Cool topic, Larry! I'm going to contribute to this thread but instead of listing a bunch of bands from different genres I'm going to elaborate (with references) on the virtues of 70s art rock band extraordinaire: Queen.
During my recent move I sorted through my CD collection, organizing them and taking inventory. One of my prized possessions is The Crown Jewels 25th Anniversary boxed set. It contains the first eight Queen discs and an all-inclusive booklet wrapped up in a nice blue velvet box. I hadnt played any Queen in a while, so Ive been indulging again.
In the beginning they were slammed by the critics for ripping off Zeppelin. The thing I love about them is that even though they did have influences, they took them and made them their own, thus making themselves unique. I love when that happens. Today a lot of us criticize the big labels and their greedy ways (and rightfully so in most cases). But, at least back in the day, it seemed like the A&R guys were more in touch with the arts and were better able to recognize quality talent AND get them signed. More 'hits' than 'misses' as far as the band signings go, imo. Another thing I love about Queen: the GODLY vocals/vocal harmonies. The paragraph on Freddie Mercury from the boxed set booklet states:
"Zanzibar-born Freddie Mercury's voice had a natural beauty. He could soar, glide, moan, growl, curling his phrasing, weaving in and around an octave, from a melodic, compelling tenor, lifting off to a steep falsetto and whipping into a vocal whirlwind. His self-confidence was unsurpassed and his songwriting like his voice, could build from tremulous softness to soaring intensity. Supported by a pair of lungs able to sustain notes for what seemed like an eternity - he was heavenly soulful ever, never settling into one vein. Freddie could do it all vocally." (Matt Pinfield, New York, 1998)
Not only was Freddie a powerhouse, they utilized the vocal abilities of the other members, for instance, Roger Taylor, who usually had a song from his pen on each album. His contributions were often some of my favorite tracks. At one point I owned his solo (vinyl) record
Fun In Space.
During the move I also uncovered an old coffee table book on Rock. It is the first Rock reference book I owned as a teenybopper. (It, along with 2 tix to a certain Boston/Sammy Hagar concert, was won in a radio station contest.) The book has weathered several moves in its lifetime in my collection. The soft cover has since been lost but the inside cover page with a slew of credits remains intact. Whats odd is that I thought this book was associated with Rolling Stone magazine in some way but I don't see any reference to them on the inside page. Hmm, oh well. The entry for Queen in this,
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock (1977) © Text: Nick Logan, Bob Woffinden & IPC Magazines Ltd 1976, states:
Queen
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Freddy Mercury vocals
Brian May guitar
John Deacon bass
Roger Taylor drums
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Queen are as good an example as any with which to approach the theory of the vacuum effect in rock: this states that when a top-flight, proven rock attraction withdraws into a period of inactivity the void thus created will be filled by substitute, usually lesser-talented, acts. In 1973-74 Led Zeppelin and David Bowie were largely unavailable to British audiences - and along came two acts (interestingly enough from the same company) to gratefully take advantage of the vacuum. Cockney Rebel plagiarised David Bowie, while Queen ostensibly went one stroke better: they hedged their bets by sounding like an ersatz Zeppelin but kept one foot in the glam-rock area via the androgynous posturings vocalist Freddy Mercury.
Of course, the band then and now deny any such cold-blooded manouvering - but their beginnings bore all the hallmarks of careful planning (not to mention lavish promotion).
They had come together in 1972 when May and Taylor, from the disbanded, unknown, Smile outfit, recruited former college friend Mercury in a new project. They auditioned for six months before taking on John Deacon as bassist, and spent some 18 months rehearsing and writing enough material for three albums.
Their first eponymous album was, as noted, released on the back of a massive EMI promotional campaign in 1973 and immediately laid bare their debt to Led Zeppelin. So did the second, recorded while the first was still the subject of vilification in the rock press, and released in spring 1974.
Yet Queen weren't the first band to plunder the Zeppelin repertoire, and if critics couldn't admire the content they could at least acknowledge the style. After all, heavy metal had never been "fully" exploited as a commercial force in the U.K.: what Queen did was take the hard-rock riffs, overlay them with vocal harmonies and manifestly commercial melodies and filter the whole via superb production (by the band and former engineer Roy Thomas Baker). Contrived it may have been, but it was undeniably well crafted.
A good example of this was the single from Queen II, Seven Seas of Rhye, a considerable U.K. hit in early 1974. After this first taste of success, the critics didn't matter anyway, and Queen went from strength to strength on the back of a string of sell-out concerts.
Killer Queen was a No. 2 hit single in the British charts November 1974, and the third album Sheer Heart Attack not only notched up gold status in America but swung a few of early critics their way.
In 1975 the group produced the hugely ambitious, A Night At The Opera, reputedly one of the most expensive albums ever made - it was still being re-mixed and refined right up to the eleventh hour of release. Simultaneously there appeared Bohemian Rhapsody, a single constructed along epic lines, audaciously including a snatch of opera as one of its four sections. Both new pieces of product hogged the British charts for a lengthy spell. In fact Rhapsody, broke a U.K. chart record by holding down the top spot for seven weeks, the longest stay in that position for some eight years.
Queen's forte is their ability to straddle barriers. With Mercury camping up the front-man spot (his kitsch rendition of the show tune Big Spender is one of highlights of stage act), they are exotic enough to attract a crossover audience of bopper fans, yet their records are equally well-geared to hold the attentions of the current generation of hard-rock enthusiasts. Provided they don't over-reach themselves, they look set for a lengthy stay.
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Recordings
Queen (Elektra/EMI)
Queen II (Elektra/EMI)
Sheer Heart Attack (Elektra/EMI)
A Night At The Opera (Elektra/EMI)
My goodness, if they were considered clones they did a great job of adding their own dash of hot sauce to the mix. Critics can be so narrow-minded sometimes. Granted, the Zep influence was there, but they also incorporated other things like blues, jazz, ragtime, etc. Also, if you read all of the book entry you'll notice they used the term "heavy metal" in there! This is a British publication from 1976-1977, folks (the Queen discography ends at
A Night At the Opera). I transcribed this entry from the print copy so I also want to note that they spell it "Freddy" with a "y" - that's not my doing. Other notes on the inside cover page state that parts of the book had previously appeared in the New Musical Express.
Queen had a large influence on my musical journey when I first discovered them. Unfortunately I never got to see them in concert. They're on my list of Regrettably Missed, although I do remember seeing them on
Don Kirschner's Rock Concert program on TV when I was a teen. We are also reminded of them in the movie,
Wayne's World, in the scene where Wayne and Garth are headbanging to Bohemian Rhapsody in the Pacer.
Ahhhh, the influences... perhaps I'll rant about other bands/artists later.
