Los Angeles And The Rock Music Era

Los Angeles was America's capital of the Rock Music Era. The Capitol Records Building was designed to resemble a stack of vinyl 45 RPM records that could be stacked on a turntable. After one record had played the arm would lift up, the next record would fall down, and the arm would return and play it. A record player could also be set to play the same record over. This is ancient history to most readers but anyway, here is the building from Google Earth.

I don't know if it was my record player but I never got stacking to work. The following image, from Google Street View, is of the nightclub known as the Whiskey-A-Go Go. This place was very important to the development of Rock Music. Among the musicians associated with it are Jim Morrison and Janice Joplin, both early members of the notorious "27 Club", rock musicians who died at age 27. The deaths were usually helped along by drugs. I am less-than-proud that the 27 Club was founded by Brian Jones, from my native Gloucestershire.

There were many songs referring to Los Angeles in general. Here are a few specific locations that were the subject of rock era songs. All images are from Google Earth or Street View.

This curve in Sunset Blvd might be Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve", referring to street racing.

This is Richard Harris' and Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park".

 Here is America's "Ventura Highway", along the Pacific coast.

Rock Music is the anthem of the Baby Boom generation and will be around as long as they are. The height of the Rock Music Era is generally considered to be the Sixties. That is when the original Baby Boomers came of age.

The Sixties were a very special and idealistic time. I was only a child but could feel how special the time was. Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I believe that event marked the real beginning of the Sixties, which actually lasted until 1972.

In no way did I like all of Rock Music. I only liked about one out of every ten songs. Here are a few songs that I liked during the Rock Music Era.

Run, Run, Run by JoJo Gunn

Baby Blue by Badfinger 

Let Your Love Go by Bread

Immigration Man by Crosby, Stills, Nash 

Paint It Black and Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones

The most intriguing song is the instrumentals in "Starship Trooper" by Yes.

If anyone remembers the music of 1969 and is keeping track, "The Year 2525" was released in April of 1969. That means that, in October or November of 2024, we will have come 10% of the way to the year 2525.

"Mrs. Robinson" was about a patient in a psychiatric hospital. "Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home". "We'd like to help you learn to help yourself".