The Refreshment Room: Why it Exists

Live from the Refreshment Room
Why It Exists

Part I

To me it is an absolute certainty that when the final compendium of Rock and Roll is completed, all involved will conclude the 1970s were the paramount years of the genre, and, to put a finer point on it, skirted the shoals of the word “art” as a most apt description.

This is a bold—dare I say Pepsi Challenge—pronouncement, and though I am loath to admit it, you are certainly entitled to your disagreements, no matter how ill-conceived, cobbled together with internet-assembled musings. Every generation thinks their decade is superior to the last, and I suppose it would be expedient for all if I just relented and agreed. However, if I was to do that, we’d both be wrong. I’m not even claiming the entire decade was a shiny white musical canvas for all performers, singer/songwriters and those within the production end of music to, as Dylan sang, “when I paint my masterpiece.” Or, theirs, but I can’t bring myself to paraphrase Mr. Zimmerman. The industry sought to curtail the freedom of artistic carte blanche, which allowed artists to create without corporate interference. By 1977, the “suits” as they are aptly named, became increasingly involved in the industry and began insinuating themselves into the creative process, instead of working on better ways to market the music produced by recording artists. Plus, and this is a personal opinion, I’ve never met a single person in charge of other people and “things” that didn’t think they knew what was best. The fool’s logic of: “I’ve gotten to a position of authority, so I must know more than everyone else.” I suppose there has to be a certain level of personal disabuse that must be exercised to come to such a conclusion, most failing to recognize the time-honored tradition of failing up the corporate ladder. Yet, in spite of this interference, the first seven years (approximately) created artists and music that is referenced and revered by an ever widening array of contemporary performers.

Part II will be posted in the coming weeks.