Something in the Air: 1969-71

As the turbulent ‘60s tip into the blank-page promise of the ‘70s, the makers of rock music take the Me Decade's do-your-own-thing ethos to its ultimate expression. Led Zeppelin goes hard, heavy and to the point with the new-school blues of “Whole Lotta Love;” while Crosby, Stills and Nash weave airy folk guitar, Spanish lyrics, and Laurel Canyon harmonies into the four-movement, long-playing smash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” Paul McCartney—newly solo after the break-up of The Beatles—literally does his own thing, playing all the instruments on “Maybe, I'm Amazed,” and building on his singular body of mellifluous, personal pop; as John Lennon gathers the gang (Yoko, Phil Spector, Billy Preston, George Harrison, Klaus Voorman, more) for a Wall of Sound synthesis that's part admonition, part Zen lesson, part hippie anthem on “Instant Kharma (We All Shine On).”