School of Rock Bonus Lesson: Rockin' With Your Favorite Rock Bands

School of Rock: Bonus Lesson

“…I don’t want you to play me a riff that’s going to impress Joe Satriani; give me a riff that makes a kid want to go out and buy a guitar and learn to play…” Ozzy Osbourne

So Many Choices!

Profile 1:

AC/DC was formed in 1973 in Australia by guitarist Malcolm Young after his band, the Velvet Underground, collapsed (Young's band has no relation to the seminal American group). With his younger brother Angus as lead guitarist, the band played some gigs around Sydney. Angus was only 15 years old at the time and his sister suggested that he should wear his school uniform on stage; the look became the band's visual trademark. While still in Sydney, the original lineup (featuring singer Dave Evans) cut a single called "Can I Sit Next to You," with ex-Easybeats Harry Vanda and George Young (Malcolm and Angus' older brother) producing. The band moved to Melbourne the following year, where drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Mark Evans joined the band. The band's chauffeur, Bon Scott, became their lead vocalist when their singer, Dave Evans, refused to go on stage. Previously, Scott had been a drummer for the Australian pop bands ... AC/DC's mammoth power-chord roar became one of the most influential hard rock sounds of the '70s.

http://www.acdccentral.com/bandhistory.html

Profile 2:

Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed Southern Rock groups of the 1970's. Their distinctive triple-lead guitar sound made their songs "Freebird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" American anthems and staples of FM radio.

Once in a while a musical force will burst on the scene and forever change that scene. Lynyrd Skynyrd was such a force. The power that rested in Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ronnie VanZant and the rest of the band can never be forgotten or underestimated. To this day, three decades after the tragedy that decimated the original Skynyrd band, millions of fans still buy the records, feel the songs, understand the power.

Dire Straits-money for nothing

http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/

Profile 3:

Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful with their first album going multi-platinum globally.

The band's best-known songs include "Sultans of Swing," "Romeo and Juliet," "Tunnel of Love," "Money for Nothing," "Walk of Life" and "Brothers in Arms."

Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler have sold in excess of 118 million albums to date.[1][2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Straits

Profile 4:

In 1976 sitting on a folding metal chair in my basement, I was tweaking the mix of a demo that Brad Delp, Jim Masdea and I had recorded on my home-brew studio gear. The possibility that anyone would be listening to this song, "More than a Feeling," 30 years into the future was incomprehensible. In fact, the thought of holding someone's interest for 30 minutes was a long shot!

Some kind of magic took over when Jim and I got together to work on my songs; the basement walls disappeared and were replaced by a huge arena filled with screaming fans...as long as the headphones were loud enough. Alone later, as I played the bass organ and guitar parts to the rolling tape, I could close my eyes and the same vision reappeared, inspiring a far better performance than this dingy space deserved. Although just a fantasy, this would prove to be a vision of things to come.

Tom Scholz

http://www.bandboston.com/html/history_html.html

Profile 5:

The Eagles formed in Los Angeles as four musicians from varied backgrounds and locales. Drummer Don Henley had migrated west from Texas with his band, Shiloh. Guitarist Glenn Frey was a rocker from Detroit who headed to Los Angeles, where he befriended fellow musicians Jackson Browne and John David Souther. Bernie Leadon, who plays a variety of stringed instruments, boasted a bluegrass background and belonged to the Flying Burrito Brothers. Bassist and high-harmony singer Randy Meisner played with such country- and folk-rock mainstays as Rick Nelson, James Taylor and Poco. After touring together in 1971 as members of Linda Ronstadt’s band, they went off on their own and were honing the repertoire of songs that would appear on their debut album, Eagles.

http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/the-eagles

Profile 6:

ZZ Top is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. The group members are Billy Gibbons (guitar, lead vocals), Dusty Hill (bass, vocals), and Frank Beard (drums, percussion).

They hold the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original recording members after more than 35 years[1] and until September 2006, the same manager/producer, Bill Ham.

They reached the peak of their commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring many hit songs during that era, but they remain together today and are still touring and releasing albums. ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004. Summarizing their music, Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the arena rock idiom ... while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support."[2] Their song lyrics often feature sexual innuendo and humor. Gibbons and Hill are also famous for their custom guitars, many of which were co-designed by Gibbons with master luthier John Bolin of Bolin Guitars. Hill requests that his basses have a similar neck profile to the 1950s Fender Precision Bass he used extensively in the early days of the band.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZZ_Top

Profile 7:

The Yardbird's played their final show at Luton Technical College in 1968. But what was seemingly an end; turned out to be the beginning of three tremendously successful careers in music. The careers of guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. It's seems the three couldn't agree on anything creatively in the Yardbirds. They were all leaders.

After the bands break-up, Jimmy Page was left with little more than a series of concert obligations. He started jamming with John Paul Jones, a session player, who had collaborated with likes of the Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits and Dusty Springfield. The duo discussed forming a new group, but ended up delaying their plans to back Donovan on his Hurdy Gurdy LP.

After hearing of Pages' intention of starting a new band, vocalist Terry Reid suggested he hear Robert Plant. When Page got a chance to check Plant out, Jimmy not only ended up liking his voice, but also his stage presence. Plant, in turn, suggested they recruit John Bonham, the drummer of his old Birmingham group, Band of Joy. The foursome clicked so nicely that they toured Scandinavia during October 1968 under the name the New Yardbirds.

By 1969 the group changed their name to Led Zeppelin, recorded, and released their first self-titled album. Within two months the album reached Billboard's Top Ten.

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Led-Zeppelin-Biography/F739A1FFCE365C9C48256886002F3AA7

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