5. Rock Revolution - Woodstock to Watergate

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The Beatles

Listen to Playa Cofi Jukebox

Woodstock to Watergate
1968-1974

(THE WOODSTOCK GENERATION)

In this segment we examine the `Woodstock

Generation’ from 1968 to 1974, the political

and social implications of the music, and the

musical implications from the changing

politics and mass culture in the West.

RM Radio
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Music 1965-1969

Music 1970-1974

Rock Revolution - Political Revolution

1968 was a watershed year in the West. It heralded both political revolution and one

could argue a 'Rock' revolution. In 1968, the US position in Vietnam began to collapse

and it started its retreat from Asia. America was torn by social upheaval and

international condemnation as, to a lesser extent, was Australia and other European

countries (particularly France).

Western political and social culture was challenged by the growth of a radical youth

counterculture spurred on by and reflected in Popular music at the time and the

emergence of the 'hippie movement'.

1967-1974 can be called, for our purposes, the 'Woodstock generation' years, which

also embraced what became labelled as the 'Counterculture' years. This period was

indeed an incredible time in Western music, national and world politics. Every single

one of these years is worth a PhD. But perhaps we shall single out 1968 and the

impact of the political events and the music from that time.

1968

It was the time of 'Psychedelic Rock' and

the music many claim introduced it or

sparked it all off (and even was symbolic

of it) was the Beatles, Sgt.Pepper’s

Lonely Hearts Club Band. What better

way is there to introduce this topic than

listening to the album itself.

The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

It's Now Time To Visit 1968 In Some Detail -

A Truly WaterShed Year in 20th Century Politics.

Visit 1968

But Remember To

Come Back Here

For our purposes, 1968 needs

special attention so click button

below.

1968 - An Exceptional Year

1968 was indeed a watershed year. From this year there flowed the decline of the US

War effort, i.e. the collapse of its position in Vietnam, the decline of the West

economically, and the growth of enormous disillusionment socially in the West. Much

of this was triggered by two failings: the perceived failing of Western traditional culture

and the decline and ultimate failure of the hopes and dreams of the Counterculture

triggering the beginnings of its decline.

Let's Now Look At The Tumultuous Years Of 1968 - 1974.

And What Happened In Brief .

The years 1968 -1974 were tumultuous years. Let us now overview this period in

terms of international and US domestic political developments.

The End Of 'Cold War One'

This era or period was an incredible time in world politics. For it saw the end of what

we know as Cold War One - and the entry of the world into a period of 'Detente' - or a

period of lessening tensions between East and West.

Detente

The Cold War - Detente

Pivotal For The Onset Of Detente Was The End of The US and Its

Allies Involvement In The Vietnam War.

In Vietnam, the Americans had come up against 'People’s War' and were losing and

thus had to get out. In light of the 'Sino-Soviet Split', the confrontation and antagonism

between the Soviet Union and China which had clearly emerged by 1963 (and had even

erupted into border conflict in 1969), the long held assumption that the war in Vietnam

was necessary to stop monolithic Communist expansionism southwards through Asia

was proven a myth. The US strategy of Containment was thus judged as totally

inappropriate, so the US had to get out of the Vietnam War.

Crisis in Communism- The Sino-Soviet Split

US Containment

See Vietnam War

Soviet Containment

Vietnam War

Nixon & Kissinger - Admit To
CIA Assassinations

The subsequent years of Detente, or easing of tensions, saw US President Nixon meet

both the Russian and the Chinese leadership and forge a somewhat shaky relationship

with both, albeit a peaceful one. It was timely for all parties - including the US, as it

gave legitimacy for its withdrawal from the Vietnam War, and masked the fact that a

criminal in Richard Nixon was in the Whitehouse, the US was being torn apart

socially, and its economy and strength was failing.

It was a tough time for this superpower as it had met the limits of its military power in

Vietnam, and its legitimacy and morality were up to question. It was also a period of

retraction of US power from Asia - the start of the decline of this superpower which

still continues today.

Chile and Elsewhere

However, despite forging a Detente with the Communist Bloc. The United States was

still unrelenting in its opposition to left-wing governments everywhere else and moved

to have the democratically elected President Allende of Chile assassinated in 1973. And

some would argue even played a role in the removal of the Whitlam Government in

Australia in 1975, which was questioning the role of US bases on its soil, and

appeared to be moving towards an independent anti-nuclear foreign policy - a foreign

policy not dependent or based on serving US foreign interests.

Go To Rocking The Regime

- Australia

Rocking Australia

Go To US Policy

Of Selective Containment

US Policy Selective Containment

The Overthrow Of Chile's President Allende And The Installation

Of The Pro-US Pinochet Dictatorship

The Overthrow Of Democratic Chile

Watergate and OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

At the end of this era there was also the 'Watergate Scandal' (1972) when as a

consequence US President Richard Nixon was finally forced to resign after members of

his Administration, upon his orders, (1972) illegally burgled the Democratic Party

headquarters with the intention of sabotaging the Democratic Party campaign for the

US Presidency also in 1972.

The years of the Watergate Scandal (named after the hotel where the burglary

occurred) was a period of enormous shame for the United States, and it led to President

Ford taking power. Following Ford, Jimmy Carter took office in 1976 and the US took

a different more liberal direction in World Politics.

In 1974 there also occurred the OPEC embargo on Western oil in response to the

Arab defeat in the 1973 Yom Kippur War - the war between Israel and the Arab

countries. This saw the immediate hiking of fuel prices globally sparking a world

recession, one that the Western world has never really recovered from.

The Watergate Scandal

The OPEC Oil Embargo

In Short

In short, this era, or period, of the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, saw immense change

in global politics. Of major importance was the US defeat in Vietnam and the

subsequent retreat of the superpower from Asia, and a lessening of Cold War tensions

and even an end to the Cold War at least for some time.

Multipolarity

A function of, and linked to all of this, was also the break up of the 'Bipolarity' of the

world. The two opposing sides in Cold War World politics - the West and the East

- effectively fragmented with the rise of a multipolar world - or world of many power

centers.

The Soviet-led Communist Bloc - or the East, split into the Soviets and their proxies

(allies) versus the Chinese and their proxies, known as the Sino-Soviet split, with the

two former allies actually coming to blows and nearly all out war over their differences

over ideology, contested borders, leadership rivalry, and other issues in 1969.

The American Bloc - or the West, also split internally. In the West, West Germany,

France and Japan largely went there own way with a consequent loss of support for the

US position in the Cold War.

The age of multi-polarity and superpower decline we now know today thus began in

this era - in particular the disappearance largely of the countries of the West's blind

subservience to the United States.

An Era of Much Turbulence

1968 was the pinnacle of an era of much

political turbulence. In Europe there was the

`Prague Spring’ when the Chech communist

government's experiment with democracy was

crushed by the Soviet Union in 1968.

In France, a large student revolt nearly

brought down the DeGaulle Government.

Later in Portugal in 1974 its Fascist right wing

government was actually brought down and a

Socialist government came to power with

important consequences globally. The new

government abandoned its colonial occupation

of Angola, Mozambique and Timor sentencing

all these countries to years of revolutionary

upheaval (even invasion), and importantly for

Australia - an ongoing Timor problem with

the Indonesian invasion of that territory in

1975 (with Australia's tacit approval) and its

brutal colonial occupation and ongoing abuses

of human rights for nearly 30 years.

The Czechoslovakian Revolt 1968

The 1968 Student Revolt

Within The United States And The West Lay A World Disillusioned

-Politically, Culturally And Spiritually

Let us now look at the social and cultural aspects and impacts of this era in the West,

primarily within the United States and to a lesser extent within Australia as well.

Emerging from this period was a Western world (mainly meaning the US) that was

disillusioned, politically and culturally. Its political underpinnings were shaken. Its

social fabric was torn by a war and public discontent. In fact, it was torn by the

Vietnam War to such an extent that four American university students were shot down

at Kent State University by the US National Guard (in 1970), merely for daring to

demonstrate against the Vietnam War - an act that shattered the innocence of a whole

generation and sparked a continuing disillusionment with the legitimacy of the

Nixon Government in the United States.

Crosby, Stills & Nash - 'Ohio'

American society during this period was one that was enraged and in revolt. It was

culturally and spiritually damaged. It was a society challenged by a hopeful

revolutionary social and even political alternative - a social force chasing an utopian

dream, that sadly by 1974 had evaporated and even corrupted by a swirl of drugs,

crime, commercialism, disillusionment and confusion. As a result, the generation of the

'Baby Boomers' in the early seventies was a generation in despair.

How was all this expressed socially? How was this challenge to the status quo in the

early 1960s that ultimately failed expressed? It was expressed in the actions of the Civil

Rights Movement and its offspring the Anti-War movement. And in turn, much of this

influenced its own offspring - the Counterculture; a culture which rejected mainstream

American traditional values and social norms, a culture that dared to dream of a better

world and tried to articulate it in music, art and communal living.

The Who At Woodstock - My Generation

In Australia (America's Closest Ally In The Vietnam War)

Meanwhile in Australia, the impacts of events and their consequences in this period

mirrored the US in a lot of ways. These were revolutionary days for Australia too. It

was also involved in the Vietnam War, and had its own version of the Counterculture,

mass Rock concerts and Peace Movement. Much of its youth also shared the rage and

the disillusionment - and of course the excitement of a possible better world - if the

present one could be changed.

Unlike the United States, however, during this time Australia had Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam to turn to. He would change things for the better - or so many thought.

Gough’s coming to power was the safety valve the Australians had which the

Americans didn’t. His coming to power in 1972 pacified and healed the wounds in the

Australian (OZ) political culture somewhat - at least for a short time before Australia

was also dragged back to the conservatism in both values and world outlook of the

1950s, by the return of successive conservative governments.

Billy Thorpe At Sunbury -'Oop Poo Pa Doo'

Gough Whitlam

The Importance Of This Era Was That It Also Saw The Collapse

Of The Counterculture

The short lived Counterculture also finally collapsed in this era; wracked as it came to

be by drugs, commercialism, the social division of the Vietnam War, the consequent

student and police violence and the repression of the Nixon Administration, and in

Australia by a post - Whitlam succession of conservative governments. Even in the

US, the Civil Rights Movement which had transformed into a Peace Movement

ultimately descended itself into radicalism and even crime.

And So Much Music Of this Era Began To Reflect Such

Disillusionment, Radicalism and Sheer Anger!

The Doors - 5 To 1

In Total By The Mid 1970s The Western World Was Disillusioned

- Politically, Culturally and Spiritually

By the mid 1970s the Western world - the US youth world, was disillusioned -

politically, culturally and spiritually. The Counterculture had collapsed, and US

society, disillusioned and confused, was fragmenting. The Beatles had broken up, and

Dylan had gone 'country'. All were confused. Symbolic of this social chaos and moral

corruption that began to emerge in the Counterculture, there was also the Charles

Manson affair and the butcherous actions of his followers. The US political culture

was collectively going into shock.

Charles Manson

Charles Manson's murderous plans were said to be inspired by the Beatles 'Helter Skelter'.

The Beatles - Helter Skelter

The Body of Sharon Tate murdered by the Manson Gang

But What Was The Music Evolution During This Era?

Well, what we can say was Folk Rock and Rock itself fragmented considerably into

many variants - much of it called Progressive Rock - or Art Rock, Acid Rock and

many other sub-genres as the culture reveled in the freedom of thought, at least, of the

times.

As such, a wide spectrum of Rock styles evolved in the 1960s, ranging from Soft Rock

and Folk Rock to ‘Psychedelic’, Hard Rock and Acid Rock (which was musically

related to the later ‘Heavy Metal’ style). Many of the newer groups developed in urban

centers like San Francisco which were relatively tolerant of unconventional life-styles.

The Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane (later, Jefferson Starship) are examples.

As far as music was concerned, 1968 stood out again. For example, Noel Mengel of

the Courier Mail wrote: `While 1968 was a year of forment, violence and revolutionary

fervour, it was also a year which produced some extraordinarily great music. In 1966

and 1967, the Beach Boys and The Beatles had changed the face of Rock Music with

the albums Pet Sounds, Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.'

The Beatles - Revolver

Documentary - Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

By 1968 - record albums were more than collections of songs - they had themes. The

industry and the performers had all recognised the value of the LP (long playing 33 rpm

record). But the common connecting thread between the score of great albums this

year produced was that it was revolutionary music - not revolutionary in itself.’

Rock Had Thus Fragmented

Therefore, leading up to 1968, Rock was reinvented but then it also fragmented into

different styles, and quite markedly so in the United States. But it was Rock with a

difference! It was often thought to be saying things about contemporary events - to be

music of authentic artistic consciousness saying important things about contemporary

events - particularly political events.

As one observer noted:

'At this time, there developed an audience for Rock which seemed open to a number

of different styles. Of course this was not to say that there were not different tastes

within the audience and different types of Rock. There clearly were. However, by

comparison with the polarisation between different forms in the early 1960s and the

increased separation of forms in subsequent years, these divisions were not so clear

cut.

There were perhaps more divisions in the US, though it is possible to argue that forms

of fragmentation of the Rock Pop audience really begin to appear around 1968

(between West and East coasts and forms such as Folk Rock (1965-6), largely a

phenomenon of New York and Los Angeles, and its wandering son, the San Francisco

sound (1966-7) and the embryonic East Coast scene centred around the Velvet

Underground).

But as such, the mainstream form of Rock that emerged in the 1960s, largely

embracing and then replacing the Psychedelic Rock of the Counterculture, became

known as Progressive Rock - a Rock which emphasised art - but alarmingly a Rock

that progressively de-politicised with time.

This new ‘Rock’ cross-fertilised Black and White musics; Blues riffs and Dylanesque

lyrics to create a powerful sound-track for radical times - but in itself was mostly quite

empty and would be more so in the 1970s. It was a sign of the apolitical acculturisation

that was occurring with the death of the counterculture and its radicalness.'

As Lonhgurst also noted: 'Throughout the 1960s in Britain there had been differences

between the influence of more contemporary black sounds in the form of soul, and

earlier forms, like blues, which fed the more guitar orientated rock bands. In the early

to mid 1960s these could be integrated....However, by the end of the 1960s and the

early 1970s a greater degree of fragmentation had set in.’

The new trend in Rock in Britain and the US, originally led by the Beatles and others,

sometimes called `Progressive Rock’, was characterised by a heavier, yet more

complex beat and freer musical forms than those of Rock n Roll. The Progressive Rock

and all its strands had at one time become the medium/mouthpiece for demands for

change - and the medium of the Counterculture. But who - produced who?

The Emergence Of Progressive Rock And Its Mutants -

Glitter Or Glam Rock (In The Early 1970s)

OK - lets now turn to some of Progressive Rock’s strains or mutants as they emerged

in the early 1970s. As we have noted, Rock had fragmented into many strains but very

rich fragments indeed - though some we would argue were quite mindless.

T-Rex - Children Of The Revolution

Skyhooks - Living In The 70s

So What Was The Music Saying?

So what exactly can we say that the music of this period was saying? Is there a

common message or interpretation?

Collectively, the music of this era, if you could call it an era was both leading change

and reflecting it. This music was reflecting a free-er thought and more diversity in

music culture. And in this respect Sgt Peppers said it all. It was the record which

defined much of the era - it reflected the change and led it. Through most of the era,

much of Rock’s lyrics ranged from social protest, through love and explicit sex, to drug

references and obscure philosophy. All of this you could argue was in Sgt Pepper’s.

Much of this thought championed alternative lifestyles embracing drugs, sex, individual

and political liberation. And much of this was in the music of Lennon and Dylan. Much

of the Counterculture music (the psychedelic music) demanded change - but peacefully

i.e 'make love not war'. It represented dissatisfaction with the system and the

strong desire to change the system!

You Can Conclude That Pop Music In This Era Was Perhaps The Most

Overtly Political It Has Ever Been!

Music in this era was perhaps the most overtly political it ever has been. Early in the

piece, there had been a convergence of Rock with the consciousness of Folk - much of

this displayed in the music of Lennon and Dylan and much it expressed in the Peace

Music formed against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Cold War hostility and

threat of nuclear war in general. Not only that, mainstream Pop had within it an

element critical of domestic politics - and it was music that wanted peace, justice and

democracy within the West and the US in particular.

To quote Garofolo:

`the social and political consciousness that the Civil Rights movement had awoken

found its way into a large range of concerns. For countercultural whites, the issues fell

roughly into three categories: the open celebration of sex with or without love; spiritual

transcendence; and a call for social change, which was expressed in terms of a

revolution in consciousness, a call to arms, a commemoration of particular individuals

or incidents, or opposition to the war in Vietnam...’

As such, Progressive Rock, the form of

mainstream popular music that

emerged in the late 1960s, was quite

politicised and became the medium/

mouth piece for demands for social

and political change.

But what produced what?

A Song Thought To Be About The Death Of Robert Kennedy

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Long Time Gone

1967-68 The Turning Point

Then perhaps we can say 1967-68 is the turning point when Popular music really began

to change - reflecting a crushing of the spirit of the counterculture and the increasing

political emptiness of the music - in terms of overt messages. As such, Rock began

less to challenge the 'system', and the Counterculture imploded and was beaten

into submission by the Nixon Administration, and then while the Vietnam War dragged

on, what remained of the counterculture soon also began to turn violent.

To Cap It All Off In The Early 1970s:

To cap it off in the early 1970s, Pop music lost many of its leading lights and perhaps

its youth culture itself even went into 'shock'. Artists like Hendrix, Joplin, Jim Morrison

- even Mama Cass, all died. And then of course, there was also the break up of the

Beatles. Perhaps what then followed was the emergence of collectively a more

introvert music - a music looking inward. A music muzzled by the failure of the

Western system and even the counterculture that its abuses spawned.

What followed in the evolution of Pop music later in the 1970s, we could argue was

much less politicised music- at least explicitly. In essence of course, it was still

implicitly political because it was reflecting what was happening to Western society.

However, a certain agnostic pacifism began to reflect through the music in those years

that has not ceased since.

All in all - the music of the era reflected confusion, both radicalism and conservatism,

then retreated to 'apolitical' music by morphing into Progressive Rock, followed by

Disco in the mid 1970s and of course crass commercialism, and then Punk!!!