Encyclopedia of Classic Rock

More than movies, literature, television, or theater, rock music set the stage for the cultural shifts that occurred from 1965 and 1975. Led by The Beatles and Bob Dylan, rock became a self-conscious art form during these years, daring to go places unimaginable to earlier rock and roll musicians. The music and outspokenness of classic rock artists inspired and moved the era's social, cultural, and political developments with a power once possessed by authors and playwrights–and influenced many artists in younger generations of rock musicians. This single-volume work tracks the careers of well-known as well as many lesser-known but influential rock artists from the period, providing readers with a handy reference to the music from a critical, groundbreaking period in popular culture and its enduring importance. The book covers rock artists who emerged or came to prominence in the period ranging 1965-1975 and follows their careers through the present. It also specifically defines the term "classic rock" and identifies the criteria that a song must meet in order to be considered as within the genre. While the coverage naturally includes the cultural importance and legacy of most well-known American and British bands of the era, it also addresses the influence of artists from Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Readers will grasp how the music of the classic rock era was notably more sophisticated than what preceded it–an artistic peak from which most of contemporary rock has descended.

• Provides readers with summaries of the careers of all significant rock artists during a peak period in the music's history
• Proposes a theory for understanding the development and history of rock music
• Presents the necessary historical and socioeconomic context to help readers more fully understand how rock music developed as it did during its formative decade
• Offers information in an easily searchable A–Z format accompanied by sidebars, a bibliography, and a timeline that serves students' research projects