Photos of ’70s Rock Stars with Their Parents

In the Sept. 24, 1971, issue of LIFE magazine was a photo essay by John Olsen of rock and roll stars like Elton John, Frank Zapp, David Crosby and Eric Clapton with their parents.

As Elton would say, it's weird and it's wonderful.

According to the article in the famed magazine, 

Like other mere mortals, they often came from humble backgrounds, with moms and dads who bragged about them, fussed over them, called them on their nonsense and worried about them every single day.

 

The photos are also fascinating because of their scary look back on '70s decor. The Zappa's living room was a weird shade of lavender and the Jackson Five's house looks like the Brady Bunch's.

Other highlights from the feature:

Zappa on His Parents: “My father has ambitions to be an actor,” Frank told LIFE. “He secretly wants to be on TV.”

Zappa’s Mom on Zappa: “The thing that makes me mad about Frank is that his hair is curlier than mine — and blacker.”

Grace Slick: Grace Slick’s mom Virginia Wing, wrote LIFE, was a “soft-spoken suburban matron” — pretty much the opposite of her wild child. “Grace and I have different sets of moral values,” Mrs. Wing told LIFE, “but she’s her own person, and we understand each other.”

Elton John: In 1970, Elton John was just three albums into his prolific career, and still had countless hits — “Rocket Man,” “Daniel,” “Bennie and the Jets” and “Candle in the Wind” among them — in his future. “When he was four years old,” his mother said of her prodigiously talented son, “we used to put him to bed in the day and get him up to play at night for parties.”