1969: The Rock You Grew Up With

It was 40 years ago that gave us two events that sum up all of rock ‘n’ roll’s existence: Woodstock and The Altamont Free Concert. The summer had been capped off by Woodstock, “An Aquarian Exhibition” of free love and free music. The crowd had been peaceful, and it seemed like the hippie spirit from the Summer of Love had found it’s way to upstate New York. That December, a “Woodstock West” was attempted at the Altamont Speedway. Some of the Woodstock acts like Crosby, Stills and Nash, Santana, and Jefferson Airplane performed there also, but it was notable for the headlining act of the Rolling Stones. 

Unlike Woodstock, however, the crowd became violent. The Hell’s Angels were guarding the stage, and while accounts vary, they all agree that the crowd and the Angels became more agitated. This was topped off by the death of Meredith Hunter, who was stabbed five times by Angel Alan Passaro. It was later ruled that Passaro acted in self-defense because Hunter had been brandishing a handgun. Besides adding even more notoriety to the Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” this murder illustrates the difference between these two events and the turning point to classic rock.

To fully explain, I think it might be a worthwhile endeavor to explain what exactly “classic rock” means. While originally starting after the release of the singleless Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) became an FM radio format. FM has many advantages in terms of music broadcasting over AM, including stereo and a higher fidelity signal.

Obviously, at one point “classic rock” wasn’t classic, it was just “rock” and it was new. Sgt. Pepper was a major catalyst as the album had no single releases, so many radio stations simply selected album tracks to air based on what they thought might attract the most listeners. Also in this period, many FM DJs were in total control of what they played without the guide of pre-prescribed playlists.

On the other end, what “froze” classic rock into being was new wave and punk. These were new styles of rock that completely parted with the Led Zeppelin-driven sound of AOR stations. Since a decline in readership did not follow, radio stations continued to play the music of the previous decade as their main playlist.

I use 1969 as the cutoff, as Woodstock and the looming breakup of The Beatles was signaling the end of the “flower rock” era, and in fact, Woodstock’s lineup reflected this, with ‘future classic rock’ acts like Crosby, Stills, & Nash (& Young), Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Sly & The Family Stone played alongside Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane (the band that dealt with the change the worst, leading to the abomination of Starship and “We Built This City”). Other acts making their debuts that year were Genesis, Chicago, Yes, Grand Funk Railroad, and of course, Led Zeppelin. 

This was a heavier sound overall when compared to the hits of the 50s and 60s, as well as adding a lot of “progressive” influence. The format certainly evolved over time, and generally rose to prominence in the 80s and 90s. In Philadelphia, 102.9 WMGK and WYSP are both currently broadcasting the classic rock format, the latter having switched over again last fall.

The definition of what is classic rock is certainly fluid, but the core will always be the British-led blues-rock of Led Zeppelin and the heavy folk rock of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Newer formats, like WYSP’s have added the “Rock You Grew Up With” to include 90s heavy pop rock like Pearl Jam and Guns ‘n’ Roses. It’s a format that continues to evolve, but somewhere on the radio you’ll always be able to belt out “Don’t Stop Believing” while running to Wawa.