MUSIC IN THE 1960S AND THE

COUNTER-CULTURE MOVEMENT

By: Ryan Doyle and Daniel Fallon

In the 1960s, music was heavily influenced by the revolution that characterized the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the younger people were questioning everything, including authority, the government, and other aspects of everyday life. It was essentially a revolution against normalcy. This gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement of the decade along with other movements that affected the rights of society as a whole.

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THE BRITISH INVASION

The British Invasion was a movement during the mid-1960s in which several bands in the UK were creating a huge sensation in the United States. The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, and The Beatles were some of the prominent bands that defined this movement.

THE ROLLING STONES. The Rolling Stones began calling themselves the "World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band" in the late '60s, and few disputed the claim. Their music, based on Chicago blues with the influence of their roots in the UK, made them extremely popular. Their attitude of defiance and rebellion, was as important as their music to their young audience.

AN ICONIC LOGO This tongue is the official logo

for the Rolling Stones. It was created by John Pasche, a graphic designer from London. Famous throughout the world, the logo combines the various elements of the band’s image. It is a defiant tongue stuck out at authority, a lustful panting tongue, and a symbol for lead vocalist Mick Jagger’s legendary tongue, which he would often stick out during performances.

THE WHOThe Who were one of the great rock bands of the 1960s. They made their start in London, England. At first, the group played R&B style music before transforming into an unruly punk band famous for smashing their instruments at the conclusions of live performances. Their image of rebellion against everything old and accepted was summed up in the lyric, “I hope I die before I get old” in the their 1965 song, “My Generation”. Eventually, the Who became an inventive rock band that rose in fame alongside fellow British bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Animals.

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THE ANIMALSThe animals were formed in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. Of the original British Invasion bands, the Animals were the most clearly influenced by black American R&B rather than blues. Originally the Alan Price Combo (formed in 1958), they became the Animals shortly after the addition of lead vocalist Eric Burdon in 1962. By 1964, they had recorded their second single, "House of the Rising Sun," a Number One hit on both sides of the Atlantic in summer 1964.

THE BEATLES   The Beatles were a rock and pop

band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and skiffle, the group worked with different musical genres, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, style and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. They were arguably the most famous band of not only the British Invasion, but the entire decade itself.

THE COUNTERCULTURE MOVEMENT

Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition.

The hippie era, sometimes known as the Age of Aquarius, was marked by rock ‘n’ roll music, outrageous clothing, sexual license, and illegal drugs, in particular, marijuana and a new hallucinogenic drug called LSD, or acid.

WOODSTOCKDuring the 1960s, the counterculture movement embraced rock ‘n’ roll as its loud and biting anthem of protest. One example of rock ‘n’ roll’s popularity occurred in August 1969 on a farm in upstate New York. More than 400,000 showed up for a free music festival called “Woodstock” Music and Art Fair”. This festival represented, as one songwriter put it, the 60’s movement of peace and love and some higher cultural cause.”

JIMI HENDRIXWidely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's amazing rise to fame occurred. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians. In 1969, he immortalized himself in the music industry when he played his interpretation of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.

THE RISE OF SOUL MUSIC

Rock ‘n’roll continued to rise in popularity among teenagers in the 1960s.

African-American soul artists, whose music had inspired the more popular white rock ‘n’ roll performers of the 1950s, grew widely popular themselves during the 1960s.

During the decade, Detroit’s Motown label produced the most popular and successful African-American artists, including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations.

MARVIN GAYEMarvin Gaye was an American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist with a three-octave vocal range. Notable for fighting the hit-making but restrictive Motown process in which performers and songwriters and producers were kept separate, Gaye proved with albums like his What's Going On and his Let's Get It On that he was able to produce music without relying on the system, inspiring fellow Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson to do the same.

STEVIE WONDER Stevie Wonder was a singer,

songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, a child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the 60’s. Blind from birth and raised in inner-city Detroit, he was a skilled musician by age eight. Renamed Little Stevie Wonder by Berry Gordy, Jr., the president of Motown Records, Wonder made his recording debut at age 12. The soulful quality of his high-pitched singing and the frantic harmonica playing that characterized his early recordings were evident in his first hit single “Finger Tips” recorded during a show at Chicago's Regal Theatre in 1963. But Wonder was much more than an uncanny imitation of Ray Charles, as audiences discovered when he demonstrated his skill with the piano, organ, harmonica, and drums.

THE TEMPTATIONS Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography and harmonies the Temptations became the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most popular acts, they tackled both pop and funk with equal flair. The Temptations' initial five-man lineup formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants. They were one of the most successful African American Musical groups of the decade.

BALL OF CONFUSION People moving out, people moving in. Why, because of the color of their skin. Run, run, run but you sure can't hide. An eye for an eye, a

tooth for a tooth. Vote for me and I'll set you free. Rap on, brother, rap on Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher

And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. Ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that's what the world is today. Woo, hey, hey. The sale of pills are at an all time high. Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky. The

cities ablaze in the summer time. And oh, the beat goes onEvolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul. Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon. Politicians say more taxes will

solve everything And the band played on. So, round and around and around we go. Where the world's headed, nobody knows. Oh, great

googalooga, can't you hear me talking to you. Just a ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that's what the world is today. Woo, hey, hey. Fear in the air,

tension everywhere. Unemployment rising fast, the Beatles new record's a gas. And the only safe place to live is on an Indian

reservation. And the band played on. Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors, Mod clothes in demand, population out of

hand, suicide, too many bills, Hippies moving to the hills. People all over the world are shouting, 'End the war. And the band played on.

Great googalooga, can't you hear me talking to you. Saying... ball of confusion. That's what the world is today, hey. let me hear you, let me hear you, let me hear you Saying... ball of confusion. That's what the

world is today, hey, hey.

FASHION AND LIFESTYLE OF THE HIPPIE CULTURE

Hippies donned ragged jeans, tie-dyed T-shirts, military garments, love beads, and Native American ornaments. Thousands grew their hair out, despite the fact that their more conservative elders saw this as an act of disrespect. Hippies also rejected conventional home life. Many joined communes, in which the members renounced private property to live communally. By the mid-sixties, Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco was known as the hippie capital, mainly because California did not outlaw hallucinogenic drugs until 1966.

THE PEACE SYMBOL The peace symbol is one of the most

widely known symbols in the world. In Britain it is recognized as standing for nuclear disarmament - and in particular as the logo of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In the United States and much of the rest of the world it is known more broadly as the peace symbol. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts. During a peace walk in March 1958, over Easter weekend, the the symbol first appeared in public. Gerald Holtom explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament). It was an ingeniously simple design that has skyrocketed in popularity throughout the world.

Nuclear Disarmament