Soft Rock Book

The first book « in french » devoted to soft rock which massively occupied the airwaves during the seventies and eighties. 100 albums that marked this musical period are told by Arnaud Choutet in this book to be released on October 22nd.

Born in Paris in 1968, Arnaud Choutet lived for a few years in the United States in the 1990s. Since his return, he has reported on his various discoveries and musical passions in various reviews, and several books published by « Le mot et le reste »: Country rock (2014), Bretagne (2015), Malicorne (2016) and Rock Sudiste (2019). He now lives in Brittany.

Words from: https://noted.blogs.com/westcoastmusic/

At the beginning of the seventies, following the social and political turbulences of the previous decade, the baby boomers arose, musical tastes evolve.

Rock fragments and resurfaces in California in a light, neat and harmonious form, rooted in country and folk: soft rock was born, represented by locomotives like America, Bread, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills & Nash… Au contact with black music (funk, jazz fusion, soul) and very calibrated studio work, the genre becomes more sophisticated.

Both nonchalant and bouncy, cool and chic, it’s as easy and fun to listen to as it is complex to produce. This soft rock with its particular sounds, specific to its westcoast, is experiencing its golden age with the success of the Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Toto and even Christopher Cross.

One hundred albums with rich Californian flavors are peeled here, a selection augmented by a list of as many French soft rock records.