Growing up with a father that regarded Jimi Hendrix as a deity, classic rock was a staple of the household. Incense and old records just became synonymous with the word home to me. I still remember being in sixth grade and hearing my first song that was recorded after 1975 (it was Brittany Spears' "Toxic," for anyone who's interested) and asking my father why he never let me listen to modern music. "Because it's shit," was his reply.
But it wasn't just music that my father loved, it was the crazy esoteric facts about each one of the songs. Every time we turned on the classic rock station in the car, I knew I was about to be flooded with an encyclopedia of knowledge about classic rock. Here are the ten most popular facts about classic rock that my father loved to share, so that you too can have the knowledge of a sixty-five year old man about classic rock.
1. Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is considered by most to be the greatest song in classic rock because it was the first song to break the 3 minute limit on FM radio.
This song from "Highway 61 Revisited" was revolutionary for the time, running just over six minutes. Most radio stations refused to play songs over three minutes on their stations, but due to the intense popularity of the song, so many of radio stations' followers were calling and requesting the song that they had no choice but to play the song. So remember to thank Bob Dylan for every song you hear on the radio nowadays that is longer than three minutes.
2.Pink Floyd's "Money" has the first curse word that was regularly played on the radio.
"Dark Side of The Moon" is famous for multiple other things besides its profanity. Whether or not you considered it to be the greatest album of all time (which you should), the line "Don't give me that no good, goody-good bullshit" revolutionized the music industry because it was the first song to be regularly played without being censored. (John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" did drop the f-bomb, but it was censored on radio-play so it doesn't count.) So remember to thank Roger Waters for all the rap songs that talk about f*cking b*tches nowadays; it's because of him that they can say these things on the radio.
3. Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" is the only album reviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine twice.
This album is up there with Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" for the best break-up album to ever exist, with some of Neil Young's most famous songs including "After the Gold Rush" and "Southern Man." The first time, it was given a bad review; however, the second time it was given an outstanding review due to the huge success of the album. This made it one of the most famous albums of all time, because for once, Rolling Stone Magazine was wrong.
4."While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by the Beatles actually features a guitar line played by Eric Clapton.
One of George Harrison's most famous songs actually has gutter lines from Clapton. Although Clapton is uncredited on the song and George Harrison is. Harrison repaid the favor by playing the lead on Cream's song "Badge" where Clapton is credited and Harrison is not. So in the end, George Harrison is still the nice Beatle we all know him as.
5. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" may not be entirely theirs....
"Stairway to Heaven" is arguably Led Zeppelin's most famous song; however, the famous riff that we all identify with Zeppelin probably isn't theirs. The guitar opening on Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Spirit's "Taurus" are EXTREMELY similar. "Taurus" predates "Stairway" by four years and the bands did some gigs together where "Taurus" was performed prior to "Stairway." So Robert Plant may have decided to snag a few or all chords from Taurus to perform his famous riff.
6. Jimi Hendrix originally toured America as the opening act for the Monkees.
That's right, the people who brought you "I'm a Believer" (which we all know from "Shrek," let's be honest) had Jimi Hendrix as an opening act. Just shows you we've all got to start somewhere....
7. The famous opening guitar on Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla" is NOT Eric Clapton
Many people consider Clapton to be one of the greatest guitarists to ever exist. However, on one of his most well-known and highly regarded songs, it is not Clapton playing guitar. It's Duane Allman, from the band the Allman Brothers. Clapton could not hold a single singing note and play a multiple guitar line at the same time, so his buddy helped him out. So remember when you're rocking out to Layla and thinking, "my God, Clapton is amazing" that you should actually be thinking, "my God, Duane Allman is amazing."
However, Clapton is still amazing in all other songs.
8. Jim Morrison refused to allow the record company to rename the band "Jim Morrison and the Doors" because he considered it a group effort.
All Doors songs have The Doors listed as the writers because Morrison and Krieger wrote the lyrics and Manzarek and Densmore wrote the music. Jim Morrison refused to have just one person's name credited after each song. So each song by The Doors is credited to the "The Doors" rather than one specific person. Cheers to Jim for being such a homie to his bandmates, when he was tripping his balls off and thinking they were mythological creatures.
9. The song "Touch Me" by The Doors is not the original name of the song
The song's original name was "Hit Me" rather than "Touch Me." It was inspired by a fight between Krieger and his girlfriend. The lyric was changed because the band thought it was likely to look like advocating violence against women. However, despite the lyric change, the song was still a hit. (Ha. Get it?)
10. Peter Green quit Fleetwood Mac to become a farmer.
When most people think Fleetwood Mac, they think of the Buckingham/Nicks era that inspired "Rumors" and "The Chain." However, that was the second wave of Fleetwood Mac. The first wave involved one of the greatest guitar players of all time, Peter Green, who left the band to become a farmer. He didn't want to be a rock star anymore, so he left the group. If you want to hear the stylings of Green, the song "Oh Well" from the band's album "Then Play On" is the move.
