil Young in San
Francisco. Elton John
splits up his band. Guitarist
Steve Miller arrested in San
Francisco and charged with
allegedly burning his girlfriend's jewellery and wardrobe. Velvet Underground star
John Cale resurfaces and plays
in Paris, his first tour in eight
years.
MAY: Ozark Mountain Dare-devils big hit in America
Tammy Wynette hits
with "Stand By Your Man," a
reissue. Peter Ham,
guitarist, singer and songwriter
with Badfinger, dies.
Bachman Turner Overdrive
make debut British tour.
Bay City Roller-mania sweeping
Scotland. Yes, Seals And
Crofts and Ace play London's
Queens Park Rangers football
ground but Barry White flops
at Aston Villa football ground. Led Zeppelin play concerts
at London Earls Court, and
feature a laser beam and giant
video screen. Scientists
investigate level of noise at pop
concerts.
JUNE: David Bowie starts
work on film The Man Who
Fell To Earth. John Cale,
Billy Cobham and Jack Bruce
Band play Crystal Palace Garden Party. Rick Wakeman
plays ice concert at Empire
Pool. Repertory theatres
begin playing Pete Townshend's
" Tommy ". Inflation pushes
up cost of records. Former
general secretary of the British
Musicians' Union, Hardie Ratcliffe, dies. Guitarist Richie
Blackmore quits Deep Purple, is
later replaced by Tommy Bolin. Musicians Union urge the
closure of commercial radio in
Britain. Beach Boys steal
show from Elton John at giant
Wembley Stadium concert, with
the Eagles. Joe Walsh, Stackridge and Rufus.
JULY: Man play concert at
Cardiff Castle. Marty
Marsala, Chicago trumpet
player, dies aged 66. Session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan
plans own band. Pink Floyd,
Steve Miller Band, Captain
Beefheart, Roy Harper play
Knebworth Festival. Payola
scandal rocks America.
Deaf School and Ivan Chandler
win Melody Maker National Rock/Folk
Contest. Todd Rundgren,
American producer composer,
says "Rock is dead". New
American group Aerosmith tipped for stardom. Rory Gal-
lagher triumphs at Montreux
Festival. Jon Hiseman re-forms Colosseum Ss. Bob
Marley hailed as reggae's first
superstar. Three members
of Dublin's Miami Showband
killed in Irish troubles.
AUGUST: Jazz alto saxist
and bandleader Cannonball
Adderley dies. Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant seriously injured in car crash in
Greece. Peter Gabriel quits
Genesis. Singer Paul Rodgers hurt in fight at Orange Festival, France. Thin Lizzy,
Yes and Robin Trower triumph
at Reading Festival. Watchfield Free Festival peaceful but
dull after national press hysteria.
SEPTEMBER: Monkees re-form and play in Los Angeles. Fender Sound House
music store in London destroyed
by fire. Bruce Springsteen
releases " Born To Run " album, and is critically acclaimed. Drummer Alphonse
Mouzon quits 11th House
group. Yes, Genesis, Camel,
Robert Plant, Joni Mitchell
sweep board of Melody Maker Pop Poll.
OCTOBER: Chuck Berry
plays to an audience of
40 people at a New York
concert. The promoter loses
15,000 dollars on his first
promotion. Rumours circulate that Rod Stewart will quit
the Faces. David Essex in
new outburst of teen hysteria. Rock stars become British
tax exiles. John Lennon
wins fight against deportation
order from United States.
NOVEMBER: Steve Howe and
Chris Squire of Yes release solo albums. Bob
Dylan leads remarkable Rolling
Thunder revue across America,
playing clubs and universities
with Joan Baez, Roger
McGuinn, Rambling Jack Elliott, David Blue and Mick
Ronson. Walker Brothers re-form. Roger Daltrey stars in
new Ken Russell film Lisztomania based on life of Franz
Liszt. Hunter-Ronson split. Count Basie Orchestra
plays London Palladium with
Frank Sinatra and Sarah
Vaughan.
DECEMBER: Pasadena Roof
Orchestra get riotous reception in Hamburg. Roland
Kirk ill in New York after a
stroke leaves him partially
paralysed. Rod Stewart
quits the Faces to go solo.
John Lennon is free to travel
outside US after long court
battle.
|