Led Zeppelin

Then a five dollar used guitar that Jimi’s father had bought off one of his friends soon replaced the ukulele. Shortly after that Jimi formed his first band called the “Velvetones”, it was short lived. One year later his father once again bought Jimi another guitar, although this time it was an electric Supro Ozark 1560s this changed everything for Jimi. With the much-needed support of his father and the undivided attentiveness Jimi had to put into his music because he could not read nor write music made him very special in the art. In 1961 Jimi Hendrix enlisted in the United States Army, even earning a badge for his platoon in the Paratroops.

In an age of revolutions, four shaggy-haired men were at the forefront of a cultural and musical movement. The Beatles, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, were one of the largest influences in the world during the 1960s, and they still are today. Their creativity and innovation has reached people all around the earth through multiple mediums including, but not limited to, their music, behavior, and even their style. Whether people saw The Beatles as musical gods or as a nuisance and a danger to their children, nobody can deny that the Fab Four impacted society in ways contrary to the strict rule of authority. The Beatles taught an entire generation to think for themselves and to do whatever they wanted with their lives.

Music Lover’s Encyclopedia. New York: Doubleday Inc.,1984. "Rock Audience Moves to Dusk-to-Dawn Rhythms." New York Times. 18 August 1969:25.

The story of the most legendary group in the history of popular music began in 1960, in Liverpool, England. The Beatles, were an English rock band, whose most well-known lineup, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, is considered by many as the most innovative, emulated, and successful music group of the twentieth century. John Lennon was largely responsible for the development of the band, since he, together with Paul McCartney, wrote most of the music for the Beatles. Lennon is largely responsible for the Beatles being considered the first rock performers who were truly considered groundbreaking artists in their own time, and years after the band broke up, with his lyrics, “Beatlemania”, and the controversy that he caused the band. John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on Oct. 9, 1940.

Stan Kenton: Progressive Concepts in Jazz Stanley Newcomb Kenton is one of the most influential figures to be found in all of jazz history, even being called "the most significant figure of the Modern Jazz age" by Frank Sinatra (Agostinelli, 6). Kenton's progressive concepts of how music is written and performed greatly affected the genre of jazz, and created something new and unique. Always under controversy, Kenton and his band always strove to do something different, never settling into a niche for long periods of time. Even today, when hearing modern jazz performers (particularly big bands) one can often hear the influence from Kenton's music. Kenton was born in Wichita, Kansas on December 11, 1911, although he spent most of his youth in the Los Angeles area.

Phillips’ dream of promoting a rock musician became true when a young man named Elvis Presley recorded a demo in his studio in 1954 (Kallen, 2012, 18). Short... ... middle of paper ... ...Korn was a heavy band that wrote songs about the disillusion of childhood innocence, abuse, drugs, the underground life and lust. Korn is still making influential records to this day, constantly pushing the boundaries of rock. Modern rock today is so varied in styles from death metal to retro rock. Whether or not rock recycles its genres will be told by time.

Rock music has come a long way since its development in the early 20th century. The genre, defined “as a merger between rhythm&blues and country” (Scaruffi, The History of Rock Music:1955-1966), started out more as an underground market, but ended up becoming a significant aspect of American popular music history. Rock-n-Roll music produce many legendary artists who will for ever be known as innovators of the genre. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were some of the many artists in Rock-n-Roll who will always live on in their music.Many teenagers were also to identify it due to its rebellious nature their disapproval of the cold war. Towards the end of the 1950s, Rock-n-Roll was ending on a particularly bad note, with a brief decline: “Chuck berry was on the verge of being convicted for having transported a minor across state lines; Elvis was in the army; Little Richard had left popular music for the ministry, Jerry Lee Lewis had effectively been black listed for having married his 13 year old cousin, and Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper had died in a plane crash.” (Bracket, Pg 131).

In the eyes of many, The Beatles are one of the most influential bands of the 20th century. They have influenced me in my everyday life and so many great musicians in the past 50 years. This fact alone, makes it hard to imagine that they were once influenced by someone else. While doing some research, I found various artists that influenced them through the beginning of their careers until the very end. In the following paragraphs, I will be sharing with you a few of the artists I thought to be the most influential to The Beatles extremely successful career and why I thought them to be so influential.

Hello and Goodbye There had been none like him, and there will be none to come. Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the way guitar and music in general is played. It is rare to hear a modern guitarist play and not sense Hendrix’s influence. Jimi Hendrix was a mirror of his era in that he epitomized the “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” life style of the late 60s. Hendrix is still immensely popular today because of his unprecedented guitar style coupled with an outrageous lifestyle and stage show.

Towards the end of the ‘60s Cream split up. Eric Clapton joined the band Blind Faith in '69 and did fairly well with it, but the group broke up quickly after the release of their only album. It was then that Clapton launched his solo career. For A few years in the early ‘70s Clapton played with backup band "Delaney and Bonnie and Friends", and made a few pretty successful albums, but nothing in comparison to the popularity he had with Cream. This was the start of a period of time (basically most of the ‘70s) where Eric Clapton would switch around from backup band to backup band.