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Introduction
The political possibilities of popular music particularly in the sixties served as a reflection on the society of the United States of America, as it has been suggested throughout my thesis. I have argued that blues revolutionized music and folk politicised it. Now, I will demonstrate how rock contributed to a widespread and far-reaching cultural exchange between black and white America in regards to the issues the counter-culture was concerned about. Rock also reflected the political conflicts of the day and through which the young generation sought liberation and self-respect. In this process they found personal identities and at the same time experienced collectiveness. What cannot be overlooked in this discussion, is the commercial climate; an important factor that successfully managed to fuse the folk and rock worlds as saleable commodities in the age of “constitutional re-play of mass production. ” In this crossover of music styles, deep soul and R&B even further revolutionized the sixties countercultural protest music and the American popular culture. Part of this debate will be the importance of Otis Redding, whose 1967 performance at Monterey Pop Festival marked a pivotal moment in the future preservation of black culture. First, in this chapter the intention is to point out to the promise and the power of rock music as a revolutionary and authentic 1960s political and cultural resource that forever transformed U.S. society (and the world in a broader sense.) Second, I also intend to demonstrate the significance of black and white musical intersection in order to explore the political uses of popular music of this era. Ultimately, I wish to illustrate the controversies about countercultural protest music, wh...
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...bilities of popular music particularly in the sixties served as a reflection on the society of the United States of America, in which culture - and therefore music as fine art - “is a complex and contested reality.”
Bibliography
Books
Hill, Sarah. “When deep soul met the love crowd: Otis Redding: Monterey Pop Festival, June 17, 1967” in Ian Inglis, eds., Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time. UK: Ashgate, 2006
Pratt, Ray. Rhythm and Resistance: explorations in the political uses of popular music. New York: Praeger, 1990
Periodicals
Rolling Stone Magazine:
Landau, Jon. “Soul ’67.” Rolling Stone Magazine, Feb 24, 1968.
Traum, Happy. “The Swan Song of Folk Music.” Rolling Stone Magazine, May 17, 1969.
Interviews
Dylan, Bob. Rolling Stone Magazine. The Rolling Stone Interview: Bob Dylan. January 20, 1968. Print
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
Subotnik, Rose Rosengard. Developing Variations: Style and Ideology in Western Music. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991.
Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.
In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own marks in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decays, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
Defined by a popular culture that manages to thrive even in today’s society, the 1960s is a decade that refuses to die. Bell-bottoms, free love, incense, and psychedelic rock is a style that, although at the time was labeled as corrupt, anarchistic, and radi...
In conclusion this report has helped us understand the significance of Music in America. Also, the impact it has on music we listen too. Music is very much like a big chain reaction. Rock ‘N’ Roll, much like music today, stood out and was in a way rebellious. Parents now hate Rap and we love it. People in the 70’s loved Rock ‘N’ Roll and parents hated it. This shows that maybe no matter how much older people deny it, the time gap and generation gap is not too far apart. Without Rock ‘N’ Roll the World would without a doubt be changed. Any guess to that of which way would be a good one.
Before 1963, the music being played in the 60’s were closely reflecting the sound, style, and belief of the decades before. After 1963, many social influences changed what peopled were viewing as popular music. The assassination of Kennedy, war in Vietnam, and the Civil Rights Movement all greatly impacted the mood of American culture and how the music began to reflect change. The “British Invasion” was a time period in which many British bands and artists came to the United States, and excelled extremely well. The most famous of these bands were “The Beetles,” who would eventually go down in history as one of the most famous bands in history. At the height of the music industry in the 60’s, one single event changed American music forever. Woodstock was a three-day concert full of sex, drugs, and a lot of hippies. The organizers were only expecting about 50,000 people to show up. To their surprise, more than 400,000 appeared at the infamous dairy farm in New York. With artists like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, many were drawn to witness this phenomenon. This festival is widely known as the definitive moment for the larger counter-culture generation. The 60’s drastically revolutionized music in a way that shaped music into the powerhouse that it is for generations to
Ward, Brian. "People Get Ready": Music and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. n.d. 21 April 2014 .
During the 1960s and the early 1970s, music reflected the political and social changes that America was undergoing at the time. Some of these major changes included the African-American civil rights movement and the conflict over America’s role in the Vietnam War. During these hard times, people turned to music for hope, peace, happiness and answers.
Music has been around for thousands of years. Music has progressed since that time and has slowly become what it is today. Though music has been around for such a long time, protest music just started to develop in the Vietnam Era, the year 1954. The war started the era of protest which, in turn, created a new form of music which incorporated a specific type of lyric that was a way of expressing protest through the song. Since music in this era was already a big thing, artists thought it would be a good idea to get their political viewpoints out there. They did it through something that affected everybody in that time and space. The artists view spread quickly through the country because of the catchy tune and the viewpoints that are listed. In the United States of America, it is a very common thing to conform to others in a group (Conformity…). Since conformity is such a common occurrence in a large group, all the artist has to do is find a couple of people in the group, group being an audience, who agree with the artist and the rest will unfold on its own. The artist will keep on performing while the word of him and his music will spread from person to person. Conformity will ultimately bring people together on the same viewpoint until eventually, there are thousands of people there with the artist to protest. These artists have grown over time along with the style of music that they bring along with them. Protest music still exists today and is one of the most effective forms of protest that we have.
Music is an art form and source of power. Many forms of music reflect culture and society, as well as, containing political content and social message. Music as social change has been highlighted throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s the United States saw political and socially oriented folk music discussing the Vietnam War and other social issues. In Jamaica during the 1970s and 1980s reggae developed out of the Ghetto’s of Trench town and expressed the social unrest of the poor and the need to over-through the oppressors. The 1980’s brought the newest development in social and political music, the emergence of hip-hop and rap. This urban musical art form that was developed in New York City has now taken over the mainstream, but originated as an empowering art form for urban youth and emerging working class.
Music is an outlet to all aspects of life and culture is a significant way of forming people and the way they live. Although not always seen directly culture has an overbearing influence on the music that is produced and made popular. The political Climate of the early seventies was full of fire with issues such as Vietnam and constant protest throughout the county. Later in the 70’s the end of the Vietnamese conflict brought the rise of the Watergate scandal and Iran Contra. These issues swept headlines and ingrained people’s thoughts. Social issues also played a big role in the developing culture of the seventies. Protests and constant outbreaks about gay rights and women’s rights seemed to overtake the country in storm. Later in the Decade the social climate changed to a celebration of the Past and a can-do attitude. Political and Social climates had an overbearing influence on the attitude that was being developed throughout the seventies. This climate was also transparent in the music world of this decade. In the early 70’s music lyrics were being created that were representative of the popular method of protest and social change. Music is a common way of expression and during this time artist and groups took the most of their popular music by expressing viewpoints on present issues. In the mid to late seventies the birth of new styles that broke from the old seemed to dominate the music industry. These new types of music ranged from disco to television pop. The music of the decade represented the culture and was greatly influenced by events and beliefs of the 70’s. At this time in American history, music and life became closely nit. In the late 1970’s, national issues settl...
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf
Paxton, Tom. (2011). "Music as a Tool of Social Protest." Squidoo: Welcome to Squidoo. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from .