Description: "'Soft Rock, ' they call it; low-key stuff with wide appeal." So stated a 1971 Chicago Tribune article on the Carpenters. Over time, Soft Rock became the butt of jokes, yet during its heyday, it fit America's changing mood, blending rebellion with conservatism. Easy explains how Soft Rock and associated genres emerged in the late 1960s and achieved broad recognition in the 1970s. Tracking hundreds of songs, Timothy Gray supplies Billboard's chart rankings to show how soft music easily crossed over from one fan base to another
Review Quotes: "In 1971, a fan of Led Zeppelin would not be caught dead listening to the Carpenters or the Osmonds. 'Serious' rock music listeners ruthlessly dismissed Soft Rock or any Soft Pop. Yet, by the end of the decade, soft music had influenced the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers, and Woodstock acid rockers. In Easy, Timothy Gray traces the rise of soft music--its pervasive influence across genres and its chart flexibility and durability. Easy is often surprising, as when Gray reveals Karen Carpenter and Janis Joplin or Charlie Rich and Dickey Betts to be more similar than dissimilar. A warning to the reader: Easy might cause you to reevaluate some of your edicts on your favorite and least favorite musicians."--Thomas M. Kitts, author, Keep on Believin' The Life and Music of Richie Furay