Classic Summer Series – 1970 – Summer Of Discontent [VIDEOS]

 
A band that helped define the Summer of 1970 would be The Grateful Dead. That summer there was topics of 'Kent State', Southern Rock and more protests.
 
Probably the most influencial significance during the Summer of 1970 was the killing of four  Kent State University students by the National Guard. All part of the protests going on in regards to the U.S.
 
Invasion of Cambodia during the Viet Nam War. Talk about an inspiration to write a song, Neil Young did just that with, "Ohio" and it bacame a staple for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, unfortunately because of the controversial lyrics it was banned from a lot of radio stations.

 
Southern rock was also in the works and started to come alive with the likes of ZZ Top and The Allman Brothers band. As the British invasion was all but done, bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Grateful Dead defined American Rock. A big era for the singer-songwriter was prevalent with artists like James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, and Joni Mitchell.

 
The Summer of '70 brought us stereo which was music to our ears, with the help of the father of FM Radio Tom Donahue we began to experience Album Oriented Rock (eventually becomes Classic Rock) which gave the AM Top 40 formats a run for their money. This was all good as it opened the doors for bands like The Who, Styx, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath to get the airplay they couldn't get on AM's Top 40 stations.

Sounds of the Summer of '70:

Traffic : LP 'John Barleycorn Must Die'
Grand Funk : LP 'Closer To Home'
Deep Purple : LP 'In Rock'
Creedence Clearwater Revival : LP 'Cosmo's Factory'
Paul McCartney : LP 'McCartney'

Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young perform, "Ohio"