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The Rolling Stones were like a lot of other British acts of the 1960s as they were to a considerable degree influenced by American rock ‘n’ roll and R&B. They were at the leading edge of the so-called British Invasion of the mid-1960s, as the Stones and contemporaries such as the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Kinks, the Animals, the Yardbirds, the Who, Herman’s Hermits and the Hollies all made at least a significant showing on the charts, both in America and at home in Britain. Out of all of those groups, the Beatles, in spite of breaking up in 1970, became and still stay the most successful act in music history in terms of sales and influence. The Rolling Stones became a neverending presence that is still active today. In addition to their longevity, the Stones have had significant success on the charts in America, Britain, and around the world. There is little doubt that any act since the Beatles fails to meet the Beatles’ standards, notwithstanding there are few acts that meet the standards of the Stones either. For the most part, comparing the Beatles to the Stones is like comparing apples to oranges as they have dissimilar styles, with the Beatles being more influenced by early rock ‘n’ roll while the Stones were not only influenced by early rock ‘n’ roll but also by American Blues.
As cited above, the Stones and their British contemporaries were in truth influenced by early American rock ‘n’ roll artists such as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly the Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis, and consequently had a foundation deeply rooted in rock ‘n’ roll. Once again, what made the Stones stand out from the Beatles and all of their other contemporaries, save for perhaps the Yardbirds, was the fact that they were likewise to a considerable degree influenced by American Blues and R&B artists such as Muddy Waters, Rev. Gary Davis, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf and Arthur Alexander. A significant majority of the Stones’ recordings from their firstborn three years (1963-1965) showcased both their rock ‘n’ roll influences and their blues influences. As a matter of fact a great deal of their recordings from this amount of time would be cover songs of the American Blues and R&B artists cited above.
As the years went on however, the Stones added and integrated more genres into their blues and rock ‘n’ roll foundation such as country, folk, baroque pop, psychedelia, adult contemporary, reggae, dub, new wave, punk and disco too name a few. It is this characteristic of the band which has made them very successful over the years as their capacity to integrate these other genres into their repertoire has enabled them to build upon their basi foundation and hence build an enormously successful career. Artists that influenced the Stones to comprise news genres into their sound include George Jones, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Otis Redding. Hits and ordinary songs over the years such as “Ruby Tuesday,” “Angie,” “Wild Horses,” ‘Tumbling Dice,” “Miss You,” “Paint It Black,” “Sympathy For The Devil,” “Start Me Up” and “Honky Tonk Women” are all indicatory of their musical diversity. “Ruby Tuesday” is baroque pop; “Angie” is a 70s-style adult contemporary ballad; “Miss You” is a disco-rock fusion; “Wild Horses” and “Honky Tonk Women” have a strong country influence; “Tumbling Dice” is inflicted with gospel and soul; “Paint It Black” is eastern-tinged psychedelia; “Sympathy For The Devil” has a tribal meets rock ‘n’ roll sound, while “Start Me Up,” altho sounding like a straight-forward rocker, is in fact a reggae based track. Even their greatest hit, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” is an example of the Stones building upon their foundation as it features a much harder edge than their early cover songs.
The sound of the Stones would aid lay the groundwork for a diverse array of rock artists which followed them such as Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, The Doors, The Stooges, Thin Lizzy, Oasis, Blur, The Stone Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, T. Rex, The Ramones, AC/DC, Creedence Clearwater Revival, New York Dolls, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Earle, Neil Young, Elton John, The Sex Pistols, Bon Jovi and Pearl Jam–And that is just the basi generation. One ought to consider the number of artists that the Stones-influenced artists have influenced themselves. The only thing that is as long-lasting as the Rolling Stones themselves is without a doubt the bequest they have left and will carry on to leave even after the band calls it a day. When that day comes, it will be long after most of their British Invasion contemporaries have hung it up, most of them retiring back in the ’60s and ’70s. As rock music has changed, and even faltered over the years, the Rolling Stones stay one of the few constants as an splendid source of entertainment.
American Masters Guthrie Bruce Springsteen
Every American who has listened to the radio knows Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” The music of the folk singer/songwriter has been recorded by everyone from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to U2. Originally blowing out of the Dust Bowl in Depression-era America, he blended vernacular, rural music and populism to give voice to millions of downtrodden citizens. Guthrie’s music was politically leftist, in a unique manner patriotic and always inspirational.
About the ActorFeaturing Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Ed Cray, Joe Klein, Nora Guthrie, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, Bess Lomax Hawes, Guy Logsdon, Mary Jennings Boyle, Maxine Crissman, Jim Longhi, Jeff Place
American Masters Guthrie Bruce Springsteen Image
American Masters Guthrie Bruce Springsteen Photo
American Masters Guthrie Bruce Springsteen Image
American Masters Guthrie Bruce Springsteen Pic
Most helpful client reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
 This Land is your Land
By Christopher B. Murray
This is an splendid PBS documentary with regards to the life of Woody Guthrie, the outstanding American singer/songwriter (and godfather/forerunner of the folk music explosion of the early sixties). The film tells with regards to his upbringing in a reasonably well off family–a secure childhood of a sudden ruined by his mother’s dissent into dementia and violence due to Huntington’s disease. This tragic turn of events sends Guthrie into foster homes and at long last helps turn him into a prolific and initial American hobo-gypsy songwriter. But Guthrie was a man of some talents; he was a gifted draughtsman, writer, radio host, comedian, “ladies’ man”, and actor (considering the poetic license applied when presenting his unproblemati “hick” persona). The film is narrated by Peter Coyote and features consultations with Joe Klein (Guthrie’s biographer), Pete Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen, as well as family members and friends of Guthrie. Conspicuously absent are Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie. Still, the film is well-put together; it features numerous great images and films of Guthrie as well as a lot of priceless recordings of him talking and singing. The narration explains the social context for Guthrie’s often very political songs. Most notably, we are informed that the song “This Land is your Land” was penned as an angry reply to “God Bless America”–Guthrie sentiment that it is up to Americans to make this country great, not God (Hallelujah!). Besides being informative, the film is moving in it is portrayal of Guthrie’s tragic last years as he succumbed to the same impairment of normal physiological function that had destroyed his mother. Ultimately “Woody Guthrie” depicts the songwriter as a flawed but heroic American musical genius.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Eulogy for a legend.
By Ted Byrd
This PBS documentary is very suitable and informative, especially, if like me, you are unfamiliar with the life of Woodie Guthrie. I’m sure most of us have at least heard the name, and recognise that his bequest hovers someplace in the background of American folk-legendry. This program will acquaint you with the chronological and biographical details which you would suppose from a casual exposition of his life. So we get glances of the formative processes of his childhood, with the tragic mental impairment of normal physiological function caused by Huntington’s chorea which afflicted his mother, being a crucial influence. This same disease was to be the cause of his own sad deterioration and death. Woody was a very bright youngster who read galore progressed books in the local library, and who had a talent for drawing and painting. He had the potential, evidently, of assuming the life of an intellectual along the lines of the standard conception of such a lifestyle. But whether because of early family tragedies and the concurrent happenings of the Great Depression and socialist political movements which were afoot in his native southwest, or a natural identification with the downtrodden, Woody adopted a radical, populist stance through which he indicated his intelligence and individualism. His persona became that of the hayseed with the twangy voice and rural vernacular whose innate mutual sense sees through and discloses the hypocrisy and rapacity of the bigshots and fatcats. His songs brought to public attention a side of America that conflicted with the imagination of “America The Beautiful”. According to Woody’s version it was only gorgeous for the “haves”, and something else exclusively for the “have-nots”. Woody was at last adopted by the intelligentsia of New York City as sort of a poster boy for what their conception of an American folk-hero will have to be, even though much of mainstream America rejected him because of his friendliness with the communist party in this country. The PBS special, besides covering the main events of his life, spends a great deal of time with consultations of family, friends, writers, and musical colleagues. The tone of these consultations range from adoring(from his daughter) to mixed(his firstborn wife), but all are in general favorable. It seemed to me that one thing that was missing out in the program was a closer examination of the reasons Woody chose the paths he did. He was appropriated by respective non-mainstream groups as a representative or symbol of causes they were promoting. Migrant workers, hobos, labor organizers, communists, and New York intellectuals all had Woody for a symbol, but what motivated the man personally? No doubt he did have a outstanding sympathy for the downtrodden, but the cause of speaking for the oppressed was surely a vehicle close at hand which Woody could use to showcase his talents. My curiosity was aroused sufficient to do a heap of web research, and I think any person mesmerized in Woody Guthrie would do well to do the same to obtain a more finish picture of the man. Two internet sites which I found very interesting: An article by Thomas Connor in The Woody Guthrie Archives entitled “Tracking Woody”s HD”, which holds a discussion of the effects of this disease on Guthries originative life. Another article on the History News Network, “The Christian Left’s Vision” discusses Woody’s Christian faith and how it was capable to co-exist with his Communist association. I applaud Woody Guthrie’s standing up for the oppressed, and I am glad that America was free sufficient to tolerate him as a gadfly. He has been both admired and reviled, but he was a authenti share of the American experience, mainstream or not.
7 of 10 humans found the following review helpful.
 American Masters: Woody Guthrie
By Michele Alcaraz
Great dvd for instructing when it comes to the Great Depression, as well as a groundbreaking American musician.
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