The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Blues genre · 1860–

The 1960s rock umbrella keeps blues as a working language, not a costume: pentatonic boxes, bent thirds and sevenths, 12-bar and I–IV–V cycles, and a shuffle or even-eight groove…

Influence
Kimberley junba tradition · prehistoric–

Broome Aboriginal bands (Pigram Brothers, Scrap Metal, Kuckles) take Kimberley ceremonial song-and-dance identity — country, language, public junba as the community’s named dance-…

Influence
Rhythm and blues genre · 1940–

The 1960s rock umbrella keeps postwar R&B as a working language: backbeat and riff, harmonica, shouted lead, and Chess/Atlantic song.

Influence
Rock and roll genre · 1954–1964

1960s rock keeps the guitar-bass-drums-voice unit, backbeat, and short-song grammar of 1950s rock and roll, then adds album form, studio color, and (in some wings) revived electri…

Influence
Soul genre · 1958–

1960s rock takes soul’s sung hook and group backing as cover repertory and as a writing model.

Influence
Western Desert inma tradition · prehistoric–

Warumpi Band, from Papunya, takes Western Desert song-man and country identity — Luritja verse, desert place-names, ceremonial obligation as the band’s social clock — into electri…

Influence
Yolŋu manikay tradition · prehistoric–

Yothu Yindi seats Yolŋu public song — bilma clapstick pulse, yidaki, Gumatj verse, and the djatpangarri beat Mandawuy Yunupingu named as the engine of “Treaty” — inside a rock rhy…

Influence

Rock

genre · 1964–

Also called rock music

Includes Art rock, British beat, Britpop, Country rock, Dream pop, Folk rock, Garage rock, Glam rock, Hard rock, Indie rock, New wave, Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock, Pub rock, Roots rock, Shoegaze

Umbrella for guitar-centered popular music after the first rock-and-roll wave: British beat, Garage rock, electric blues-rock, Folk rock, Psychedelic rock, and their later children. African American sources remain audible (Blues, Rhythm and blues, and 1960s Soul as cover repertory); the market category and many bands become majority White. Child styles: British beat, Garage rock, Folk rock, Psychedelic rock, Roots rock, Country rock, Hard rock, Progressive rock, Art rock, Glam rock, Pub rock, New wave, Indie rock. Heavy metal, Punk, and Post-punk are later splits (influence, not taxonomy). Surf is a child of Rock and roll, not of this umbrella. Folk and country hops sit on the child nodes. The 1980s guitar layer inside rap is rock hip hop; rap-rock remains a leftover bin. Power-pop stays on this umbrella as a writing habit, not a child file. Electric blues-rock stays here; British blues is curated later. Non-English local rocks remain unfiled.

Listen

  1. I Want to Hold Your Hand The Beatles (1963) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  2. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction The Rolling Stones (1965) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  3. Like a Rolling Stone Bob Dylan (1965) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  4. A Day in the Life The Beatles (1967) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  5. Purple Haze The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  6. Good Vibrations The Beach Boys (1966) YouTube · Spotify
  7. My Generation The Who (1965) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  8. Sunshine of Your Love Cream (1967) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  9. Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin (1969) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  10. Born to Be Wild Steppenwolf (1968) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon

Passed on

Art rock style · 1967–1977

Art rock keeps rock’s band and market and changes the job of the record: the album and studio become a designed artwork.

Influence
British beat style · 1963–1966

British beat is a style of rock: the electric quartet, backbeat, and singles-length song that the umbrella later names.

Influence
Country rock style · 1968–1975

Country rock is a rock style: electric band and album/FM market, aimed at country song and steel.

Influence
Folk rock style · 1965–1968

Folk rock is a rock style: the electric quartet, backbeat, and AM/FM single replace the coffeehouse guitar.

Influence
Garage rock style · 1963–1967

Garage rock is a rock style: the same electric quartet and backbeat as british-beat, without the Liverpool finish.

Influence
Glam rock style · 1971–1975

Glam rock keeps rock’s working unit and song grammar, then makes persona and costume the job.

Influence
Hard rock style · 1968–

Hard rock keeps rock’s ensemble, backbeat, album form, and guitar-as-second-voice, then raises gain, volume, and riff density.

Influence
Heavy metal genre · 1970–

Metal keeps rock’s long-term working language: the amplified quartet, the album as the unit, backbeat residue, and the FM/festival economy.

Influence
Hip-hop genre · 1973–

1980s hip-hop takes rock’s electric-guitar riff and backbeat as a track layer.

Influence
Indie rock style · 1983–

Indie rock is a rock style: quartet, backbeat, and song-led albums, played off the arena-AOR path.

Influence
Jazz fusion style · 1968–

Fusion puts jazz improvisation on a rock chassis: even eighths, stage volume, electric guitar and bass, and the rock-festival circuit as a workplace.

Influence
New wave style · 1978–1985

New wave is a rock style: quartet, backbeat, and the singles/album market, cleaned up for 1978–83 radio.

Influence
Newgrass style · 1971–

Newgrass keeps bluegrass instruments and takes rock’s pulse and album length.

Influence
Post-punk genre · 1977–1984

Post-punk still works with rock’s quartet and a backbeat it can break.

Influence
Progressive rock style · 1969–1978

Progressive rock is a rock style: the electric band and album market, aimed at long form and technique rather than the two-minute single.

Influence
Psychedelic rock style · 1966–1969

Psychedelic rock keeps the rock ensemble and market, then changes the job of the track: long form, modal vamp, and studio as an instrument.

Influence
Pub rock style · 1971–1976

Pub rock is a rock style: the electric band and backbeat, aimed at small rooms and short songs after mid-1970s spectacle.

Influence
Punk genre · 1975–

Punk keeps rock’s working unit — amplified quartet, backbeat, short-song grammar — and refuses the mid-1970s arena and virtuoso version of that unit.

Influence
Roots rock style · 1968–

Roots rock is a rock style: the electric band, backbeat, and album/FM market, aimed at vernacular song and restraint rather than drone, suite, or stacked gain.

Influence

Blues → Rock

harmonymelodyphrase and lickform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1962–1970recordingoral

Mechanism

The 1960s rock umbrella keeps blues as a working language, not a costume: pentatonic boxes, bent thirds and sevenths, 12-bar and I–IV–V cycles, and a shuffle or even-eight groove that still answers the voice. British beat and blues-boom groups learn from Chicago and Delta records; U.S. garage and later hard rock stay on the same grammar. Strength is high on the umbrella because that wing is constitutive, not a side hobby. A tighter, louder landing already exists at blues hard rock.

Shared material

Cross Road BluestuneI–IV–V blues recast as a riff vehicle

Donor Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson, 1936) · verses YouTube · Spotify

Receiver Crossroads (Cream, 1968) · whole performance YouTube

Same Johnson song; Cream turns it into a riff-rock and solo vehicle

Evidence

Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, and Cream repertories built on blues forms; Palmer’s electric-blues path into British rock; Starr’s blues-rock chapter as a named 1960s wing.

Debate

Folk-rock and art-rock claim other parents. They still sit on a guitar-band default that blues and rock and roll jointly supplied. This edge is the blues share of that default, not a claim that every rock song is a blues.

Mediators

artist: The Rolling Stones; artist: The Yardbirds; artist: Cream

Kimberley junba → Rock

performance practicemelodyfunction and contextstrength: mediumwell documented1980–1990oralrecording

Mechanism

Broome Aboriginal bands (Pigram Brothers, Scrap Metal, Kuckles) take Kimberley ceremonial song-and-dance identity — country, language, public junba as the community’s named dance-song — into electric rock and country-rock. Strength medium. Junba ceremony leftover as the village job; pearling song leftover as a local popular wing on the same scene, not a second parent node.

Evidence

Broome scene from the 1980s; Pigram Brothers’ Yawuru-language and country songs; Grove on Aboriginal popular music in the Kimberley. Warumpi leftover as a Western Desert hop, not this coast.

Debate

Whether Broome rock is junba with guitars. The edge is community and repertory overlap, not a claim that restricted junba cycles were recoded as riffs. Island reggae leftover as a neighboring Broome color, hosted inside these bands, not a separate isolate hop.

Mediators

artist: Pigram Brothers; artist: Scrap Metal; community: Broome Aboriginal popular-music scene

Rhythm and blues → Rock

meter and groovephrase and lickinstrumentationperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1962–1967recordingoral

Mechanism

The 1960s rock umbrella keeps postwar R&B as a working language: backbeat and riff, harmonica, shouted lead, and Chess/Atlantic song. British beat and the Stones/Animals wing are the usual path; U.S. garage learns the same diet. Strength high on the umbrella because that wing is constitutive, not a costume. Tighter landings already exist at rhythm and blues british beat and rhythm and blues garage rock. Rock and roll is the 1950s youth-single parent; this edge is the club-combo parent.

Evidence

Stones, Animals, and Yardbirds repertories; Gillett’s British R&B clubs; Starr on the R&B-to-rock hinge.

Debate

How much is R&B versus blues or rock and roll. All three are required. This file is the 1940s–50s African American popular-combo share, not Delta guitar and not Berry singles.

Mediators

artist: The Rolling Stones; artist: The Animals

Rock and roll → Rock

instrumentationmeter and grooveform and structuretimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1962–1967recordingradiooral

Mechanism

1960s rock keeps the guitar-bass-drums-voice unit, backbeat, and short-song grammar of 1950s rock and roll, then adds album form, studio color, and (in some wings) revived electric blues. British groups literally learn by covering Berry, Richard, and R&B. The name change (“rock”) marks a market and generational shift more than a new rhythmic species.

Evidence

Repertory lists of the Beatles, Stones, Animals, and Yardbirds. U.S. garage bands on the same diet. Later hard rock still uses Berry-type intros and 12-bar breaks.

Debate

Folk-rock and art-rock claim other parents (Folk revival, psychedelic studio practice). They still sit on a rock-and-roll ensemble default.

Mediators

artist: The Beatles; artist: The Rolling Stones

Soul → Rock

melodyperformance practiceform and structurestrength: mediumscholarly consensus1964–1968recordingradio

Mechanism

1960s rock takes soul’s sung hook and group backing as cover repertory and as a writing model. Strength medium. rhythm and blues rock remains the 1950s club-combo hop; this one is Motown/Stax-era soul. soul british beat is the local beat-group landing; this edge is the rock umbrella.

Evidence

Stones, Animals, and allied covers of Atlantic/Stax/Motown sides (Gillett, Starr).

Debate

Whether this is still R&B. Jump/club R&B is the earlier diet; these sides are 1960s soul singles.

Mediators

artist: The Rolling Stones

Western Desert inma → Rock

performance practicemelodyfunction and contextstrength: mediumwell documented1983–1987oralrecording

Mechanism

Warumpi Band, from Papunya, takes Western Desert song-man and country identity — Luritja verse, desert place-names, ceremonial obligation as the band’s social clock — into electric rock. Strength medium. Inma ceremony and rock remain different jobs; the hop is language, country, and singer role, not a recoding of restricted inma cycles as guitar riffs.

Evidence

“Jailanguru Pakarnu” (1983) as the first rock single in an Aboriginal language; Big Name, No Blankets; Blackfella/Whitefella tour with Midnight Oil; Grove on Aboriginal rock. George Rrurrambu’s Yolŋu lead leftover as a second identity inside the band, not a manikay parent of this desert hop.

Debate

Whether singing in Luritja over Chuck Berry changes is influence from inma. The edge is not “inma became rock”; it is the documented Papunya song-men’s hop into the rock band as a named Aboriginal-rock practice. Festival leftover as continuity, not a child.

Mediators

artist: Warumpi Band; artist: Sammy Butcher

Yolŋu manikay → Rock

meter and grooveinstrumentationperformance practicestrength: highwell documented1986–1992oralrecording

Mechanism

Yothu Yindi seats Yolŋu public song — bilma clapstick pulse, yidaki, Gumatj verse, and the djatpangarri beat Mandawuy Yunupingu named as the engine of “Treaty” — inside a rock rhythm section. Strength high for that band’s early hits. Sacred restricted manikay leftover as ceremony, not the pop mix; djatpangarri leftover as the public entertainment wing of the same Yolŋu song world, kept on this node.

Evidence

“Treaty” (1991) and Tribal Voice; Stubington and Dunbar-Hall on ganma (brackish mixing) as the band’s named method; Yunupingu on djatpangarri driving the song’s structure; Witiyana Marika’s manikay vocals and Mununggurr’s yidaki on the records.

Debate

Whether “Treaty” is rock with decoration or Yolŋu song with guitars. The literature treats it as a two-way imprint; this edge is the Yolŋu donor into rock. Western Desert rock leftover as a parallel Aboriginal-rock hop, not a parent here.

Mediators

artist: Mandawuy Yunupingu; artist: Yothu Yindi

Rock → Art rock

form and structuretimbre and productionperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1966–1972recordingradio

Mechanism

Art rock keeps rock’s band and market and changes the job of the record: the album and studio become a designed artwork. Taxonomically it is a rock style. Strength high.

Evidence

Post-1966 Beatles albums; Floyd and others sold as albums rather than only singles (Starr, Grove). The ensemble is still rock.

Debate

Whether “art rock” is only a critic’s compliment. Grove and textbooks treat it as a named category; this corpus keeps it as the artwork stance and leaves chops-and-suite technique on Progressive rock.

Mediators

artist: The Beatles; artist: Pink Floyd

Rock → British beat

instrumentationmeter and grooveform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1963–1966recordingradiooral

Mechanism

British beat is a style of rock: the electric quartet, backbeat, and singles-length song that the umbrella later names. Historically the groups and the U.S. tour come first (1963–64) and the market word “rock” settles on them; taxonomically the child still sits under the umbrella. This edge names the transferable craft. The U.S. donors are Rock and roll and Rhythm and blues. Strength high.

Evidence

Beatles, Stones, and other 1963–66 guitar groups as the named hinge in Starr and Gillett; Grove’s beat/rock continuity.

Debate

Whether beat invents rock or only localizes 1950s U.S. music. Both: the name and album generation shift are real; the ensemble and backbeat are inherited. This edge is the parent-style claim, not a claim that rock predates Liverpool.

Mediators

artist: The Beatles; artist: The Rolling Stones

Rock → Country rock

instrumentationmeter and grooveform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1968–1973recording

Mechanism

Country rock is a rock style: electric band and album/FM market, aimed at country song and steel. Taxonomically a child of Rock. Strength high. Country as a tradition node comes later.

Evidence

Sweetheart of the Rodeo and early Eagles sold as rock (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether this is country or rock. The corpus files it under rock because the market, band, and amplification are rock; the country donor waits for its own file.

Mediators

artist: The Byrds; artist: The Eagles

Rock → Folk rock

instrumentationmeter and groovetimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1965–1967recordingradio

Mechanism

Folk rock is a rock style: the electric quartet, backbeat, and AM/FM single replace the coffeehouse guitar. Taxonomically it is a child of Rock; this edge names the transferable craft. The song itself arrives from Folk revival. Strength high on the child.

Evidence

Byrds as a beat-group texture on Dylan and folk-circuit songs; Dylan’s 1965 electric band; Starr’s mid-1960s folk-rock chapter.

Debate

Whether folk-rock is “folk with drums” or “rock with lyrics.” Both halves are required; this edge is the rock half.

Mediators

artist: The Byrds; artist: Bob Dylan

Rock → Garage rock

instrumentationmeter and grooveform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1963–1966recordingradiooral

Mechanism

Garage rock is a rock style: the same electric quartet and backbeat as British beat, without the Liverpool finish. Taxonomically a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

1963–66 regional U.S. hits sold as rock and roll/beat; later named garage in the Nuggets era (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether garage is only bad beat. The corpus treats the amateur U.S. path as a named style because punk’s “return to garage” needs a donor.

Mediators

artist: The Kingsmen; artist: The Standells

Rock → Glam rock

instrumentationform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1970–1974recordingradio

Mechanism

Glam rock keeps rock’s working unit and song grammar, then makes persona and costume the job. Taxonomically it is a rock style; this edge names the transferable craft. Strength high.

Evidence

Bolan and Bowie records that are still 4/4 guitar songs; Auslander on glam as a strategy inside rock, not a new ensemble.

Debate

Hard rock as a co-parent for the louder wing (Queen, some Bowie). Those bands sit on both nodes; this edge is the rock language only.

Mediators

artist: T. Rex; artist: David Bowie

Rock → Hard rock

instrumentationtimbre and productionform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1967–1972recordingoral

Mechanism

Hard rock keeps rock’s ensemble, backbeat, album form, and guitar-as-second-voice, then raises gain, volume, and riff density. Taxonomically it is a rock style; this edge names the transferable craft. Strength high on the child.

Evidence

Dated late-1960s albums that are still blues-rock or psychedelic rock in form but already tour as a louder style (Cream, Hendrix, late Yardbirds). The later Zeppelin/Purple catalog stays inside this grammar.

Debate

Whether “hard rock” is only a market adjective. The corpus treats it as a named style because the metal split is unintelligible without a donor that is louder than 1964 beat and still blues-based.

Mediators

artist: Cream; artist: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Rock → Heavy metal

instrumentationform and structuretimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1969–1975recordingradiooral

Mechanism

Metal keeps rock’s long-term working language: the amplified quartet, the album as the unit, backbeat residue, and the FM/festival economy. That is influence, not taxonomy — metal is not a style of rock the way hard rock is. Hard rock is the immediate donor of loudness and riff habit; this edge names the older craft that would still be there if one never used the hard-rock label. Strength high on the target.

Evidence

Metal bands are booked, sold, and taught as rock bands. Grove and textbook histories place the style inside rock’s post-1960s fragmentation, not outside popular music.

Debate

Grove and radio formats still file metal under rock. This corpus does not: the 1970 umbrella is a split, not a child style. Later extreme-metal refusals of the “rock” name fit that encoding; they do not have to wait for a child node.

Mediators

artist: Black Sabbath

Rock → Hip-hop

instrumentationtimbre and productionperformance practicestrength: mediumscholarly consensus1984–1986recordingradio

Mechanism

1980s hip-hop takes rock’s electric-guitar riff and backbeat as a track layer. Strength medium. Funk and disco remain the break-and-party parents. Rap-rock stays a leftover bin; this hop is the guitar job inside hip-hop.

Evidence

Rock Box; Walk This Way (Chang, Starr).

Debate

Whether this is already rock. The rap vocal and DJ job are hip-hop’s; the riff is rock’s.

Mediators

artist: Run-D.M.C.

Rock → Indie rock

instrumentationform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1983–1991recordingradio

Mechanism

Indie rock is a rock style: quartet, backbeat, and song-led albums, played off the arena-AOR path. Taxonomically a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

R.E.M. and 1980s college-radio guitar bands sold as rock (Starr, Grove, Azerrad’s circuit).

Debate

Whether “indie” is only a business model. This corpus keeps the named guitar-song style and leaves label politics as context.

Mediators

artist: R.E.M.

Rock → Jazz fusion

meter and groovetimbre and productioninstrumentationfunction and contextstrength: highwell documented1968–1975recordingoralpatronage

Mechanism

Fusion puts jazz improvisation on a rock chassis: even eighths, stage volume, electric guitar and bass, and the rock-festival circuit as a workplace. Strength high for groove and timbre. Harmony and solo language stay jazz-trained. funk jazz fusion is the parallel ostinato hop, not this file.

Evidence

Miles’s In a Silent Way / Bitches Brew hinge; Mahavishnu and Return to Forever as guitar-volume brands; Nicholson on jazz-rock as a named 1968–75 language.

Debate

Whether this is jazz that got loud or rock that learned to solo. The node is a style of jazz; the edge is what it heard. Do not hang every later “jazz-rock” radio tag here.

Mediators

artist: Miles Davis; artist: John McLaughlin

Rock → New wave

instrumentationform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1978–1983recordingradio

Mechanism

New wave is a rock style: quartet, backbeat, and the singles/album market, cleaned up for 1978–83 radio. Taxonomically a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

Cars and Costello as guitar-band radio records (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether new wave is only a marketing name. Grove and textbooks treat a named pop-facing style; this corpus keeps that job and leaves synth-pop and New Romantic as later files.

Mediators

artist: The Cars; artist: Elvis Costello

Rock → Newgrass

meter and grooveform and structurestrength: mediumwell documented1971–1977recordingoral

Mechanism

Newgrass keeps bluegrass instruments and takes rock’s pulse and album length. Strength medium. Jazz hops sit on the sibling file.

Evidence

New Grass Revival’s early-1970s rock covers and festival sets; Malone on that opening of the book.

Debate

Whether a cover is already influence. The feel and the set length transfer; the songs are the vehicle.

Mediators

artist: New Grass Revival

Rock → Post-punk

instrumentationmeter and groovestrength: mediumwell documented1977–1982recordingoral

Mechanism

Post-punk still works with rock’s quartet and a backbeat it can break. Strength medium: punk is the break that makes the genre; this edge is the long-term band language that remains after the break. Taxonomy stays empty.

Evidence

Heads, Wire, and Joy Division as guitar-band records (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether post-punk “leaves” rock. It leaves stadium-rock values, not the ensemble.

Mediators

artist: Talking Heads

Rock → Progressive rock

instrumentationform and structureperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1969–1974recording

Mechanism

Progressive rock is a rock style: the electric band and album market, aimed at long form and technique rather than the two-minute single. Taxonomically it is a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

1969–72 Crimson, Yes, and Genesis records sold as rock, not as concert music (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether prog “leaves” rock. The corpus keeps it as a style: the ensemble is still a rock band. Art rock is the neighboring artwork stance, not this edge.

Mediators

artist: King Crimson; artist: Yes

Rock → Psychedelic rock

instrumentationtimbre and productionform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1966–1969recordingoral

Mechanism

Psychedelic rock keeps the rock ensemble and market, then changes the job of the track: long form, modal vamp, and studio as an instrument. Taxonomically it is a rock style. Strength high.

Evidence

1966–67 Beatles studio records; San Francisco and London bands sold as album and ballroom rock (Starr, Grove). The band is still a rock band.

Debate

Whether “psychedelia” is a drug scene or a style. This corpus keeps the named 1966–69 rock style and leaves later “psychedelic” tags for other files.

Mediators

artist: The Beatles; artist: Jefferson Airplane

Rock → Pub rock

instrumentationform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1971–1976oralrecording

Mechanism

Pub rock is a rock style: the electric band and backbeat, aimed at small rooms and short songs after mid-1970s spectacle. Taxonomically a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

Feelgood and Brinsley as named pub-rock bands still playing rock sets (Savage, Grove).

Debate

Whether pub rock is only a venue. The corpus keeps the named 1971–76 style because punk’s British room needs a donor.

Mediators

artist: Dr. Feelgood; artist: Brinsley Schwarz

Rock → Punk

instrumentationform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1974–1978recordingoral

Mechanism

Punk keeps rock’s working unit — amplified quartet, backbeat, short-song grammar — and refuses the mid-1970s arena and virtuoso version of that unit. The transfer is the craft; the refusal is the new genre. Strength high: without rock there is nothing to strip. Taxonomy is empty; punk is not a style of rock the way hard rock is.

Evidence

Ramones and Pistols repertories that are still 4/4 guitar songs; Savage’s account of punk as a crisis inside rock culture, not a new ensemble.

Debate

Garage, pub rock, and glam as nearer parents. Those are now separate edges. This file is the long-term rock language only.

Mediators

artist: Ramones; artist: Sex Pistols

Rock → Roots rock

instrumentationmeter and grooveform and structurestrength: highscholarly consensus1968–1972recordingoral

Mechanism

Roots rock is a rock style: the electric band, backbeat, and album/FM market, aimed at vernacular song and restraint rather than drone, suite, or stacked gain. Taxonomically it is a child of Rock. Strength high.

Evidence

1968–70 Band and CCR records sold as rock, not as folk revival or country. Starr’s late-1960s fragmentation is the usual textbook home.

Debate

Whether “roots rock” is only a critic’s compliment for any rootsy band. This corpus keeps the named Band/CCR/Cale job and leaves country-rock and later Americana as other files.

Mediators

artist: The Band; artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival