Ranting to /dev/null

Rock History 101

Those of you who have seen School of Rock should remember Jack Black's course in Rock History. Well, today Salon has a piece by Eric Boehlert that should be required reading for such an endeavor. It centers around the week of Dec. 20, 1969, when the Billboard Top 10 looked like this:

No. 1, "Abbey Road," the Beatles
No. 2, "Led Zeppelin II," Led Zeppelin
No. 3, "Tom Jones Live in Las Vegas," Tom Jones
No. 4, "Green River," Creedence Clearwater Revival
No. 5, "Let It Bleed," the Rolling Stones
No. 6, "Santana," Santana
No. 7, "Puzzle People," the Temptations
No. 8, "Blood Sweat & Tears," Blood Sweat & Tears
No. 9, "Crosby, Stills & Nash," Crosby, Stills & Nash
No. 10, "Easy Rider" soundtrack (featuring the Byrds, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Steppenwolf)

It's a wonderful little excursion into the history of rock 'n roll, and well worth the read.