
Bob Dylan and the Moment Rock Music Became Serious
Rock and roll was never exactly mindless. That is an important place to begin. Long before Bob Dylan became one
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Rock and roll was never exactly mindless. That is an important place to begin. Long before Bob Dylan became one
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Part One: The Birth of the Mothership (1941–1964) Rock history has produced countless innovators, but very few musicians completely rewrote
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Gainesville Beginnings Long before Tom Petty became one of America’s most beloved rock musicians, he was simply a quiet kid
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Few albums have altered the course of popular music as profoundly as Pet Sounds. Released by the Beach Boys in
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The Grateful Dead: The Complete History of America’s Greatest Live Band There has never been another band quite like the
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There are bands that struggle to make great music, and there are bands whose struggles become part of the music
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Few genres are as unmistakable as Southern rock. The moment a pair of harmonized guitars begins weaving together, a Hammond
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Some songs become instant classics. They dominate radio, climb to the top of the charts, and remain part of popular
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Few artists in music history have managed to stay relevant across four decades, multiple musical eras, and massive shifts in
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Phish has always treated cover songs as something more than a novelty or tribute. In their hands, a cover becomes
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By the time Phish released Fuego in 2014, they were no longer the scrappy jam band grinding through clubs or
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Before Ziggy Stardust descended from the stars and turned David Bowie into a full-blown icon, there was a moment where
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When XTC burst onto the late-1970s music scene, they didn’t arrive with the polished sheen of mainstream pop or the
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By the late 1980s, the rock band Cheap Trick had already secured its place in music history. Known for their
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In the long and unpredictable history of popular music, few coincidences have captured the public imagination quite like the phenomenon
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When people talk about classic Southern rock, certain songs instantly come to mind—songs filled with swaggering guitar riffs, vivid storytelling,
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Few songs in pop history have traveled through as many musical eras as “The Loco-Motion.” Originally a cheerful dance song
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Pop music history is usually written around legends—artists who dominate the charts for decades and fill arenas long after their
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In the vast universe of late-1960s rock, where psychedelic experimentation and blues-soaked guitar heroes dominated the airwaves, a band from
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Some cover songs feel like polite tributes. Others feel like reinventions. And then there are the rare ones that explode
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In the mid-1990s, when alternative rock radio was dominated by brooding introspection and fuzz-drenched angst, a sly, sun-scorched groove slipped
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Released in 1999 as the lead single from their third studio album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, Foo Fighters’
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In 1989, Faith No More released “Epic,” a track that would become their signature song and one of the defining
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Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” released in 1972 on the landmark album Machine Head, remains a definitive track in the evolution
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Few songs capture the wild, electrifying energy of early 1970s glam rock quite like David Bowie’s “Suffragette City.” Released in
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Few songs in rock history have traveled as far — stylistically, culturally, and generationally — as “Train Kept A-Rollin’.” Long
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The mid-1970s were a vibrant time for pop music. Glittering melodies, infectious rhythms, and playful hooks dominated the airwaves, capturing
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Few songs in Bruce Springsteen’s catalog capture the raw intensity of frustration, hope, and relentless determination quite like “Badlands.” Released
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Few songs capture the late-’70s blend of pop sophistication and disco fever quite like Electric Light Orchestra’s “Last Train to
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“Vienna” is one of those songs that doesn’t announce its importance right away. It doesn’t arrive with a towering chorus
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“Hold the Line” hits with the force of a warning. From its pounding piano chords to its insistent chorus, the
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“Have You Ever Seen the Rain” doesn’t sound like a song written in anger, but it carries the weight of
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“Rich Girl” is often remembered as a breezy slice of 1970s pop-soul, the kind of song that glides out of
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