Rock's "Golden Age": The Rise of Rock Regionalism in the 70s

National and regional concert tours across America increased after venues opened up to accommodate larger crowds. Regional acts begin to have chances to open up for national touring acts, garnering significant attention from large crowds and exposure to key players in the music business. These regional acts began to gain their own following, increasing in popularity. 

During the ‘70s we saw a rise in soul, heavy metal, glam rock, progressive, jazz fusion, disco, funk, smooth jazz, soft rock, southern rock, and Americana. Rock & roll music and it’s subgenres had fully integrated itself into the mainstream, earning five spots on the Top 10 Best Selling Albums of All-Time list, making the ‘70s truly a “Golden Age” for music. 

California decided to embrace a breezy, laid back vibe, post acid rock with bands like the Eagles writing songs like “Take it Easy”, “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” and the reggae-inspired “Hotel California” in which they reference the Mexican slang term for marijuana buds in the lyrics “warm smell of colitas rising up through the air”. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival was another successful California band but they didn’t sound very California. Their song “Lodi” references a small, agricultural based town in the northern part of California’s Central Valley. But they were clearly very inspired by the southern rock grit and New Orleans blues with with songs like "Born on the Bayou", and “Green River” in which the lyrics state, “Take me back down where cool water flow, let me remember things I love, stoppin' at the log where catfish bite, walkin' along the river road at night, barefoot girls dancin' in the moonlight”. You’d think they lived near the Mississippi River or the Louisiana bayou with these lyrics and their “swamp rock” sound. 

The Eagles, “Hotel California” - nodding to reggae and the surreal writing style of NY contemporary Steely Dan 

Southern Rock clearly had a profound impact on music in America and worldwide with bands proudly representing their southern heritage with songs like “Sweet Home Alabama”, by Lynard Skynard, “Southbound” by The Allman Brothers, and of course “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet. These tunes would define a mood for many in the ‘70s. Just as ZZ Top would say in their song, “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”, the same could be said for the southern rock genre! 

This music isn’t my favorite of the bunch, it’s a little too honky tonk for me but I have to say Lynyrd Skynyrd had some amazing songwriting and their riffage was undeniable. My favorites being “Freebird”, “Tuesday’s Gone”, and “Simple Man”. Their love for their region came across in songs like “South of Heaven”, with their lyrics “There's a honky-tonk just south of Georgia, a little salvation just a' waitin' for ya', I heard it said a long time ago, If you're looking' for your soul, down a dirt road just across the border” and “Down South Jukin’” with lyrics, “Do some down south jukin', lookin' for a peace of mind”.

I also really enjoy the musicianship and dual guitar soloing of The Allman Brothers with their songs like “Whipping Post”, and “Melissa”, they certainly defined the southern rock sound. In their song “Ramblin Man” the lyrics describe heading down to New Orleans from Nashville Tennessee trying to make ends meet. Inspired by Hank Williams song in 1951 of the same name, the lyrics state, “My father was a gambler down in Georgia, he wound up on the wrong end of a gun, and I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, rollin' down highway forty-one” 

Southern rock was so impactful at the time that other mainstream artists hopped on to the movement to capitalize with their own takes including, Bob Dylan’s “Mississippi”, James Taylor’s “Carolina State of Mind” and Neil Young with “Southern Man”, (the song that provoked Lynyrd Skynyrd to write their lyrics “Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow”). His lyrics challenged the southern ideology of bible thumpin’ racism saying, “Southern change gonna come at last, now your crosses are burning fast, southern man, I saw cotton and I saw black, tall white mansions and little shacks, southern man when will you pay them back, I heard screaming and bullwhips cracking, How long? How long?”

ZZ Top, “I Thank You” - My favorite ZZ Top song, I love the groove and octave hits in the bassline. Really cool example of the grittier, grungier side of the blues meets hard rock sound

Meanwhile up north, something wild was happening in the midwestern “Detroit Rock City” where Kiss described it being a place where “Everybody's gonna move their feet, get down, everybody's gonna leave their seat, you gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City” and Ted Nugent’s impact as the “Motor City Madman” describes his town with his lyrics, “Woh, welcome to my town, high energy is all around tonight, woh, you best beware there's violence in the air tonight. Well, Detroit city, she's the place to be. This mad dog town's gonna set you free”. Another Detroit hitmaker, Bob Seger described this region with songs, “Detroit Made”, and “Woodward Avenue” and went on to be a defining sound of American rock music.

Kiss is an excellent example of the American rock sound. They redefined rock & roll marketing and acted as the perfect bridge between heavy metal and glam rock with their rock & roll revival hits such as “I Wanna Rock & Roll” and “Rockin’ In the USA”. Other East Coast rockers Aerosmith, Boston, Bruce Springsteen and Steely Dan greatly influenced modern rock music. These bands all reached incredible commercial success, breaking records in record sales, and many becoming Grammy award winners and nominees! Canadian band Rush described perfectly the scope of what was happening in rock music in their song “Limelight” by saying “All the world's indeed a stage”. The players and performers were diverse and lively, creating something for everyone. The money was good and the crowds were hot! Let’s see how many bands sustain the hype through the 80s’ and as punk smashes through.

Steely Dan, “FM” - Love this moment captured in time about listening to music “static free” on FM where the lyrics describe keeping the music going all night as long as the vibe is right. “Give her some funked up music, she treats you nice, feed her some hungry reggae, she'll love you twice”

Other regional acts spotlighted on the world’s stage worth looking into:

Canada: Rush

England: Bad Company

Jamaica: Bob Marley

Sources:

 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/southern-comforts-25-best-songs-about-the-south-140231/darius-rucker-southern-state-of-mind-58080/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_in_music