Claire F Matthews
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
‘I AIN’T MARCHING ANYMORE’
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INTRODUCTION
FOR YOUR EYES 4
The Report
8
San Francisco
14
New York
20
Detroit
26
In Retrospect
5
11
6
9
FOR YOUR EARS LISTEN & READ: A COUNTER-CULTURE PLAYLIST
16 1 2 3 4
Elvis Presley - Hound Dog Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand Rolling Stones - (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
5 6 7 8
Love - You I’ll Be Following Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit The Grateful Dead - Truckin’ The Doors - Light My Fire
9 10 11 12
Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land Len Chandler - To Be A Man Joan Baez - It Ain’t Me Babe Phil Ochs - I Ain’t Marching Anymore
13 14 15 16
John Lee Hooker - The Motor City is Burning MC5 - Kick Out the Jams The Up - Do the Sun Dance The Stooges - 1969
17 22
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
Editor’s note The 1960s was a period of significant cultural, political and social transformation in America. A new generation of progressive thinkers challenged the conservatism of the 1950s. Many of them had revolutionary visions for an alternative world. The ideas of the counter-cultures contributed to a significant shift in attitudes towards social identity, lifestyle values and cultural standards. They continue to influence contemporary Western society. The counter-culture emphasized the importance of creativity and self-expression in human development. For this reason, the arts were held in high regard as a tool to challenge the predominant culture in the US. Music, art and literature were an integral part of this counter-culture and played a key role in spreading its influence beyond New York City and San Francisco. From the point of personal interest my focus will be on the role of popular music within the counter-cultures. In this paper I will first discuss the definition of the term ‘counter-culture’. Secondly, I will examine the main features of the 1960s counter-culture in the US and the context in which it emerged. I then outline the themes to be explored in the rest of the paper about the role of music in spreading the influence of the counter-culture. I will discuss these issues further in the context of three distinct but connected case studies. The first of these will examine the psychedelic music in the alternative lifestyle of San Francisco and the West Coast. Secondly, the folk music revival in New York City and the East Coast and its relationship with campaigns for Civil Rights and against the Vietnam War. Thirdly, the evolution of raw rock music aligned to radical politics in the Motor City of Detroit. These three case studies will provide evidence for the analysis of the role of music in the US counter-culture. This is a vast topic and, in spite of having to leave out material to meet the word constraints for this project, I hope to give a considerable and engaging overview of the subject. •
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WAIT.
THE REPORT
What’s a counter-culture? ‘Counter-culture’ is a word that can mean different things to different people, so it is helpful first to set out how the term will be used in this paper. The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology1 defines a counter-culture as being in direct opposition to the predominant culture in the society in which it is located. It thus rejects that society’s values and norms and seeks to change them. This is in contrast to a sub-culture, which can co-exist within the mainstream culture. The focus of this paper is on the counter-cultures that evolved in the 1960s from the alternative lifestyles of the ‘Beat Generation’ of the 1950s. To understand the nature of the 1960s counter-culture we need first to outline the main features of the culture that it was reacting against. We can then consider the main elements of the counter-culture and, more specifically, the role of popular music.
KEEP UP OR LOSE OUT! It is not easy to generalize about the culture of a country with a population in 1960 of some 180 million. However, the US mainstream appears to have been predominantly conservative and Christian. The majority of Americans had a strong work ethic resulting from a desire to achieve both individual and material successes; and to ‘keep up with the Jones.’ The Cold War meant that there was a concrete external enemy in the Communist countries, which helped strengthen conformity. The 1950s were a period of optimism and confidence in US progress, resulting in a renewed belief in the achievability of the ‘American Dream.’ Optimism: A 1950s couple look at a new home in the suburbs. © Everett Collection
James Truslow Adams conceived the ‘American Dream’ during the depths of the Great Depression. Adams described it as a ‘dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.’2 Some literature of the 1930s and the 1940s poured cold water on this. For instance, in John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ (1937) and Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ (1949), the pursuit of the ‘dream’ had seemed empty, a fruitless struggle. By contrast, the postwar prosperity of the 1950s resulted in a more enthusiastic society with full employment and rising living standards.3 However, the very ‘success’ of the prosperous economy helped produce the counter-culture of the 1960s, as Theodore Roszak explains in his seminal work ‘The Making of a Counter-Culture’ (1969). Roszak refers to the US counter-culture as a protest that was grounded paradoxically not in the failure, but in the success of a high industrial economy. Roszak explains the counter-culture’s function was ‘to explore a new range of issues raised by an unprecedented increase in the standard of living.’4
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Family recreation, 1956. © Christian Montane
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
DESIRE &
DISSATISFACTION But what were these issues? Importantly, the prosperity of the 1950s did not benefit all to the same degree. As a result, the desire for greater equality would become a major theme in the counter-culture. Racial segregation kept black Americans oppressed and unable to enjoy full Civil Rights and economic prosperity, particularly in the South. A number of black authors addressed this at the time, such as James Baldwin in ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’ (1953), which examined both black identity and homosexuality in a discriminating American culture. In addition, the suburbanization of the white middle classes and a return to ‘normality’ after the war had re-established women primarily as wives and homemakers. This caused widespread dissatisfaction amongst many women, which eventually contributed to the second-wave of feminism and highly influential books such as Betty Friedan’s ‘The Feminine Mystique’ (1963).
Discrimination: Certain jobs were reserved for “whites only.”
© American National Archives
On the surface, for those able to enjoy the full benefits of national economic prosperity, it was an opportunity for many families to better themselves. However, the growing compulsion for bigger homes, better cars and more material wealth was creating a consumerist culture. Early analysis by Thorstein Veblen in ‘The Theory of the Leisure Class’ (1899) described the phenomenon of ‘conspicuous consumption.’5 Paul Nystrom suggested in ‘Economics of Fashion’ (1928) that the attempt to achieve happiness by consuming ever more created a ‘philosophy of futility’6, that resulted in a vicious cycle of desire and dissatisfaction. Economists and social commentators began to build on these analyses in the late 1950s, which would resonate with many people. Vance Packard’s ‘Hidden Persuaders’ (1957) pointed up how businesses and advertisers were cynically manipulating consumers to spend more and buy their products. J.K. Galbraith’s ‘Affluent Society’ (1958) and ‘New Industrial State’ (1968) analyzed how the use of modern technology and advertising had led to the growth of large corporations. Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ (1962) pointed out the damage that this corporate America was doing to the environment. Counter-cultures in the US acknowledged such critiques but went further in their reaction against the mainstream. Many of the people involved with the countercultures rejected a high-consumption lifestyle by experimenting with communal living that emphasized sharing resources and ecological living. Charles Reich’s ‘The Greening of America’ (1970) praised these counter-cultures in providing hope for the future, arguing the rise of the corporate state had betrayed the fundamentals of the American Dream.
Smart advertising encouraged the consumerist culture in 1950s America. © Advertising Archieves
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THE REPORT
L
IB ER A
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‘Dropping out’ of mainstream society often included an explorative use of drugs, greater freedom of relations between the sexes and an acceptance of homosexuality. The ‘Beat Generation’ had already established such a lifestyle in the 1950s. A group of post-war writers that included William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac amongst others, the ‘Beats’ celebrated non-conformity both within their lives and writing. Much of their writing was semi-autobiographical, describing the ‘Beat’ cultures ‘experimental living’ through drug use, alternative sexualities, rejection of materialism and interest in Eastern religions. John Clellen Holmes’ ‘Go’ (1952) offers an early depiction of the ‘Beats’ rejection of middle class America in favour of hedonist pursuits through promiscuity and casual drug-use. Other ‘Beat’ works, such as Ginsberg’s highly influential poem ‘Howl’ (1956), described the maddening search for freedom from the conformity of American culture. ‘Howl’ placed equal importance on form and content, using nontraditional, free verse schemes. Burroughs’ seminal work ‘The Naked Lunch’ (1959) similarly used post-modern writing techniques, narrating the disjointed life of a junkie through loosely connected vignettes.
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Beat-writer Allen Ginsburg (R) with long time parner Peter Orlovsky, 1957.
© Harold Chapman
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
Whilst the ‘Beat Generation’ largely chose to ‘opt out’ of society and politics, some members of the 1960s counter-cultures wanted greater activism. Anger at US foreign policy, particularly over Vietnam, contributed to a desire amongst some counter-cultures for more direct citizen involvement in political decision-making.This started with students having a greater say in the running of universities.
A young man burns his Draft card in protest at US involvement in the Vietnam War. © Richard Blair
It is difficult to say how many people could be regarded as ‘fully paid-up counterculture members’ and it may have been a relatively small number in relation to the size of the US population. However, there was a politicization of many more, especially the young, over the Vietnam War, where young men were at risk of being drafted. The loss of American lives and the suffering of Vietnamese civilians was all too evident from the television coverage of the War- the first war to be brought into people’s living rooms in such a way. Brutal police handling of antiWar, race and student protests also alienated many and made them more sympathetic to counter-culture ideas. A radical counter-culture thus drew tacit support from a much wider constituency of young people who sympathized with at least some of its concerns. They also provided much of the potential audience for the creative aspects of the counterculture, especially music. The case studies and subsequent ‘analytical’ section will examine the different styles of music emerging within the counter-cultures and their role in those countercultures. I will explore how the music spread the values of the counter-culture in question, and how it may have helped to mainstream aspects of it.
Jerry Lee Lewis was known for his ‘wild performances,’1957. © AP
Before doing so, it is worth noting the evolution of popular music that was already taking place in the late 1950s, particularly when Rhythm and Blues got its first white stars- notably Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis- and the popularity of Rock and Roll took off. While popular music remained within the commercial threeminute catchy tune and anodyne lyrics format, there was a new energy to rock music that particularly appealed to young people. Rock and Roll gave the young a sense of generational solidarity, which was exemplified by the number of television and radio programs that embraced the emerging youth culture. The ‘British Invasion’ in the early 1960s saw bands such as The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones become extremely popular. With groups increasingly performing their own songs, there was a greater openness to music experimentation. Increasingly, Popular music was starting to be seen as encapsulating a lifestyle. •
Youth culture: Screaming Elvis Presley fans, 1957. © Corbis Images
______________________________ 1 2 3 4 5 6
A Dictionary of Sociology. OUP Oxford; 4th ed, 2009. s.v. “Counter-culture.” James Truslow Adams. The Epic of America (1931), 4 Reynolds, David. America: Empire of Liberty (2010), 398 Roszak, Theodore. The Making of a Counter Culture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition (9th ed, 1995), xiii Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of the Leisure Class. Chapter 4: Conspicuous Consumption (1899) Nystrom, Paul. Economics of Fashion (1928), 68
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SAN FRANCISCO
SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco in the second half of the 1960s had gained the reputation of being the hippie capital of the world. To those across the country who were looking for a different lifestyle and alternative set of values, the quaint streets of the HaightAshbury neighbourhood acted like a magnet. Haight-Ashbury became a hotbed of creativity, of alternative business and enterprise, committed to new kinds of social and spiritual welfare. Abandoning the 1950s notion of how American life should be lived, they embraced communal living, sexual liberation and an interest in Eastern religious philosophy. The hippie movements in San Francisco and the West Coast represented a side of the counter-culture rebellion that mainstream Americans viewed as an oddity. Music played an integral part, acting as a catalyst for its growth, and a reflection of the movement’s spirit.
“THERE WAS A LOT OF ACCIDENTAL CREATIVITY. WE JUST DID WHAT WE WANTED TO.” Jorma Kaukonen, Jefferson Airplane
THE SOUND The San Francisco sound was about experimentation. It was an extension of what was going on in the minds of those involved in the hippie culture. It was eclectic and merged free-form jazz with early blues. It exploited the potential of the electric guitar to generate a variety of sounds, as well as to provide increased volume. The Middle East and India were also important influences. This could be heard in the use of exotic instruments, such as the sitar, and the use of sustained drones and minor-keyed chord progressions. Originality and improvisation were encouraged. Lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane, Jorma Kaukonen, described this in a 1996 interview.7 “The spirit and everything was pretty much left up to us – you could play what you wanted to.” Kaukonen explained, “There was a lot of accidental creativity that happened because nobody was there to say, ‘Here’s a three-minute song. Here’s what you’ve got to do.’ We just did what we wanted to.” The music was reflective of the movement’s heavy interest in psychedelic substances, and consequently the sound would become known as psychedelic-rock. A lot of the music broke away from the commercial three-minute song format by experimenting with lengthy, adventurous instrumental jams. “We’d rather work off the tops of our head than off a piece of paper” founding member of The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, stated in a 1966 interview.8
Jefferson Airplane, 1967. © Roy Martin
Big Brother and the Holding Company headed by Janis Joplin, Country Joe and the Fish, The Charlatans and Quicksilver Messenger Service are but a few other substantial bands that contributed to the thriving San Francisco music scene. It is worth noting, too, that music in Los Angeles also contributed to the vibrant psychedelic scene on the West Coast. The seminal rock clubs on Sunset Boulevard became a haven for bands such as Love, the Doors and the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. Both cities offered a meeting-place for counter-culture activity, and the innovative music scenes helped strengthen the identity of these communities.
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
hallucinogenics
Ken Kesey on top of the school bus he transformed for his LSD fueled trip across the US. © Corbis Images
By the mid 1960s the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and mescaline was widespread in San Francisco and the West Coast. This was largely a result of the public promotion of their use for personal enlightenment by ‘acid gurus’ such as Ken Kesey and psychologist Timothy Leary. Lyrics often alluded to drug experimentation. A good example is Jefferson Airplane’s song ‘White Rabbit’ (1967), written by Grace Slick. The song draws parallels between the fantasy writing of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ (1865) and the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs. Despite depictions of drug-induced mind-altering states (‘One pill makes you larger/one pill makes you small’), it managed to bypass radio censorship. Creating drug-like atmospheres through music became popular. After returning from an LSD-fuelled bus trip across America9, Ken Kesey began to host regular parties at his home in La Honda that he called ‘Acid Tests.’ These centered entirely on experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. The Grateful Dead, then known as the Warlocks, became the unofficial ‘house band’, providing the psychedelic soundtrack for these parties. Kesey bought these ‘Acid Test’ parties to more public music venues in San Francisco. The Trips Festival saw six thousand people come to Longshoremen’s Hall in January 1966. It had been promoted as ‘a non-drug re-creation of a psychedelic experience’10 through experimental arts and light shows. However, Kesey and his team of Merry Pranksters distributed LSD throughout the willing crowd.
The front cover of the Trips Festival handbill in San Francisco, 1966. Design: Wes Wilson
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SAN FRANCISCO
media attention A number of events brought news media attention to San Francisco and the West Coast, broadcasting the counter-culture activity not only in the US but internationally. One of the first of these was the Human Be-in in January 1967, which attracted over 20,000 people. The event was advertised as a ‘Gathering of Tribes’ against a new ban on LSD use in California. Music was provided by a host of San Francisco bands and an opening speech by Timothy Leary urged people to ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out’; a phrase that became a slogan of the West Coast counter-culture.
Timothy Leary at Human Be-in, 1967. © AP
It is generally acknowledged that the first two large-scale rock festivals took place in mid-June 1967 on the West Coast: the KFRC Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Music Festival (June 10th-11th) in Marin County and the Monterey International Pop Festival (June 16th-18th). These music festivals were heavily attended and significant in promoting the West Coast as a focal point for counter-culture activity. In addition, media coverage of the festivals propelled many of the San Francisco psychedelicrock bands into the American mainstream. The hit song ‘San Francisco’ (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)’, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie to promote the Monterey Pop Festival, is credited for attracting thousands of would-be hippies to the West Coast. By the summer of 1967 some 100,000 people had flocked to San Francisco, specifically the Haight-Ashbury district, for a ‘Summer of Love.’ Many were eager to hear the psychedelic-rock music for themselves and to experience the alternative hippie lifestyle the media had popularized.
Crowds at KFRC Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Festival, which is regarded as the first large-scale Rock Music Festival. © Bryan Costales
Flower Children: Scott McKenzie’s hit song popularized the ‘Summer of Love’ in San Francisco. © PA Archive
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
The front cover of the San Francisco Oracle, 1967. The Oracle became known for its graphically experimental psychedelic design.
Wes Wilson used richly saturated colours and elaborate lettering to reflect the psychedelic era.
The counter-culture was also encouraged by its own media. The San Francisco Oracle (1966-1968) was the underground newspaper that spread the word of the burgeoning counterculture through the community. The Oracle combined unique psychedelic graphics with articles, interviews and poetry. Psychedelic poster designs for live music events in San Francisco similarly became an integral part in promoting the counterculture activity. Artists such as Wes Wilson and Rick Griffin drew from turn of the century Art Nouveau and Art Deco to develop many of the influential motifs.
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psychedelic design
Poster Design for Fillmore Auditorium, 1966.
SAN FRANCISCO
Left: “3 days of Peace & Music”:Woodstock Poster. Design: Arnold Skolnick, 1969. Above: the large crowds at Woodstock collaborated peacefully. © Life Magazine
WOODSTOCK
As the 1967 ‘Summer of Love’ came to an end, a mock funeral entitled ‘the Death of the Hippie’ encouraged people to leave the area and take the revolutionary ideas of the West Coast counter-culture to their own neighbourhoods. HaightAshbury had struggled in particular to deal with the rapid influx of people, and suffered problems with crime and homelessness due to overcrowding. However, the San Francisco psychedelic-rock music continued to increase in popularity. Emerging as commercially viable and popular in mainstream culture, many of the San Francisco bands performed at the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York in August 1969. With the Monterey Pop Festival as a template, the Woodstock Festival brought together over 400,000 people for “3 days of peace and music.” Despite food and facility shortages due to the unexpectedly large crowd, the festival is noted for its lack of violence and a general social harmony amongst attendees. The success of Woodstock is largely regarded as a positive landmark for both the counter-culture movement and popular music. In comparison, just four months later the Altamont Free Concert in Northern California showed a completely different side of the counter-culture. Organized to conclude the Rolling Stones US tour, the free concert attracted over 300,000 people with many anticipating a ‘Woodstock West.’ However, with the Hells Angels hired for security, the atmosphere was very different. Violence dominated the concert with devastating results, including the fatal stabbing of 18 year-old Meredith Hunter and three more accidental deaths. If Woodstock had shown the positive influence of the counter-culture, Altamont had provided a reality check. •
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ALTAMONT
HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
The Rolling Stones tried to continue their performance through the mounting violence. Altamont, 1969. © Michael Ochs Archives
“IF WOODSTOCK HAD SHOWN THE POSTIVE INFLUENCE OF THE COUNTER-CULTURE, ALTAMONT HAD PROVIDED A REALITY CHECK.”
Hells Angels use pool cues to beat a concert antendee. Altamont, 1969. © Michael Ochs Archives
______________________________ 7 8 9 10
An interview with Jorma Kaukonen by Jaso Brecht (1996) http://jasobrecht.com/jorma-kaukonen-interview-jefferson-airplane-psychedelic-1960s David Gans and Peter Simon, The Grateful Dead: Playing in the Band (1985), 17 This trip is best documented in the New Journalist style of Tom Wolfe’s ‘The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test’ (1968) The San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde, (2008), 5
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NEW YORK
NEW YORK New York in the early 1960s was centre to the second folkbased revival since the recording boom of the 1920s. A strong song-writing tradition was already present in New York, with Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building dominating American popular music. However, the new wave of folk singer-songwriters argued that music had a role greater than just entertainment. The young folk singers in New York helped to articulate some of the counter-cultures sociopolitical concerns, using lyrics to discuss wider issues than the standard boy-girl relationship. Folk music became a soundtrack to the Civil Rights movement and the peace movement, and the singers joined activists in rallies and marches. The revival flourished in the music bars and coffee houses of Greenwich Village, that had long been home to counter-culture activity and bohemian lifestyles.
“FOLK MUSIC RE-EMERGED AS A VEHICLE FOR PROTEST AND SOCIAL CHANGE.”
Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village was frequented by many of the young folk singers. © Christian Montone
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
A FOLK HISTORY Traditionally, Folk music was typically of unknown authorship, transmitted orally from generation to generation.11 In 1920, radio and recording brought Folk music to the forefront of the music recording business. Folklorists such as John Lomax and Ralph Peer scoured the south to find new music to copyright and market across the country. From Fiddlin’ John Carson to Lead Belly, Charlie Pool to David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, the rich variety of folk sounds to come onto record in the 1920s is unique and fascinating. However, when the depression struck in 1929, record companies went out of business. Folk music subsequently re-emerged as a vehicle for protest and social change. Southern textile workers, coal miners and Union activists began to use folk songs in their rallies, inspired by singers such as Aunt Molly Jackson and John Handcox. In New York, a community of politically active folk singers surfaced in the 1940s called the Almanac Singers (1940-43). The Almanacs used topical lyrics to advocate their pro-union and far-left philosophies.
Edwards was re-recorded by Alan Lomax in 1942 for the Library of Congress, which helped to share his music with a new generation. © Paste
The 1930s had been a period of high unemployment and bitter labour relations that led some folk singers to take a pro-Communist stance. During the McCarthy era members of the Almanac Singers, including Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, were blacklisted for Communist affiliations. As a result, protest-based folk music fell into disrepute until the 1960s.
The Almanac Singers, 1941. (from left)Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Pete Seeger. © Guthrie Archive
Folk music re-emerged in the late 1950s; this time stripped of political messages. Bands such as The Kingston Trio played clean-cut ‘Pop-Folk’ that achieved significant commercial success. They built on earlier apolitical folk-based bands such as the Almanac Singers spin-off, the Weavers. Influence also came from the field recordings made by John and Alan Lomax for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress during the New Deal. As the LP record market expanded, these recordings became increasingly available. The 1960s protest-based folk singers owed some of their commercial viabilty to the mainstreaming of ‘Pop-folk.’ However, their motivations were not in commerical successes. Rather, the protest-based folk singers wanted to use their music as a tool for socio-political communication.
The Kingston Trio introduced ‘Pop-Folk’. 1958 © AP
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NEW YORK
GREENWICH VILLAGE:
FROM BEATS TO FOLKS Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Len Chandler, Tom Paxton and Dan Van Ronk were some of the first New York based singer-songwriters to reignite the folkbased protest movement in the 1960s. The revival flourished in Greenwich Village, which had been home to the ‘Beat Generation’ in the preceding decade. Whilst the ‘beats’ were primarily writers and not musicians, their discontent with American society and rejection of the mainstream US culture was shared by the young folk singers. Bob Dylan in particular was influenced by the ‘Beat Generation.’ This is visible in Dylan’s use of post-modern literary techniques in a number of his songs. A good example of this is in ‘Desolation Row’ (1965), where Dylan weaves fictitious and historical figures into a series of disordered vignettes. Alan Ginsburg, ‘beat’ writer and counter-culture figurehead, became a friend and mentor to Dylan. Ginsburg supported Dylan’s choice to ‘go electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, a development that upset folk traditionalists.
Bob Dylan angered fans when he first used an electric guitar on the Newport stage, 1965. © NPF
Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsburg sit at Jack Kerouac’s grave, 1975. © Ken Regan
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
(CUT PAGE OUT BY - 17 HAND)
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
“HE WENT ALL OVER THE SOUTH BUYING UP OLD RECORDS. IT WAS A HISTORICAL BOMB IN AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC.” Allen Ginsburg Harry Smith, 1965 © HS Archives
THE HARRY SMITH ANTHOLOGY The ‘Anthology of American Folk Music’ directly inspired many of the young folk singer-songwriters. Released in 1952 by Folkway Records, the six-album compilation was comprised of eighty-four American folk, blues and country recordings from the period 1927 to 1932. It introduced near-forgotten rural American music styles to a new generation of listeners. Ethnomusicologist and artist Harry Smith compiled it. “He went all over the South buying up old records” Ginsberg recalled in a 1993 interview12 about Smith, “it was a historical bomb in American folk music.” Smith carefully divided the compilation into three two-album volumes: ‘Ballads’, ‘Social Music’, and ‘Songs.’ He created his own inventive linear notes for the anthology, writing short synopses of the songs like newspaper headlines. Believing in the transforming nature of music in society, Smith wanted the Anthology to have a lasting impact. “I felt social changes would result from it,” Smith explained. “I’d been reading Plato’s Republic. He’s jabbering on about music, how you have to be careful about changing the music because it might upset or destroy the government.”13 The original cover design for Harry Smith’s Anthology. Folkway Records re-released the collection in 1997. © HS Archives
Smith used a collaging method to create the anthology’s unique linear notes. #57 – The Coo Coo Bird. © HS Archives
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NEW YORK
‘WE SHALL OVERCOME’ The music of the young folk-singers like Joan Baez and Len Chandler accompanied and strengthened the Civil Rights movement. Songs such as ‘Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (hold on)’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’ raised spirits in rallies and demonstrations, almost like an anthem or hymn. In comparison, songs such as Chandler’s ‘To be a Man’ and Paxton’s ‘Beau John’ addressed a more personal side of the race struggle. In 1963 Baez, Chandler and Dylan performed at the climax of the Civil Rights March on Washington. Here, Martin Luther King’s ‘Free at Last’ speech famously called for a more inclusive interpretation of the American Dream, with equal rights and dignity for all (‘I have a dream..’). Folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary also covered Pete Seeger and Lee Hays song ‘If I had a Hammer’ and Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ in the Wind.’ “The Civil Rights movement would not have succeeded if it hadn’t been for all those songs,” Pete Seeger remarked, when an interviewer asked him what the most pronounced thing was that he had seen music accomplish.14 Of course, Seeger was also referring to the rich gospel and spiritual music of musicians such as Odetta Holmes and the Freedom Singers.
Crowds at the March on Washington in support of the Civil Rights Movement, 1963. © Francis Miller
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
“THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WOULD NOT HAVE SUCCEEDED IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR ALL THOSE SONGS.” Pete Seeger Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Freedom Singers, Pete Seeger, and Theodore Bikel sing ‘We Shall Overcome’ at Newport Festival 1963, with a standing audience of 13,000 joining in. © John Byrne Cooke
Seeger highlighted how significant music participation was in encouraging activism and social change. This was also evident in the anti-war protest movement that emerged in light of America’s escalating involvement in Vietnam. Seeger’s songs ‘Bring ‘em Home’ and ‘Where have all the Flowers Gone’ became the songs of many anti-war rallies. By using simple melody and memorable lyrics the songs were catchy and impactful. The younger protest-folk singers often focused on the conflicts closer to home. Songs such as Ochs’ ‘Draft Dodger Rag’, ‘I Ain’t Marching Anymore’ and Paxton’s ‘Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation’ expressed the anger felt by many young men being drafted to serve in a war they opposed. Such songs became the sound of many draft protest sit-ins at military induction centres and college campuses. They strengthened the counter-culture protest community and spread the concerns of the generation to a wider audience. Phil Ochs singing at an anti-war rally in 1966. © Corbis Images
Dissatisfied with the mainstream US culture, the young singer-songwriters in New York sought inspiration from older styles of folk music. Through their role in activism they gained a mass audience, spreading some of the counter-cultures’ social and political concerns. Through their topical songs they campaigned for peace, social justice and equality. Their enthusiasm and dedication to these particular concerns helped to reflect the ‘progressive’ mood of the counter-culture. By the late 1960s, folk music had begun to fuse with rock music. Many young folk singers were inspired by Dylan’s decision to turn to an electric sound, and followed suit. The growing popularity of British bands also encouraged the interest in the rock-band line up. Despite this, folk music continued to have a worldwide influence on song-writing and music styles. •
Baez and Dylan performing together at the March on Washington, 1963. © PA Archive
______________________________ 11 12 13 14
Oxford Dictionary of English, OUP Oxford; 3rd ed (2010) s.v. “Folk.” An interview with Alan Ginsburg by Hall Willner (1993) http://www.allenginsberg.org/hal-willner-interviews-allen-ginsberg-on-harry-smith Keenen, David. Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music #4, The Wire 195 (2000) An interview with Pete Seeger by David Kupfer (2011) http://peoplesworld.org/pete-seeger-on-the-power-of-songs-an-interview
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DETROIT
DETROIT
Rich colours and appealing prospects: seductive advertising increased the demand for cars, 1950. © Advertising Archieves
THE SOUND OF A MOTOR CITY
As in many American cities, Detroit had experienced a process of suburbanization, which left the inner city inhabited mainly by poorer black Americans. However, in the late 1960s Detroit’s downtown saw an infiltration of young white Americans from the suburbs. They were dissatisfied with the restrictive and conventional nature of the post-war suburban lifestyle and wanted change. Believing the country was politically and socially heading in the wrong direction, they were against authority and distrustful of the government. From these young people a new type of music emerged: chaotic, raw and original. It polarized the Detroit music scene. Its high energy and anarchic nature was in complete contrast to the rhythmic Motown soul the city was renowned for. It expressed the frustration of the counter-culture, and also reflected the disintegration of a once prosperous city.
The Marvettes were one of the many Motown successes, 1963. © AP
The creation of the first large-scale moving assembly line at Ford Motors Company in 1913 marked the beginning of Detroit’s remarkable rise as the centre of the US motorcar manufacturing industry. The city’s population rose to over 2 million. The prosperity of the 1950s increased the demand for cars and by the end of the decade three quarters of American families owned a car. Combined with a strategy of planned obsolescence, smart advertising fed into the consumerist culture, encouraging Americans to keep up with the latest designs. The efficiency and success of the assembly line production proved an inspiration for Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records. “Every day I watched how a bare metal frame, rolling down the line would come off the other end, a spanking brand new car” Gordy reflects, “maybe I could do the same thing with my music- create a place where a kid off the street could walk in one door, an unknown, go through a process, and come out another door a star.”15 Gordy and his Motown stars became a Pop sensation and their uniform and upbeat sounds integrated black singers and performers into mainstream American culture.
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
MOTOR CITY BURNING “DETROIT WAS NO LONGER THE PLACE WHERE THE AMERICAN DREAM WAS BUILT, AND MOTOWN DID NOT REFLECT THE REALITIES OF A CITY IN TURMOIL.”
The Detriot Riots in 1967 devastated many neighbourhoods. © Life Magazine
The intersection of 12th street and Clairmount during the 1967 riots. © Detroit Free Press
Motown Records was the first crossover label and its appeal to a diverse audience encouraged its success. From 1961 to 1971, the company placed over 100 singles in the US pop Top Ten. However, whilst the Motown motto promoted its music as ‘the Sound of Young America’, its manufactured clean-cut sound did not necessarily express the sentiments of the country’s youth. This was particularly apparent in Motown’s own birthplace of inner city Detroit. Troubles with overcrowding, unemployment and racial tensions had escalated in Detroit by the mid 1960s. This was exacerbated by the poor treatment of blacks by an all-white police force. The mounting frustrations reached a breaking point on July 23rd 1967, when Detroit erupted into violent riots that continued for 5 days. Blues singer John Lee Hooker, whose primitive style influenced the emerging rock scene, described the riots in his song ‘the Motor City is burning’: “I could hear the people screaming / Sirens fill the air” Lee Hooker sang, “My home town burning down to the ground / Ain’t a thing that I can do.”
Motor City is Burning: John Lee Hooker.
© PA Archives
Detroit was no longer the place where the American Dream was built, and Motown did not reflect the realities of a city in turmoil. The riots changed the Detroit music scene definitively. Motown moved to Los Angeles and the raw sound of the burgeoning rock scene gathered pace. The MC5, who had formed in 1964, began to play almost nightly in and around Detroit. Their high-energy live performances and radical behaviour popularized the sound particularly amongst the discontented youth, paving the way for up-coming bands with similar affiliations, such as The Stooges.
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DETROIT
“HUBERT SELBY SHOWED THE VIVID DARKNESS OF THE AMERICAN DREAMI WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH RADICALISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE.”
John Sinclair
The MC5 became known for their energetic live performances, 1968. © Leni Sinclair
‘KICK OUT THE JAMS’ From 1966 through to 1969, counter-culture figurehead John Sinclair managed the MC5. With a residency at the Grande Ballroom, which was modelled on San Francisco’s Fillmore West, the MC5 attracted a substantial youth following. Songs such as ‘Kick Out the Jams’ and ‘Come Together’ exemplified the chaotic Detroit counter-culture. Under the management of Sinclair MC5 became ‘house band’ to a number of radical counter-culture alliances and collectives, such as the Artist’s Workshop, Trans-Love Energies and the White Panther Party. When Sinclair dropped out of Albion College in 1964 he moved to Detroit, enticed by the alternative music scene and ‘beat’ lifestyle. “My biggest influences of that time were William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. Henry Miller was a one-man literary movement. Hubert Selby showed the vivid darkness of the American dream” Sinclair recalls, “I was preoccupied with radicalism and social change.”16 Sinclair and his acquaintances founded the Artist’s Workshop in November that year. The Workshop held an open house, with regular art exhibitions, poetry readings and music performances. The community flourished, despite the Detroit police force’s harassment.
Grande Ballroom event poster designed by Graham Grimshaw, 1966. Like the San Francisco posters, Grimshaw created skewed and distorted lettering to reflect the psychedelic era. His use of colour is comparatively subdued; perhaps representing a darker rock sound.
Outside the Artists’ Workshop, 1964. © Leni Sinclair
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
THE ARTISTS’ WORKSHOP TRANS-LOVE ENERGIES The Artists’ Workshop developed into an alternative publishing house for counter-culture press. Its successor, Trans-Love Energies (TLE) was focused on uniting the counter-culture through music and increasing its mass youth appeal. TLE organized events such as the Belle Isle ‘Love-in’ (1967) which was influenced by San Francisco’s ‘Human Be-in.’ It attracted hundreds of new followers and the support of counter-culture figureheads like Allen Ginsberg and Ed Sanders. Such events spread knowledge of the Detroit counter-culture across the nation. The Artists’ Workshop produced the official TLE newspaper, Warren-Forest Sun. Warren -Forest Sun Volume #4, Design: Graham Grimshaw, 1968.
MC5 performed at the Belle Isle ‘Love-in’, 1967. © Leni Sinclair
Trans-Love Energies members, 1967.
A better view: Belle Isle ‘Love-in’, 1967.
© Leni Sinclair
© PA Archives
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TOTAL ASSAULT ON CULTURE
DETROIT
The White Panther Party 10-point program Fifth Estate, 1968.
Dennis Thompson, drummer for MC5 and White Panther member, 1968. © Leni Sinclair
“WE REALLY FELT THAT WE COULD INFLUENCE THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD WITH THESE NEW THOUGHTS.” Wayne Kramer, MC5
As social troubles in Detroit escalated, so too did the radicalism of TLE. The 1967 riots had a profound impact on TLE, and it began to focus more heavily on spreading its political statements and anti-establishment sentiments. Underground press and propaganda flyers increased at music concerts and amongst college students. The political collective White Panther Party (WPP) evolved from the increased radicalism of TLE, founded by Sinclair and activist Lawrence ‘Pun’ Plamondon in 1968. The WPP aimed to change cultural and political opinion through music and underground press. Through the WPP, distribution of underground newspapers such as Guerrilla and the Ann Arbor Argus increased, and became more politicized. The WPP emerged as an attempted alliance in support of the revolutionary socialist organization the Black Panther Party. With a loose political ideology, the WPP’s success was far more visible in aiding the counter-culture and creative community than having a direct impact on the race relations and escalating violence in Detroit. Their 10-point programme focused on countercultural themes of freedom, subversion and alternative ideals. But their ideas were somewhat naïve and their presentation amateurish. The original six members of the Black Panther Party, 1966. The party achieved international notoriety for its involvement in ‘Black Power’ and US Politics. © NA
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
The MC5, 1969. MC5 became increasingly more radical as a result of their associations with the White Panther Party and John Sinclair. © PA Archives
The WPP’s biggest impact was on the counter-culture music communities. In the space of just a few years the raw rock music of Detroit had become a totem of radical extremism. “We really felt that we could influence the youth of the world with these new thoughts about music and this new way of living and this new kind of politics,” Wayne Kramer, lead guitarist of the MC5, recalled in a 1998 interview.17
Extracts from Guerilla, Vol.2, No.1, 1968. ‘Guerilla’ borrowed the graphic style of the Black Panther newspaper, and became a vehicle for countercultural expression, often provocative in its content.
However, the goals of the WPP were vague, and the party lacked a realistic long-term programme. “You can’t approach the White Panther Party without a sense of humour” Sinclair reflects in a 2006 interview, “I mean, on the one hand we were serious political revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the government. On the other hand, we were on acid.”18 The radicalization of the counter-culture was short lived, and largely disbanded by the end of the decade. This was as a result of a number of its members being incarcerated due to drug offences, including Sinclair. Whilst the MC5 were the central band aligned with the radical Detroit counter-culture, it is worth noting that fellow proto-punk bands existed. The Up and The Stooges had formed by 1967, and also played at the Grande Ballroom. Collectively, the bands were the forefathers to the punk rock that developed in the late 1970s. •
The Stooges, 1969.
© Michael Ochs Archives
______________________________ 15 16 17 18
Berry Gordy on the history of Motown: www.motownmuseum.org An interview with John Sinclair by Antonia Crane (2011) http://therumpus.net/2011/03 An interview with Wayne Kramer by Jason Gross (1998) http://www.furious.com/perfect/mc5/waynekramer Lynskey, David. 33 Revolutions per minute: a history of protest songs (2010), 209
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IN RETROSPECT
So.
where are we? In the earlier description of the main themes of the US counter-culture, I noted that it evolved from the ‘Beat Generation’ and its non-conformist lifestyles, willingness to experiment, and rejection of mainstream culture. The case studies then discussed how the nature of the counter-culture in San Francisco, New York and Detroit affected the music it generated. I also discussed there the wider impact of this music on society, particularly young people. This section considers further the nature of that impact and to what degree music also contributed to a wider acceptance of the values of the counter-culture. Rock and roll was already starting to change popular music in the late 1950s and the music scenes of counter-cultures in San Francisco, New York and Detroit built on this in their own particular ways. San Francisco became known for its psychedelic rock that broke from the 3-minute song format with lengthy experimental jams centered on the electric guitar. The New York protest-based folk scene combined a rich history of folk melodies with new rhyme schemes and topical concerns. The Detroit rock music took from Rock and Roll and added generational attitude and chaotic energy. The 1960s saw considerable political and social change in the US, and the counter-culture was far from being the only agent for change. The invention of the contraceptive pill contributed to more liberal social attitudes and reforms initiated by old-style politicians like President Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ sought to use growing affluence to improve the welfare state. These economic and demographic developments, however, provided fertile ground for the ideas of the counter-cultures of the West Coast, New York and Detroit. The post-World War Two ‘baby boom’ in the US meant that there were many more teenagers and people in their early 20s than in previous decades. They were also the most affluent young generation: unemployment continued to be relatively low and the 1960s saw continuing rises in living standards. With more economic freedom, young people were more open to social and cultural change. Overall, though, American society remained quite conservative, and the Republican Nixon was elected in 1968. Conflicts in US society, particularly between generations, heightened further following the shooting of students at Kent State in 1970. The widespread opposition to the Vietnam War among young people tended to make them more receptive to counter-culture ideas. What all the counter-culture music scenes had in common is that they offered young people a sense of collective identity. Through lyrics that reflected what many young people felt, the music appealed to a wide audience. For example, the Vietnam protest songs from New York folk singers like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs addressed many young men’s fear of being drafted to fight an unpopular War. The progressive styles of music developing in San Francisco and Detroit sought to support an alternative lifestyle and to transform culture.
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
The counter-culture scenes conveyed a sense of freedom, an idea that change can happen if people wanted it to. They presented the notion of creative expression to address what was wrong with society. This encouraged other artistic endeavors such as the innovative graphic work of the promotional posters and the sizeable alternative press activity. The music of the counter-cultures was largely successful in promoting its values. For example, although only a small minority of people ‘dropped out’ of society fully, the hippie notions that had developed in San Francisco had a much wider resonance. The summer of 1967 and the Woodstock festival of 1969 were landmarks in spreading the spirit of peace and love through mainstream America. The spread of rock and other counter-culture music across the nation (helped by the availability of cheap transistor radios and growth of FM and other stations playing it) familiarized young people with this spirit. The music gave voice to the longing of adolescents and young people for greater freedom and made the ideas of the counter-cultures sound attractive. Music thus contributed to the liberalization of social attitudes towards sexuality, gender equality and drug use. The folk-based music in New York developed the role of music as a communicative tool in non-violent protest, contributing to the fight for racial equality and an end to the Vietnam War. In a sense, music was able to appeal to feelings and emotions in a way that political slogans or even the oratory of Martin Luther King could not. It thus complemented them and helped the protest movements to reach more potential supporters. The rock music associated with the counter-culture activity in Detroit took a more confrontational approach, which promoted its own values of radical agitation for political and social reform. Through its alignment with various radical alliances, the rock scene reflected its desire for extreme cultural upheaval. After the US withdrawal from Vietnam in the mid-1970s, young Americans became politically much less radical. The end of legal segregation encouraged racial equality and civil liberties, and in some areas ‘positive discrimination’ policies were put in place to increase equality of opportunity. Socially, the counter-culture alternative values that favoured greater personal and sexual freedom were beginning to enter mainstream American culture.
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IN RETROSPECT
What then was the lasting legacy of the music of the 1960s counter-culture? While some of its musicians became legendary, such as Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, playing 1960s music tends now to be the preserve of niche radio stations. However, all the counter-culture strands of music discussed here have been assimilated to some degree into ‘pop’. Moreover, the music produced and performed by those involved in the counter-cultures of San Francisco, New York and Detroit has come to be seen as an integral factor in spreading those counter-cultures ideas across the US and other Western countries. Now, the music of the 1960s counter-cultures have taken their place as part of the wider history of the era. Nevertheless, the counter-culture continues to be an interest for people today, as evident in the release next month (12.2013) of two high-profile indie films recounting the period. ‘Kill Your Darlings’ (John Krukidos) examines the meeting of ‘beat’ writers Ginsburg, Kerouac and Burroughs, whilst ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ (Coen Brothers) follows a singer-songwriter in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene. In the new 1995 introduction for ‘The Making of a Counter Culture’ Roszak highlighted the importance of music in the era: “If there is one aspect of the period that I now wish had enjoyed more attention in these pages, it is the music.” Roszak explains, “the music inspired and carried the best insights of the counter-culture.” Is there a definitive song from the counter-culture decade that sums up these? The simple answer is no- but that’s the great thing. •
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HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROLE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN THE COUNTER-CULTURE OF 1960s AMERICA?
Further Reading American Political and Social Context Baldwin, James (1953) Go Tell It on the Mountain. London, Penguin Carson, Rachel (1962) Silent Spring. London, Penguin Cohen, Lizabeth (2003) A Consumers Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. London, Vintage Fairclough, Adam (2002) Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000. New York, Penguin Friedan, Betty (1963) The Feminine Mystique. New York, WW. Norton & Co Galbraith, John K (1958) The Affluent Society. London, Penguin Galbraith, John K (1967) New Industrial State. London Penguin Graubard, Stephen (2006) The Presidents: The Transformation of the American Presidency from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush. London, Penguin Jackson, Kennith T (1985) Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York, OUP Kennedy, David M (1999) Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945. Oxford, OUP Nystrom, Paul (1928) Economics of Fashion. New York, Ronald Press Packard, Vance (1957) The Hidden Persuaders. London, Penguin Reynolds, David (2010) America: Empire of Liberty. London, Penguin Schrecker, Ellen (1999) Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America. New Jersey, PU Press Truman Adams, James (1932) The Epic of America. New Jersey, Transaction Publishers Tyler May, Elaine (1990) Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. New York, Basic
Music and Cultural Context Burroughs, William S (1959) The Naked Lunch. London, Penguin Crawford, Richard (2001) America’s Musical Life: A History. New York, W. W. Norton & Co Halliwell, Martin (2007) Twentieth Century American Culture: American Culture in the 1950s. Edinburgh, EUP Holmes, John C (1952) Go. London, Penguin Reich, Charles (1970) The Greening of America, Random House Rozak, Theodore (1969) The Making of a Counter-Culture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition. London, UCP Veblen, Thorstein (1899) The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York, Macmillan Weissman, Dick (2010) Talkin’ ‘Bout A Revolution. New York, Backbeat Wilder, Alec (1990) American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950. New York, OUP
Counter-culture: San Francisco and the West Coast Bernstein, David W (2008) the San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde. London, UCP Cohen, Allen (2011) The San Francisco Oracle. California, Create Space Lemke, Gayle & Kastor, Jacaeber (1999) The Art of the Fillmore: The Poster Series 1966-1971. New York, Thunder’s Mouth Press Lesh, Phil (2005) Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead. New York, Little, Brown & Co MacFarlane, Scott (2007) The Hippie Narrative: A Literary Perspective on the Counterculture. North Carolina, McFarland & Co McLuhan, Marshall (1967) The Medium is the Message. London, Penguin Wolfe, Tom (1968) The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. London, Black Swan Counter-culture: New York and the East Coast Baez, Joan (1987) And a Voice to Sing With. New York, Summit Carawan, Guy and Candie (1992) Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs. Pennsylvania, Sing Out Publications Denisoff, Serge R (1973) Great Day Coming: Folk Music and the American Left. Baltimore, Penguin Lomax, Alan, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger (1967) Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People. New York, Oak Publications Rotolo, Suze (2008) A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties. New York, Random House Shelton, Bob (1986) No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. New York, William Morrow Weismann, Dick (2005) Which Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America. New York, Continuum Counter-culture: Detroit Bizot, Jean-Francois (2006) 200 Trips from the Counterculture: Graphics and Stories from the Underground Press Syndicate. London, T&H Brown, Courtney (2008) Politics in Music: Music and Political Transformation from Beethoven to Hip Hop. Atlanta, Farsight Press Callwood, Brett (2007) MC5: Sonically Speaking- A Tale of Revolution and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Michigan, WSUP Miller, Steve (2013) Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in America’s Loudest City. Boston, Da Capo Press Posner, Gerald (2005) Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power. London, Random House Sinclair, John (2007) Guitar Army: Rock and Revolution with the MC5 and the White Panther Party. Washington, Process Media Sugrue, Thomas J (1998) The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. New Jersey, PU Press
Film - General West Coast East Coast Detroit Gimme Shelter (1970) Woodstock (1970) 1969 (1988)
Easy Rider (1969) The Love-Ins (1967) The Trip (1967) Psych-Out (1968)
Howl (2010) Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) The Other Side of the Mirror (2007) There But For Fortune (2010)
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Beyond the Motor City (2009) Detrophia (2012) It Came From Detroit (2009) MC5: A True Testimonial (2002)
CFM Central Saint Martins BAGD Š 2013
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