Music in the Sixties
The music of the sixties went through tremendous change. It shaped mush of the music we hear today. From New Orleans came Jazz, from the East Coast came rock, from the West Coast came Psychedelic rock, and from England came the Invasion.
"In 1963 the Beatles shattered the dreariness of the music business. And with them came rock, the music of the sixties, and a music quite different from rock’n’roll." The jazz era had slowly faded away and in came the Beatles, possibly the most influential group of musicians ever to play. Producing a new sound soon dubbed "the Liverpool sound"; this sound would go on to revolutionize the entire sixties era. Along with the Beatles cam the shaggy hairstyles by men and the lower cut dresses of the women. The Beatles also brought on the British Invasion. The British Invasion is known as the time where British groups began Invading the United States. This also helped shape the music we hear today. One reason that the British bands such as the Byrds, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. These bands were able to stay out of the limelight of their American counterparts until they had excelled at their instruments. Once this happened the bands would appear in the United States selling out large venues all over the nation. With this drastic spread of music came the introduction that would forever revolutionize music, the FM radio.
The FM radio was introduced in 1964 and by 1967 it was standard in all automobiles. The FM radio allowed better sound quality than the obsolete AM band radio. Now, "instead of record hops, liquor, and transistor radios, there were light shows, dope, and headphones." This more modernized radio band would allow for music to begin to take shape into what we see to...
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...ck, by the numerous other musical events that took place that year. There was the Altamont Music Festival in 1970 in which the Rolling Stones attmepted to reproduce Woodstock with a free concert. This event went horribly wrong with the hiring of Hell’s Angels, a infamous group of biker’s, as security guards, the masses of people could not be controlled. There was also the emergence of Bob Marley and Carlos Santana who represented Jamaican and Latino influences in their music. There were also the acid tests of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead in which fans would experiment with the drug LSD in safe enclosed environments. The sixties music had become a genre where anything goes. The United States appeared to be in a state of upheaval everywhere one looked. However the music shines through as a positive reinorcer of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The bebop revolution coincided with the birth of the Beat Generation. In a slightly unbalanced relationship, Beat writers often molded their poetics and style after the playing of such jazz music. "Jazz writers," such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, upheld their poetic ideals to the techniques of jazz musicians, such as rhythm, improvisation, and call and response. The structure of creative writing underwent a change, as the importance of form equaled that of theme.
-The American people were hungry for new music, so they accepted the independent stations of the majors.
Although its initial peak of success occurred in 1956, rock and roll had been developing since 1951. The introduction of the 45 rpm disc, transistor radio, and television; and finally, its lively, upbeat sound all contributed to the success of rock and roll(Peterson, 102- 104). The “baby boomer” generation after the Second World War, was a major influence on the success of rock and roll. Unlike their parents, this g...
Woodstock became a symbol for a whole generation by the coming together of the political environment, the pop culture, and the current events of the time. The ‘baby boomers’ were searching for ways to separate themselves from their parents’ generation and see themselves as a more loving, compassionate, tolerant group of people. Woodstock came at a time of the youths desperation for authority and gave them beliefs they could live with. They wanted to revolt against the political chaos that they had been enduring during this memorable decade, and Woodstock was a symbol of this for the youth.
In the nineteen sixties almost half of the American population were young adults. Because of this, the sixties were an age of youth and there was a generation gap that America had never seen before. Many of the baby boomers were at risk of being drafted into the Vietnam War. This war brought on revolutionary and innovative ways of thinking. The young people of this decade wanted change and this brought a huge difference in culture from the conservative fifties. Inspiration for many of the songs and lyrics of the time came from the Vietnam War. The war caused many people to protest and speak out about it. The main genres people used to show their attitudes about the current war were folk and rock.
The sixties was a decade of revolution. Many musicians from the sixties are still well known and even popular today. Without inventions from the sixties many things would not be as they are today. Things within the sixties changed the way people live their everyday lives. Without the sixties, the United States would not be where it is today politically, and technologically.
One of the main waves of music of the time was a calmer more gentle rock. A major band called The Beatles were so popular during this time it was called Beatle Mania. The Beatles were one of the numerous bands coming to America either many more would coming getting the title of the British invasion. During the 1960s America’s economy was greatly increasing. This time period focused on the housing and computer industry which overpowered automobiles, chemicals, and electrically powered consumer durables, which were the leading sectors in the 1950s. Agriculture fell from 19.2 to 7.5 percent, minimum wage increased from $1.00 to $1.25, and the unemployment of was around 6 percent. Another economic point is the growing middleclass. Between 1945 and 1960, the median family income, adjusted for inflation, almost doubled. Rising income doubled the size of the middle class. Before the Great Depression of the 1930s only one-third of Americans qualified as middle class, but in postwar America two-thirds did. Many middle class families of postwar America became suburban families. Of the 13 million new homes built in the 1950s, 85 percent were in the suburbs. The GI bill helped this growth greatly. Soldiers coming home from the war would have a government loan for a home or going to college. Making college more of a social norm. Which still effects society today making more jobs having a college degree required. The political culture focused more on containing communism with the theory helping this being called the domino theory “Military Intervention in Korea and Vietnam finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the falling domino principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration
Many large concerts occurred throughout America in the summer of 1969, but none were as well known and symbolic as Woodstock. Its message was clear; three days of Peace and Music. Its impact on America’s culture and society as well as its youth will not be forgotten for many years to come.
To conclude, the sixties had their way to write, hear and enjoy music, and I think that influenced a lot in our society, let's think for a moment: If the movements of the sixties never existed, what would have happened to the music of today? Seriously, I don't know.
Post World War II there was a new generation known as the “baby boom” generation. The arrival of this new generation called for new entertainment (Rock and Roll). Music of the 1960s was the new entertainment for the baby boom generation and impacted America by: starting new trends in genres of music, opening diversity of artists, counterculture movements, and music festivals.
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...
The music in the 1960s reflected what was going on in the real world. Things such as President Kennedy's assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War had a big impact on music and what was being sung about during this time. Bob Dylan is commonly known for the songs he wrote that protested the war, like “Masters of War”, “With God on our Side”, and “Blowin’ in the
The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre...
Along with the peak of several movements music began to reach a point of climax. Rock specifically began to flourish in the 1960’s, while expressing the voice of the liberated generation. It is the power of such trends that overall lead to what is known as the greatest music festival of all time: Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The festival started on August 15, 1969 on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. Appealing to the time period, Woodstock was designed to be Three Days of Peace and Music. However, many argue that it was more than just a musical art fair of peace, but a historically significant event that shifted American culture. While some regard Woodstock as the beginning of a cultural advancement and the end of a naïve era, others view it as ridiculous hippy festival infested with illegal drug usage. Woodstock cost over $2.4 million and attracted over 450,000 people (Tiber, 1). Despite the debate of whether Woodstock produced a positive or negative effect, it is clear that a note worthy impact was made. When discussing the overall impact of Woodstock it is important to look at the influences and creative plan and the positive and negative effects produced from the festival.
...s, it was a time of great turbulence from start to finish. Protests, assassinations, war, pacifists; they all played a major role in the United States during this time. Something substantial had to happen to help relieve some of the on going woes. It was the British music. Not once, but twice, within a span of ten years were the British the influence that helped get us over those times. It may have been in a more positive way in the first wave, and maybe in a more negative way in the second, introducing an entire drug culture, but either way it made an impact. I have always viewed the 60’s as one of the most intriguing decades to live in, because of its culture shock that occurred during this time. It was the decade of peace, love and drugs; it would have been great to be there to experience these things. Nevertheless, in the research I have done, I have realized the importance of not only the British music on this decade, but all of the feelings behind the music, all of the meanings and emotions and social change which it encouraged. It was the decade with the highest highs and the lowest lows in the last half-century. It was the time when British music saved America from itself.