Keeping Time

     This post stems from a conversation with a friend about the timeline of rock music. On one hand it seems like Bill Haley and the Comets were from another time. On the other hand, rock music is a fairly recent musical genre. My dad was born in 1943 and rock and roll didn't exist until he was a teenager. Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly began their careers in the mid-50's. By 1959, Chuck Berry was in jail, Elvis was in the military, Little Richard was a preacher and Buddy Holly was dead. Chuck Berry is still alive. In contrast to classical music, there is no one alive today who ever heard Beethoven, Bach or Vivaldi play live.
     Now, let's consider The Beatles. In the early 60's, they were young men wearing leather jackets playing covers in a German club. By 1964, Beatlemania had come to America. Between 1964 and 1969, they made four movies, started a record label, lost their manager, got into drugs, broke up over money and women, then pulled it together to record Abbey Road. It's really amazing when you consider how many books have been written on The Beatles that they accomplished everything in the span of a single decade. When we think of them in the comparison with Elvis, we perceive Presley as the elder statesman of rock and roll and The Beatles as young upstarts. Elvis was born in 1935. John and Ringo were born in 1940. That's only five years difference in age.
     In 1967, The Beatles released their iconic Sgt. Pepper album in response to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Here's a surprising list of albums that were contemporary to Sgt. Pepper:

* Velvet Underground and Nico
* Piper At The Gates Of Dawn- Pink Floyd
* Days Of Future Passed- Moody Blues
* Goodbye and Hello- Tim Buckley
* Moby Grape
* Absolutely Free- The Mothers of Invention
* Bee Gees
* David Bowie
* Miles Smiles- Miles Davis
* Sorcerer- Miles Davis
* Gentle On My Mind- Glen Campbell
* The Doors

     Here's one more thing that's interesting about the timeline of rock music. Let's take Nirvana's Nevermind for example. It was released in 1991, which was 22 years ago. Therefore, Nevermind is as far removed from Arcade Fire's new album, Reflektor as it is from Led Zeppelin's first album in 1969. 22 years before that, Elvis was 12 years old. That's crazy! Peace.