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MUSIC IN THE 70s
Every student reads a passage from a artists or bands biography
and then everyone can
explain to their classmates what they have learned from it.
Here are some extracts from artists and bands biographies.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Politics and Assassination Attempt
Back in Jamaica, where he had been born, Marley continued to be
seen as a supporter of
the People's National Party. And his influence in his native
land was seen as a threat tothe PNP's rivals. This may have led to
the assassination attempt on Marley in 1976. Agroup of gunmen
attacked Marley and the Wailers while they were rehearsing on
thenight of December 3, 1976, two days before a planned concert in
Kingston's NationalHeroes Park. One bullet struck Marley in the
sternum and the bicep, and another hit hiswife, Rita, in the head.
Fortunately, the Marleys were not severely injured, but managerDon
Taylor was not as fortunate. Shot five times, Taylor had to undergo
surgery to savehis life. Despite the attack and after much
deliberation, Marley still played at the show.The motivation behind
the attack was never uncovered, and Marley fled the country theday
after the concert.
Elvis Presley
Health deterioration and death (197377)
Medical crises and last studio sessions
Presley's divorce took effect on October 9, 1973. He was now
becoming increasingly
unwell. Twice during the year he overdosed on barbiturates,
spending three days in acoma in his hotel suite after the first
incident. Toward the end of 1973, he washospitalized, semicomatose
from the effects of Demerol addiction. According to his
mainphysician, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, Presley "felt that by
getting [drugs] from a doctor,he wasn't the common everyday junkie
getting something off the street." Since hiscomeback, he had staged
more live shows with each passing year, and 1973 saw 168concerts,
his busiest schedule ever. Despite his failing health, in 1974 he
undertookanother intensive touring schedule.
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John Lennon
Initial solo success and activism
In 1970, Lennon and Ono went through primal therapy with Dr.
Arthur Janov in LosAngeles, California. Designed to release
emotional pain from early childhood, the therapyentailed two
half-days a week with Janov for four months; he had wanted to treat
thecouple for longer, but they felt no need to continue and
returned to London. Lennon'semotional debut solo album, John
Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970), was received with highpraise.
Critic Greil Marcus remarked, "John's singing in the last verse of
'God' may bethe finest in all of rock."Retirement and return
With the birth of his second son Sean on 9 October 1975, Lennon
took on the role of
househusband, beginning what would be a five-year hiatus from
the music industry during
which he gave all his attention to his family.He formally
announced his break from music in Tokyo in 1977, saying, "we have
basicallydecided, without any great decision, to be with our baby
as much as we can until we feelwe can take time off to indulge
ourselves in creating things outside of the family." Duringhis
career break he created several series of drawings, and drafted a
book containing amix of autobiographical material and what he
termed "mad stuff", all of which would bepublished
posthumously.
Queen
The band
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970,
originally consisting of FreddieMercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian
May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), andRoger Taylor
(drums, vocals). Queen's earliest works were influenced by
progressiverock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually
ventured into more conventionaland radio-friendly works,
incorporating further diverse styles into their music.
Queen have been recognised as having made significant
contributions to such genres ashard rock, and heavy metal, amongst
others. Hence, the band have been cited as aninfluence by many
other musicians. Moreover, like their music, the bands and artists
thathave claimed to be influenced by Queen are diverse and span
different generations,countries, and genres.
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Rod Stewart
197578: Height of fame and critical reaction
In 1975, Stewart moved to Los Angeles as a tax exile to escape
escalating taxes on topearners in the UK. The first single, a cover
of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing",was a number one hit in
the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. Thesingle
returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music
for a BBCdocumentary series about HMS Ark Royal. Having been a hit
twice over, "Sailing" became,and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling
single in the UK. Additionally in 1976 Stewartcovered The Beatles'
song "Get Back" for the ephemeral musical documentary All Thisand
World War II.A focal point of criticisms about this period was his
biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya
Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and
disparaged by critics. In
interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had
become "tarty", hasdefended the lyrics by pointing out that the
song is a third-person narrative slice-of-lifeportrayal, not unlike
those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. The
song'srefrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier
"Taj Mahal" and a lawsuitensued. Stewart donated his royalties from
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" to UNICEF, and heperformed it with his band
at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United NationsGeneral
Assembly in 1979.
Rolling Stones
Success and a bands member quit
The band continued to make successful records through the 1970s
and selling manyalbums with Some Girls (1978) and Tattoo You (1981)
being their two most sold albumsworldwide.Near the end of 1974,
Taylor, one of the rock bands members,began to lose patience.The
band's situation made normal functioning complicated, with band
members living in
different countries and legal barriers restricting where they
could tour. In addition,drug use was affecting Richards' creativity
and productivity, and Taylor felt some of hisown creative
contributions were going unrecognised. At the end of 1974, with a
recordingsession already booked in Munich to record another album,
Taylor quit the Rolling Stones.
