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The 1960s - The Era of Rock Politics

In the 1960s Pop music became as one with domestic, and even international, politics.
 
While much of the most Popular music of this time in the West came out of Britain - we

shall look more closely at the United States - for the US turned out to be the engine of 

massive social change in this era. At this time the US was the center of the world, 

militarily and economically, and even in terms of social culture. It is this which makes a

focus on the United States most relevant.

The Dominant Culture of the Early 1960s

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In the early 1960s the dominant political culture in the West

had settled back to being largely conservative, after the

upheavals of the Rock n Roll era. Nevertheless R n R had 

energised a whole youth generation and given it something to

celebrate. But mainstream Pop at this time was not the Pop of

'protest' - protest in music was still centered around Folk 

music and a Folk culture largely dominated by Bob Dylan. 

But there was massive domestic change coming and many

casual factors driving it.




Let's Look At The Domestic Situation In The West (The US) And The 

Role Of Music In The Lead Up To 1968 - The True Political Watershed

Year Of The 1960s And Perhaps The Whole 20th Century

In the early 1960s, there existed in the West generally and most specifically in the US

a time of booming economies. There was high living standards, booming capitalism, 

and virtually full employment in the First World – but not in the Third World of course,

as always it continued to stagnate and suffer.

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Apart from prosperity, the 1960s was above all a time of education expansion, and later

in the 60s such education fanned by other influences led to a time of internal 

questioning by an entire youth generation – a time of growing social rebellion brought 

on by the Cold War and other influences. While there was much prosperity in the West,

the future was nevertheless threatened by the Soviet Union and Cold War power 

machinations, and the US attitude to the Soviet Union. The US hard-line position scared

the hell out of the people both in the East and in the West – due to Cuba, the Bay of 

Pigs, the Missile crisis, the 'Arms Race', 'Roll Back' , the Berlin Wall, and many

other developments. 
 
However, you can argue that mainstream Western popular culture generally remained 

conservative at least up until the mid 1960s and free of dominant challenges – and this 

was reflected in mainstream Popular Music, or perhaps did because such Pop as 

was around then was influenced by such conservatism. 


So what did happen to the social radicalism or Rock n Roll by 1960? 


As we know it had been turned to Schlock Rock. Click below to find out more about 

the rise of Schlock Rock and the Death of Rock n Roll.
 

Go To Schlock And Death Of Rock N Roll

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Schlock & Death Of Rock n Roll

By the early 1960s, US Rock & Roll had become what is known as, or at least what

Garofolo calls it, Schlock Rock – a drab sanitized big business 'rip off' of the Rock n 

Roll phenomenon that had swept the West in the late 1950s. So in this sense Pop music

was not reflecting a growing radicalism in US culture. Folk music was reflecting this

radicalism.

Such radicalism was in the form of the growing Civil Rights movement, the early 'Ban 

the Bomb' movement which later morphed into the Peace Movement, fed by the onset 

of the Vietnam War (and the obvious hopelessness of that war), a growing Black Rights

movement and others.

So mainstream popular culture in the early 60s still remained somewhat conservative.
 
So what had happened? What ever radicalism there was in early Rock n Roll culture 

was destroyed by Schlock, and the Government and industry fight back.


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US Government Backed PAYOLA Scandal
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Burning of Beatles Records
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Pat Boone - Master of Schlock


In the early 1960s, Folk was the bearer of protest about the politics of the time and as 

such there was the growth of a politicised subculture expressed in Folk. As one expert 

noted: 'Bob Dylan was the not-so slick superstar of urban folk music during the early

1960s. His albums and concert appearances were made up mostly of original songs. 

Several of these went onto become hits, notably `Blowing in the wind’. Joan Baez had

grown popular slightly earlier than Dylan, and throughout the Folk movement she was 

his strong female counterpart.' (Sources) 

While Folk was the carrier and focal point of protest messages, it is important to 

remember that such radicals of protest were opposed to Rock and its variants. In fact 

many political radicals in the early 1960s embraced not only Guthrie-style Folk but 

also 'Trad Jazz' and they hated Rock, to such an extent that many scorned Bob Dylan

when he switched to electric music in 1965, as they believed he was selling out to the 

system. 


But Then Came The Revolution In Pop

But then after 1964 came quite a revolution in Popular Music as it can be argued that

much of mainstream Popular Music itself at that time became politicised as it 

paralleled and in some cases fed the emergence of the great 1960s youth counterculture

in the West. This new culture challenged the status quo and demanded a completely 

new political and social order. In other words the radicalism in Folk and even Jazz 

crossed over and began to emerge in Pop.


The Champions Of This Were Bob Dylan, The Beatles And 

More Specifically John Lennon

Bob Dylan, the Beatles and John Lennon in particular were the champions of this 

process which saw a transformation of music from Rock n Roll to Rock and then

ultimately the emergence of a politicised form of  'Progressive Rock'.


In early 1964, the US youth culture was ready for change. The great US dream and

'great society' myth was collapsing. President Kennedy, the 'King of Camelot' had  

been murdered. The world was on the brink of war. The US was involved in a 

disastrous war in Vietnam and the US popular culture was in deep depression. But then

came the Beatles who spearheaded the British rock invasion of America (reintroducing

the vitality of the Blues back into US white mainstream).


The excitement and the breath of fresh air embodied in the Beatles, captured the 

imagination of the American youth, giving them joy, fun and hope. And the US youth 

political culture was  ready to embrace such change. But Bob Dylan was also ready for

change and embraced this new wave of 'innovative' music.

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Bob Dylan
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John Lennon

Bob Dylan, an admirer of the Beatles, thus 'changed over' and embraced Pop music

- but a new type - an inspired politicised Pop music that actually said something about 

the world. It has been called 'the great crossover'.


The other side of the coin, however, was John Lennon. A political radical himself, he

was inspired by Dylan and now also began to have his music actually say something to 

the mass audience.


In a nutshell, in a very short time Pop was politicized the world over led by John

Lennon and Bob Dylan. Dylan electrified to reach a mass audience, while the Beatles, 

led by Lennon 'went Folk', and Folk Rock was thus born.


From then on the world of Pop music changed for ever. So many bands began to 

produce music that actually said something about their world - about their lives, 

about everything - and so many wanted change. As such, a whole student generation

in America, heavily influenced by Pop music, was soon also politicised and the 

counterculture, fed by and also inspired in its own way, saw politicized Pop Music, 

sweep the US and the rest of the West. 

The Onset Of Progressive Rock - The Impact Of The Beatles

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The Beatles - On Ed Sullivan Show



To quote one author: 'In a few short months around late 1963 and early 1964 an event 

occurred which would impact upon all American popular culture, including the 

recording industry, the style of popular music, clothing styles, and even the acceptable 

length of male hair: America discovered The Beatles. The immediate and universal 

success of records by this British group on the Capitol Label (by then a subsidiary of 

the British EMI corporation) amounted to nothing less than a revolution in music and 

public taste. `Folk’ per se, was out, and ‘Rock’ - just Rock now, not Rock n Roll was 

in. Throughout the rest of the decade The Beatles would be stylistic leaders. Although 

they did not break up until 1970, the age of “Beatlemania” is considered to have 

spanned the years 1963-1968. During that period the Beatles records grossed over 

$150 million worldwide. Their most influential album and perhaps their greatest
 
masterpiece was Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).' (sources)



The new trend in Rock in Britain and the US in the 1960s, came to be known as 

‘Progressive Rock’. And this new form or emergent form of RnR embraced lyrics 

ranging from social protest, to love and explicit sex.

 
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George Harrison and Indian Sita
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Hari Krishnas
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The Who
See Progressive

Rock
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It also referred to drugs and obscure philosophies, particularly Eastern. Electric 

instruments along with increased amplification were embraced. Creativity in song 

writing burst forth with songwriting becoming the major occupation of the bands and 

singers themselves. Soon Rock - 'Progressive Rock' was becoming a major new art 

form in itself, particularly with a greater emphasis being on the performance and 

themes in music.

Overall In The 1960s


From the early 1960s a wide spectrum of styles in 'Rock' evolved rendering the genre

more an umbrella label for many different forms or variants of creative music, much of 

it challenging the status quo. Such styles ranged from 'Soft Rock' and 'Folk Rock' to 

‘Psychedelic’, 'Hard Rock' and 'Acid Rock' (musically related to the later ‘Heavy Metal’

style). A greater emphasis was also placed on recording more youthful acts. Moreover,

accompanying these developments, many new acts began to form in cities more 

tolerant of increasingly unconventional lifestyles associated with the development of 

these newer musical forms.


The Backlash - The US Industry’s Answer To The British Invasion
 
And The Success Of The Beatles

Just like the conservative US music industry's reaction and backlash to the emergence 

of Rock n Roll in the late 1950s, which was out of its control, the same industry soon 

moved to combat the 'British Rock' invasion, and the emergence of the newer free 

spirited forms of music, which again it could not control nor channel in more 

conservative and less threatening directions. Again, the favoured strategy was to try and

produce 'Schlock Rock' clones to try and dilute the fan base of these British bands and 

the more controversial newly emerging US bands.

The Monkees - Daydream Believer


And one 

classic 

example was 

the industry's 

formation of 

'The Monkees'.




Another was

 'The Archies'.
The Archies - Sugar, Sugar

But they failed!!



This 'Industry' manufactured music could never really displace the truth and originality 

of Progressive Rock in these turbulent and politically volatile times. And Even the

Monkees eventually rebelled and turned to producing their own 'underground' music.


Such was the momentum of 'Rock' during the sixties, in the burgeoning recording 

business the main product emphasis shifted from singles to eventually themed albums.

Independent producers with Rock as their main staple soon snared market share away 

from the major labels with their artistic talents and  ability to discover  and 'develop' 

new ‘underground’ talent. As a result, independent producers became tops of the 

industry and soon became responsible for an estimated 80% of the Rock records 

released during that decade. Nashville was also soon booming as a music capital and 

Motown, the flag bearer of Black music, became a massive enterprise.

Nashville and Motown

Rock was by no means the only style which flourished during this time. The 1960s also

witnessed the emergence of Country and Black Music styles, which had matured 

enough to the extent they became capable of competing on the pop charts as well as in 

their own, more specialized markets. Thus the 'Nashville Sound' emerged, after the city

where much of these recordings were made, as well as the 'Motown Sound', and these

soon became their own styles.


As one commentator noted, 'By blending just the right proportions of traditional

Country and Western melodic styles with newer Rock beats and contemporary 

instrumental combinations, recording artists in Nashville - and to a degree Memphis - 

opened a new chapter in the field of Country Music. Writer  performers like Hank 

Cochran and Willy Nelson (Touch Me) and Bobby Russell (Little Green Apples) 

typified recording in Nashville. This music drew so much attention and gained such an 

increased market share that before the end of the decade several major labels had

established offices or even complete studios in Nashville.'

Some Of The Political Consequences


There were some amazing political and social consequences due to the development of 

this music phenomena in the United States.

Women's Empowerment


One major consequence was the empowerment of women. Early Rock n Roll featured 

mainly male singers, women were usually relegated to `girl’ groups. While Folk 

Artist Joan Baez blazed a path for female singers, in the course of the 1960s and 1970s,

the evolution of Rock also saw women artists proliferate across the board. Female 

singers were soon heading up several prominent rock bands - such as Stevie Nicks with 

Fleetwood Mac. But there was also the rise of many female soloists, such as Janis 

Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Helen Reddy, Carly Simon, and others. All became giants in 

the Rock, Soul, and Pop Fields. In the 1970s this trend peaked 'with the music of singer

songwriter Carole King, whose Album Tapestry (1971) sold over 13 million copies by

the end of 1975, making it the biggest selling album up to that time.'
 The Women’s

time had come.

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Grace Slick
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Carly Simon
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Stevie Nicks
Janis Joplin - Cry Baby
Carole King - It's Too Late
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Cher
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Helen Reddy
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Aretha Franklin



Black Empowerment


How could we also forget Motown and the

whole development of Progressive Rock

which together also gave rise to, and fed, the

empowerment of a whole (and succeeding) 

generation of Black Americans.
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Display of Black Power on the Olympic Podium


And Finally There Was The 'Counterculture'


Finally, there was the onset of the 'Counterculture' with the Hippie movement and 

alternative lifestyles joining forces with the Peace Movement. A new culture formed 

around different philosophies of life, psychedelic drugs, sexuality and love. It was a 

convergence of Rock with the consciousness of Folk, it rejected capitalist values and 

sought a freedom of expression, and life in general, and it pursued change by peaceful 

means (at first). It sought to 'make love - not war'. Progressive Rock proved its anthem 

and as such - strands of Pop became the counterculture's medium and mouthpiece.


But what produced what? Did 'Prog Rock' produce the counterculture, or was it the 

other way around? Either way - the Counterculture found its zenith during the Summer

of Love - a period bracketed by three major Pop concerts - Monteray, Woodstock and 

Altamont before its slow self destruction marked by disillusionment, violence and the 

Manson murders.
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Hippies
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Charles Manson
Go To 

The Counterculture
The Counterculture



But there was one more important consequence of the onset of this 


movement and the culture it produced.


This was 'The Death of Tin Pan Alley'. It is claimed Bob Dylan's conversion to Rock

had much to do with this. And the following words of one observer should be noted.

You make up your own mind.


'I think Dylan’s primary contribution to popular music was that he showed vividly that 

pop, with a few modifications, could become a vehicle for self-exploration and self-

expression. This was ‘Shakespearean’ in its import. From Dylan onwards, pop song-

writers began to explore the ‘human condition’ in a way that went beyond blues 

because the lives of young white people were so different from those of poor, rural 

blacks who explored ‘the human condition’ through recorded song, and went also 

beyond the exploration offered by Folk music (although Folk was variously 

incorporated into pop - notably as ‘Folk Rock’; or heavily borrowed from - in lyrical 

structures). This, effectively, put an end to the ‘production line’ approach to song-

writing that had flourished up until then - partly in imitation of, and partly in 

collaboration with, the Hollywood studio system that was also in decline in this time. 


Even so, Dylan was signed to CBS and, as the Civil Rights Movement gave way to the 

Anti-Vietnam War Movement, the new Rock acts that flourished in this time all signed 

deals with capitalist companies. This isn’t a naïve, blanket condemnation (the stuff of 

the ‘authentic’ versus ‘inauthentic’ conflict in pop debates) but more a recognition that

you can’t have pop without industry. The new ‘Rock’ cross-fertilised Black and White 

musics; blues riffs and Dylanesque lyrics to create a powerful sound-track for radical 

times - but we shouldn’t confuse symptom for disease. Rock wasn’t political (certainly

not in any programmatic sense) it just made people feel good, and feel powerful, but 

that, alone, is quite profoundly political in its own right. Even so, as the political 

movements began to subside, for their own complex reasons, ‘Rock as Revolution’ was

exposed as being pretty empty.' 
(sources)


A Beautiful World Emergeth? - Heading Towards 1968

All in all, however, the 1960s saw the emergence of a fascinating three year period in 

youth political culture, which as we noted was bracketed/signposted by three major 

Rock festivals. The period began with Monteray. Then it saw its high point in the

'Summer Of Love' with Woodstock in 1968, wherein it can be argued that mainstream 

Pop by that stage had become politicised, was leading a youth politicization and then 

form of revolution never ever before seen - a transnational revolution which challenged 

nearly all facets of the status quo in the West. But what would it all lead to? A brave

new world of love and understanding - or something else? As it turned it, it did lead to

something else, with this period reaching its tragic end both symbolically and in reality 

with the disastrous Rock festival known as Altamont.

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil


Go to Monteray

Monteray

Go to Woodstock

Woodstock

Go to Altamont

Altamont


Go to Segment 5: 

Rock Revolution
Rock Revolution


Go To 

Rocking The World
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Rocking The World
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