{"id":745389,"date":"2026-07-05T23:01:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/745389\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:01:12","slug":"4-rock-songs-that-defined-the-classic-sound-of-the-early-1970s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/745389\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Rock Songs That Defined the Classic Sound of the Early 1970s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The early 1970s changed music. Artists of the day took what the 1960s had created and built on it, reshaping and reimagining what songs could sound like. And below, we wanted to highlight four tracks from the era that we often return to.<\/p>\n<p>We wanted to dive into four tunes that showcase not only how entertaining music from the time period was, but that also show just how groundbreaking the era was. Indeed, these are <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/4-rock-songs-that-define-the-classic-sound-of-the-late-1980s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">four rock songs<\/a> that define the classic sound of the early 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe And Bobby McGee\u201d by Janis Joplin from \u2018Pearl\u2019 (1971)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783292469_115_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Once you hear that joyous, raspy voice, you know who\u2019s singing in about three seconds. In many ways, Janis Joplin was the voice of her era. Who didn\u2019t want to be able to scrape the heavens as she could with her vocals? Who didn\u2019t want to sum up an era with a phrase sung out into the ether like her? Sadly, Joplin passed away far too young at just 27 years old. But before she did, she gave us rock songs like this to remember forever.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStairway To Heaven\u201d by Led Zeppelin from \u2018Led Zeppelin IV\u2019 (1971)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782147190_234_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you were to do some research on classic rock music, chances are the first song you\u2019d discover is \u201cStairway To Heaven\u201d by Led Zeppelin. In many ways, it is the Platonic Ideal of a classic rock song. Big, swelling, it provides giant guitars and vocals. It was also produced by maybe the greatest classic rock band ever\u2014Led Zeppelin. Indeed, this tune is the perfect storm of the genre. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave You Ever Seen The Rain\u201d by Creedence Clearwater Revival from \u2018Pendulum\u2019 (1970)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783292471_126_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p>He may not jump to mind immediately, but when you think about the greatest rock singing voices of all time, John Fogerty has to be on the short list. In fact, he may just top it. The California-born swamp rock lead vocalist made you feel as if you were in the heart\u2014or depths\u2014of America after just a few notes. Whether he was singing about rain or going to war, Fogerty was unrivaled. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarman\u201d by David Bowie from \u2018The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars\u2019 (1972)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783292472_225_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p>There have been a few notable classic rock singers who could make you feel like you were on top of the world. But there was only one artist who could take you further\u2014into outer space. And that was David Bowie. For evidence of this, look no further than \u201cStarman\u201d from the artist\u2019s iconic LP, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. It\u2019s simply out of this world.<\/p>\n<p>Photo by Getty Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The early 1970s changed music. Artists of the day took what the 1960s had created and built on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2616,2617,88,216,2156],"class_list":["post-745389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1970s","tag-classic-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}