Professor of Rock

Prog rock band Kansas was coming off a massive rock hit Carry On Wayward Son and a classic album Leftoverture and needed to keep the momentum going. And the answer came in one of the most unlikely hits of the 70s: Dust in the Wind. First of all the song was a simple fingerpicking exercise that the guitarist Kerry Livgren was working on to get more limber. As he was playing it, his wife commented on how great the song was and that’s when Kerry laughed and explained it was just a simple exercise. But his wife urged him to put lyrics to it and record it. Kerry was worried about showing the band this crazy idea, it didn’t fit their sound at all and it wasn’t even really a song! But against his better judgment, he listened to his wife and put some lyrics to it. But not just any lyrics, words from a 6000-year-old book. So he played it for the band and they all knew it had to be their next single. It was not an easy song to record though it made Kerry's fingers bleed and lead singer Steve Walsh had to pull the emotional vocal from deep in his soul. … it was a revelation… It became Kansas’s only Top 10 hit and is one of the most famous songs of all time. Up next, an interview with the band on the unbelievable story. #classicrock #shorts #70smusic #70srock It’s time for another edition of our series The New Standards. This show takes an in-depth look into songs that transcend genre, decade, and fads - songs that are monumental touchstones in our culture and society. today we are taking a deep dive into one of the greatest and most though provoking ballads of the rock era with direct insight from the band’s guitarist Dust in the Wind by Kansas Kansas is one of the biggest classic rock bands ever. They’ve had 9 gold albums and 3 multiplatinum records. They spent over 200 weeks on the Billboard charts in the '70s and '80s. And they are easily one of the biggest Rock and Roll Hall Fame snubs in history. After hitting #11 with their rock anthem Carry On Wayward Son in 1976 and setting the bar with their masterpiece album Leftoverture.. they went back into the studio ready to show what they could do with their follow-up... The recording sessions for Point of Know Return commenced in June 1977 at Studio in the Country, in Louisiana the same place Kansas had recorded their previous 2 albums but then due to equipment failure they were forced to change recording sites, the majority of the recording took place at being done at Woodland Studios in Nashville through July of that year and actually lead singer Steve Walsh actually left during the session wanting to go after a solo career. but he ended up recording on the bulk of the album. The band was focused on their signature sound and of course, Dust in the Wind is known for its sparse acoustic nature which was in direct contrast to that style. one night Guitarist Kerry Livgren was at home playing a finger exercise meant for improving finger picking…