Back to defending the indefensible. →[More:]Among most critics and people who consider themselves serious rock aficionados, the genre of 1970's hard rock is considered a barren wasteland. AS most of you know, I disagree, I think it's like any other genre, there's good stuff and bad stuff.

Today I'm going to talk about two bands that are probably the most critically despised of that era. First, Grand Funk Railroad. Barely remembered now, these guys were huge throughout the 1970's, racking up platinum albums one after the other and even joining the select group of rockers to sell out Shea Stadium.

Never the deepest band in the world, they spcialized in loud, riffy, punchy crowd-pleasers-'Foot Stompin' Music' in a word, with the occasional break for some bloozy emoting. Not exactly deep, like I said, but in a barroom or after a tiring day with a cold beer, it definitely has it's sweaty, luggy charm and drummer Don Brewer had one of the great whiteboy afros of all-time. It was also Brewer who provided Grand Funk with their one undeniably transcendent moment. One night on tour they got into an argument with tourmates HUmble Pie about the merits of British versus American rock to which a boozy Brewer declared 'We're An American Band', then woke up hungover and wrote the song of his career (tightened up nicely by Todd Rundgren's production). The song is the blueprint for all the Anthem Rock to come, so whether you love it or loathe it, give the progenitors their due.

Now, on to Black Oak Arkansas. Derided as a cut-rate Skynyrd back in the day, they still managed to rack up some hits. Most notable was the beautifully over-the-top 'Lord Have Mercy On My Soul' with vocalist Jim Dandy Mangrums ponderous mumbled philosophy and a catchy-as-hell chorus adding up to a stoner rock classic. Then there's their cover of LaVern Baker's 'Jim Dandy To The Rescue' (latter-day video, but backup-vocalist Ruby Starr still looks great) with is a rousingly charming mess.

Both these bands are still slogging it out today which says something, and their influence shows up in surprising places: look at the work of Raging Slab and the Supersuckers, or in the case of the whol genre, check out the comp Sucking the '70's.

Was this stuff revelatory or 'important?' Probably not. Fun and influential? Hell yes.