Al, they really were just a great garage rock band. Maybe the greatest!

adorshki

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And to circle back to the OP, you can thank The Beatles for this. And I agree 100%, it will never happen again.

walrus

Yes I'd say the Beatles "got the ball rolling" but by late '65 they represented a more sophisticated and polished production and composition standard.
It's why I think "garage" owed more to Yardbirds and even "surf" music, it was "attainable" by the average teenage wannabe.

Though to a lesser degree, the Seattle grunge rock scene had a minor version of the phenomenon with Mudhoney and Nirvana and a few others, but then everyone and their mother tried to replicate and it diluted into crap fast.

Yeah in fact it seems almost generational (full irony intended) that we seem to get "pushback" when the music/product starts getting "too fancy".
Punk was another example of that.
And once the "industry" got hold of new trend, they milked it to death.
It's theh way of the world.
Kinda like Venture Capitalists in the "dotcom" boom: throw s--t, er, money at the wall and see what sticks.
The Yardbirds even had a great tune about money, "Ever since The World Began":

Perhaps fittingly, the closing song on their best album, "Roger the Engineer":
yardroger.jpg

Agreed, WW. Although it has been said that Neil Young is the "godfather of grunge"!

walrus
'cause Pearl Jam claims he's their daddy:
"Mirrorball"
Yep, included them a couple of posts up.
Sadly, they got boycotted from touring here at a critical moment in the era or they'd probably get a lot more respect/recognition.
Wow! That is an amazing number of bands. And, I proudly count myself, and a couple of my hometown friends, as part of that number. Although, we never had a paid gig or made a record.
sailingshoes
Me too!
Just wasn't sure what era you grew up in and if you weren't there that's one way of bringing the point home, that they were everywhere for a few years there in the '60's.
Seems like every block had one, right?
NOW:
IF you could do it all over again, would you change anything?
Special variation for Clay:
IF you could do it at all, would you?
For the chicks, right?
:glee:
 

Westerly Wood

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Al, I would not do it right now, I am too old and kids still young. But I should have tried harder in the mid 80s. Skipped college, and just have played out. Ah, water under bridge.
 

adorshki

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any discussion of grunge or garage band has to include the Kinks. Look at the music and when and what they accomplished.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinks

Somewhat ironically, squeaky clean Herman's Hermits had a far bigger hit with Ray Davies' tune "Dandy" than the Kinks did.
And I think Jim Morrison was a closet Kinks fan, in some of his vocals.
The first time I ever heard "Well Respected Man" I thought it was an early Doors outtake, circa the "Strange Days" era.
I'd never heard it before and kept the station tuned to find out what it was.
 

walrus

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I saw The Kinks a year or so after the first Van Halen album came out. Ray Davies ranted about how they didn't do a good cover of "You Really Got Me", but then they played an even heavier version than Van Halen's! (which BTW, was great!)

walrus
 

adorshki

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I saw The Kinks a year or so after the first Van Halen album came out. Ray Davies ranted about how they didn't do a good cover of "You Really Got Me", but then they played an even heavier version than Van Halen's! (which BTW, was great!)

walrus
(Warning, snark alert:)
They woulda been better just for the vocalist alone.
Sorry, Davy Lee.
 

walrus

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Well, I think his "attitude" fit the band perfectly - although I don't disagree he's not the greatest vocalist. Personally, it is Eddie's innovative guitar work that I love!
walrus
 

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Yup. After hearing the best hard rock singers led by the greatest of all, David Coverdale, when I first heard DLR, I had a WTF moment, but then I heard what Eddie was doing (back in the 80's!) and all of a sudden, I couldn't care less about how the vocals sounded. lmao
 

walrus

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Yup. After hearing the best hard rock singers led by the greatest of all, David Coverdale, when I first heard DLR, I had a WTF moment, but then I heard what Eddie was doing (back in the 80's!) and all of a sudden, I couldn't care less about how the vocals sounded. lmao

Right! the first album came out in 1978, and I was working part time in a record store while in college (great job, BTW!). When we put it on the first time we just stood there with our mouths open - had to be two guitarists, right? Wrong! We used to get in trouble with Security in the mall, because stores near us complained about the volume when we played that album!

walrus
 

bluesypicky

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Right! the first album came out in 1978 walrus
Wow.... time flies.
He really raised the hard rock lead guitar bar up a notch back then, didn't he?
There were "open mouths" all around the world when that record was first played!
 
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walrus

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Wow.... time flies.
He really raised the hard rock lead guitar bar up a notch back then, didn't he?
There were "open mouths" all around the world when that record was first played!

I like how he now is sort of an "elder statesman" for rock. He actually had a pretty interesting childhood. I have a link below of a great interview (he plays, too) for the Smithsonian he did. Clearly, he is now being appreciated for what he did to revolutionize guitar playing. I'd be happy with an instrumental album from him!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFuxrFuQ1II

walrus
 

walrus

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As Bill the Cat would say: "A-a-a-ck!"
DEFINITELY not.
Let's just say I think I'd rather be on a beach in Hong Kong.
maxresdefault.jpg

In fact, shoot, who needs a beach?
Zhang-Ziyi-Chang-Chen-in-Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon.jpg

That's what I wanna do in my next life.
:tranquillity:

I'd be happy with either your fantasy or mine, thank you.

walrus
 

Quantum Strummer

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Strictly personal opinion: EVH has wasted most of his professional life playing mostly surface, little depth music when he has (or at least had) the chops, and likely compositional talent too, for making much deeper music. I really liked VH & VHII when those albums came out and I was 18 & 19. Then I got older.

-Dave-
 
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