Jam Session - Rock

Rock

As the instrumental proficiency of pop and rock musicians improved in the Sixties and early Seventies, onstage jamming also became a regular feature of rock music; bands such as Pink Floyd, Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, the Who, the Grateful Dead, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Santana, King Crimson and the Allman Brothers Band would feature live performances that could last anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes. However, they can be shorter.

Some notable recorded jams and jam-inspired performances in the rock idiom:

• The bonus CD of the 25th anniversary of the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Eric Clapton's early 70s band, Derek & The Dominos includes a number of long improvised jams between members of the group and other musicians, such as The Allman Brothers Band following the historic first meeting between the two groups earlier that day. As a result of this jam, guitarist Duane Allman was invited to join the Dominos after having recorded only three songs, and he made a major contribution to the resulting LP.
• The Soundtrack for Tonite Let's All Make Love in London features 2 improvised jams titled "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Nick's Boogie" by early Pink Floyd. The latter is complete improvisation around the beat of the drums provided by drummer Nick Mason.
• The farewell Last Waltz concerts led by The Band in 1976 included two late-night jam sessions featuring Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and others along with members of The Band. These performances were not included in the film or original recordings of the concert officially released for the first time as part of a 2002 box set.
• The third disc of George Harrison's 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass, titled Apple Jam, features a variety of songs by session musicians who contributed to the LP.
• The Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", "Some Kinda Love" and "Foggy Notion", had extensive live versions.
• Nirvana's improvised hidden track "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip" from the album In Utero (1993), and 'semi-improvised' hidden track from Nevermind (1991).
• Liquid Tension Experiment's "Three Minute Warning" from the album Liquid Tension Experiment was a 28 minute long improvised jam, the result was so unexpectedly fluent that the members decided to include it on the release.
• "Bluesbreaker" by Brian May and Friends recorded during the Star Fleet Project and featuring Eddie Van Halen, Phil Chen, Alan Gratzer and Fred Mandel.
• "Voodoo Chile", a track appearing on Jimi Hendrix's album Electric Ladyland, which would prove the basis for one of Hendrix's best known songs - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - is a 15-minutes-long blues-rock piece with various improvised sections.
• Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, Fugazi bassist Joe Lally and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer formed a brief project named Ataxia, releasing two albums; Automatic Writing and AW II; with lengthy tracks based largely around improvisational guitar set against a steady, unchanging bassline and drum beat.
• The Who's "How Can You Do It Alone" from Face Dances began as an onstage jam during performances on their December, 1979, tour in the United States. In these performances, Pete Townshend, doing the lead vocal, would improvise the lyric each time out. Furthermore, Townshend's solo song "Dance It Away" was borne out of shorter jams on this same tour.
• During AC/DC's live act, several songs are extended into 10-25 minute jams, sometimes including a strip tease by lead guitarist Angus Young. Songs often jammed to are "Let There Be Rock", "Bad Boy Boogie", and "The Jack."