A Proper Classic Rock and Roll Education

Did you ever have one of those days where you wonder whether you have failed as a parent? I had one of those days recently when my son had no idea who or what Led Zeppelin was. His friend was going on about how much he liked Black Dog and Rock and Roll off of Zep IV and my son was clueless. My son. Of all the 9 year olds on the planet, how could my kid be the one that doesn't have a proper classic rock education? Had I failed my child? How could he not know Led Zeppelin?

I've been taking stock of this particular failure. I think it started when I didn't replace my vinyl albums with CDs in the early 90's. There is virtually no classic rock in my house. Gone are the Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Aerosmith etc, and countless others. Sure, my son knows Fountains of Wayne, Jack Johnson, the White Stripes and other current rock bands. He even knows the older stuff like Elvis and Roy Orbison and the Beatles. But there is a huge gap. It is like the 70's never happened.

It is time to bury my son in a remedial classic Rock and Roll education. Nothing but classic rock for the next several years. But I don't have the records anymore. I am going to have to lay out the cash and start buying the CDs.

But where do I start? I tried to put together a list yesterday and I was stumped. Here's my criteria:

• A classic rock AOR album
• No Best-of Compilations!
• Released between '67 and '79
• He's 9 years old, so let's keep it simple, hummable and listenable
• I can't buy them all, so I'm going to try to keep the list to 20 albums...
• This is a primary education... (sorry Sex Pistols. You'll be saved for later.)

Here are the albums I have so far:

• Led Zeppelin - IV
• Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
• Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
• Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
• Eagles - Hotel California
• Paul McCartney - Venus and Mars
• Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic
• Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
• AC/DC - Back in Black
• Boston - Boston
• Van Halen - Van Halen
• Queen - News of the World
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle, Vol. 1
• Yes - Fragile

Man, that brings me back. Sitting in the living room with those big puffy headphones on, the soft glow of the amplifier in the darkened room, gently cleaning the record and placing the needle on the vinyl -- then zoning out... There's not a single record being made today that can send you to another planet like the classic rock albums.

That's what I have so far. I haven't put The Who, the Beatles or Steve Miller on the list because I already have those. So, tell me what I'm missing. Or start poking fun at the fact that I actually put Boston on the must-have list :-) He's 9 years old! He'll love it.