You gotta give it up to the Brits

Connecticut group keeps that classic British sound of 60's and 70's alive

The title of the show “The British Legends Of Rock” promised much. British “legends”? Hmmm.

As Americans, we’re proud of our own original rock and rollers like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly and Fats Domino. We might have invented the rock and roll format here. Give us credit for that. Whether it was Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis or Chuck Berry with Chess Records in Chicago, it’s pretty clear that we started this music called rock and roll.

But when it comes to the genuine “legends” of rock, I think we have to hand it to the Brits, who took that music somewhere else. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, David Bowie, Elton John, Queen, The Who, Cream, Derek and The Dominoes, The Animals, The Hollies and yeah, you bet Led Zeppelin, had way more impact on our world of popular music than any of those early guys, except possibly Elvis.

The music of Led Zeppelin still comes alive on stage

Catching this group of five residents of Connecticut’s Fairfield County on stage at Old Saybrook’s “The Kate” - Katherine Ellis on lead vocals, Alan Marcus on guitar, Kevin Templeton on drums and vocals, Scott Spray on bass, and Peter Chiusano on keys - they are all veteran touring musicians and no kids but they delivered the classic sounds of the 60’s and 70’s with joy, reverence and genuine excitement.

Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times”, "Cream’s “White Room” The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and on and on, songs written fifty, sixty years ago by these bands from England soared across the Atlantic and roared off of our radios and turntables. Once again, with these veterans on the stage, these magical tunes came alive in that town hall-like theater.

Like the musicians, none of the audience members were exactly kids. These classic tunes, which seemed to bubble up out of one of the most creative periods in modern popular music, sounded just about as fresh as when we first heard them. They have endured.

The British Legends of Rock Show closed with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”

Which makes you wonder about today’s music, will it last? Will this generation, forty, fifty years from now, hear a few chords of a Bruno Mars or Harry Styles’ tune and react the way the audience at the Kate did, hearing the distinctive opening chords of Zep’s “Good Times, Bad Times,” the opening song off their debut album?

The shock, the immediate recognition, was electric, thrilling, even. Led Zep created music that was so dramatic, sounds that intended to grab you and all these years later, it still did.

Performed by a bunch of guys (and a woman) who were probably skinny teenagers when these tunes first came out, they all likely never imagined they’d still be playing it, hearing it, loving it as 50-plus (or older) folks. Wasn’t rock and roll was supposed to be kids’ music? At least, that’s what we were told when it first came around.

If you remember, interviews with The Beatles early on focused on what they were going to do with their lives once this was all over. Ringo, you may remember, talked about having a bunch of hair salons. They had no idea this music would be forever.

It wasn’t necessarily created to last. Most of these songs were created in a hurry, to meet a recording contract, to get ready for a tour, to fill out an album. Nobody thought any of this work would be for the ages. Maybe that’s why the spontaneity of the composition seemed to translate into live performance.

Though I’ve been a Led Zeppelin fan and have all their albums, I’d never seen them live or heard any of their music in a live setting. But their songs in particular from the impressive set of British rock standards we sang along with over that two-hour set, seemed perfectly designed to come alive on stage. Songwriters Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had a unique aural vision for that Led Zeppelin music, a sound that would set them apart from everyone else and it still rang true, even though it wasn’t exactly Led Zep performing them.

There were no autotuners then, no sampling from someone else’s musical ideas or much studio fiddle faddle, in most cases. Their musical transmissions were pure, straight from the performer to the audience. Whether that came from trying to get a song on the radio or music aimed to lift a crowd to its feet, there seemed to be a genuine honesty there. The performers, whether it was The Who or The Kinks or the Stones, seemed to genuinely want a connection with their listeners, hopefully, a positive, joyous response. It was a two-way street or so it seemed.

So many of today’s performers, at least seen from the perspective of an older person, seem much less interested in that intimate connection between artist and fan than snatching the opportunity to be famous, living like a star, wrapped up in a world of success, wealth and exclusion. Maybe that’s because popular music has become such big business, so corporate that the distance between fan and performer seems greater than ever.

The collection of songs performed in the show “The British Legends of Rock” were all warm, familiar, like old friends that we hadn’t heard much from in a while. We knew all the words, remembered the guitar solos, the choruses. For some of us, it might well have been many of our greatest hits, the songs of our youth that still delight and excite, especially in a live setting when you don’t know what’s coming next.

They closed “The Legends Of British Rock” with a rip-roaring rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” It was a fitting farewell and one that made me think.

When you’re my age and reflect back on the wealth of musical talent we were lucky enough to grow up with - The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Band, then later Bruce Springsteen, all the way to U2 - and you compare those stars to what’s on the charts these days, well, Billboard throws out these names:

• A Bar Song (Tipsy) Shaboozey. Shaboozey. ...

• I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen) Post Malone. ...

• Please Please Please. Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina Carpenter. ...

• Not Like Us. Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick Lamar. ...

• Birds of a Feather. Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish. ...

• Pink Skies. Zach Bryan. ...

• Houdini. Eminem. ...

• Million Dollar Baby. Tommy Richman.

Can anybody imagine any one of these songs played up on a distant stage in 2074 or 2084? I don’t know a single one of them, though I do recognize a few names. Were those of us who remember the 60’s and 70’s living in a golden era, never to be repeated or does every generation think THEIR music is what’s going to last?

Back in my teaching days, for fun, I’d usually include this question on my multiple choice tests: Who was better, Drake or The Beatles? Of course, it was a trap question; some kids would pick Drake and try to argue with me. Others, who were wiser, took another approach, either acknowledging that their generation missed something we didn’t or they were sucking up to the teacher for a slightly better grade.

Almost always, I would end the semester with “Meet The Beatles” week where we’d listen to a few famous Beatle songs and close with the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album in full during a class period. We’d read some music criticism about the records, then I’d ask them to write about it. They always seemed to enjoy it. One moment stands out.

A slender African-American student of mine was shopping for a hard-to-find pair of shorts in Wal-Mart, she said, and found herself singing part of a Beatles’ tune. Holding up a pair of shorts, she sang to herself but loud enough to be heard… “Penny Lane is in my ears…”

Across the way, an older white lady, standing by, immediately joined in and sang the rest of the line…“and in my eyes. There, beneath the blue suburban skies…” They looked at each other and laughed. Young and old, black and white, meeting with The Beatles.

“We’re studying The Beatles in my AP Literature class,” she said. “It’s fun. They’re great.”

“Sounds like a great class,” the older woman said. “Great song, isn’t it?”

The Brits. Gotta love ‘em. Legends of British rock, indeed.