by 1973 (40 years ago, believe it or not), rock musicians were starting to catch up to jazz musicians in terms of musical skill. this week i feature rock musicians who flashed some jazz-like chops and/or improvisational skills, albeit, nearly all guitar-based.

this week's artists and tracks from 1973 include steely dan's "bodhisattva," pink floyd's epic "dark side of the moon," wishbone ash's les paul electric "blowin' free (live)," the amboy dukes's instrumental masterpiece "eruption," a 9 minute, live high-energy medly by focus, frank zappa's "montana," and the who's relatively unknown "the stone." 

the length of the tracks ranges from 3 minutes to 11 minutes... to quote the opening track: look out!

the tunes...

40 years of music was just all over the place: zz top was exploring tex-americana with "la grange," while british band wishbone ash (17 minutes) and dutch group focus (19 minutes) were exploring the full range of creative, instrumental, rock improv.

then there were subtle, funny, and sweet songs from jackson browne [pictured], funkiness from curtis mayfield, a strange throwback (and forgotten #1) tune by former pink floyd and beatles' engineer, norman "hurricane" smith, and bob dylan's soundtrack tune from "billy and the kid."

all the songs are here.