The Sixties

For our final assignment, I read the chapter titled “Popular Music and Political Culture: The Sixties.” When I think of the sixties, I think of the movies. The movies and the media have defined my impression of what life was like in the 60’s. Even though I was born in the 70’s, I am familiar with many musical groups from the sixties.

Through out all of the readings spanning from the 60’s to the 90’s, I have been intrigued with the connection between history and music. Specifically, how music was used as a political tool. In the 60’s music paralleled the Civil Rights Movement.
“During this period, then, the influence of the Civil Rights movement on rock n’ roll is not apparent in the content of its lyrics but in the ascendancy of black producers and black-owned record labels and in the appearance of black female vocal groups” (Garofalo 153).

These vocal groups were known as “girl groups.” They continued to surface and by 1962, “there were more black artists on the year-end singles charts than any other time in history” (Garofalo 153).

Phil Spector took it upon himself to bring many of these “girls groups” to their peak. According to Tom Wolfe, Spector was the “First Tycoon of Teen” becoming a millionaire before he was 21 (Garofalo 155). I found Tom Wolfe’s quote in our text interesting as I recently took a class on the literary journalism and I imagine that at the time Tom Wolfe interviewed and studied Phil Spector to write The First Tycoon of Teen.

As the “girl groups” began to fade out, Phil Spector continued his efforts with the Righteous Brothers known for their first hit “You Lost That Loving Feeling.” Their musical style took on the term “blue-eyed soul” (Garofalo 156). This was a landmark in the Civil Rights movement as “the color-blindness of the early civil rights movement was reinforced, for here was black-sounding music that was written by whites, produced by whites, performed by whites, and accepted by blacks” (Garofalo 157).

African Americans continued to struggle to make it into the mainstream and it was with this goal in mind that Motown came into the scene. As the “largest black-owned corporation in the United States,” Motown began to make a name for itself. The Supremes were one of the leaders and produced several hits including “Stop! In the Name of Love.”

Folk music also began popular. It was said “In folk circles at the time, there was a fiercely argued, if not terribly relevant, distinction between performers who were ‘authentic’ and those who were ‘commercial’” (Garofalo 163). I found it interesting to know that this was a dilemma in the 60’s and still is today. However, Bob Dylan was the musician who “openly challenged the distinction.”

Simultaneously, the groups from Britain entered the charts. This was known as the British Invasion. The Beatles were the leaders of this movement. They began in 1964, shortly after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. “It is noteworthy that in the six months between Kennedy’s assassination and the passage of the Civil Rights act of 1964, the Beatles’ upbeat sound captured the cultural life of the nation” (Garofalo 166). The Beatles quickly became a phenomenon. “In 1964 alone, they charted thirty songs and released six best selling albums” (Garofalo 167). I was surprised to learn that many of their songs were remakes and many were originally by African American artists. “Their motivation in covering so many African American hits was less to cash in on black culture than to pay tribute to their musical heroes” (Garofalo 168).

Other groups like The Animals, The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel, and Sonny and Cher appeared in the music limelight. Their new genre of music became know as folk-rock. “Folk rock thus brought not only the poetic leanings but also the predominately left-wing political inclinations of folk music to a mainstream audience” (Garofalo 176).

This all was leading up to what I have always considered the 60’s - the 60’s that was depicted in movies like Forrest Gump. The “counterculture” or the “hippies” that wanted to make a statement of peace and love. The Grateful Dead were leaders in this movement, and “the one unifying element that held this myriad of forces together was the widespread use of mind-expanding drugs” (Garofalo 181). The Grateful Dead’s first organized “Trip Festival was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in The Electic Kool-Aid Acid Test” (Garofalo 182). I only have read a section from Wolfe’s non-fiction novel, but it is a fascinating depiction of his experience on a road trip with a group of hippies. He documents the trip and pretends to be part of their circle for his piece.

As the 60’s progress, many of the groups became more reliant on drugs and they have thousands of followers for their music. Some of the leaders are the Beatles, The Doors, and Janis Joplin. They along with several others appeared at Woodstock, which drew a crowd of 400, 000 people for a three-day concert.

Following Woodstock, the Rolling Stones hosted Altamont, a free concert, to conclude their tour. “The violence at Altamont reflected the deterioration of political movements and served notice of the counterculture’s impending demise” (Garofalo 198).

I mentioned Forrest Gump earlier, and I now can look at the back cover and recognize most of the artists. This chapter provided me with many names to connect with music that I already know. When I think about Forrest Gump, I think about how the soundtrack defines that time. It creates an identity of that period in history, through all the ups and down of war and political unrest.

Am I defined by the music I grew up listening to? How does our current music define our time in history? These questions prompted some general assignment ideas:

Assignment 1
Pick a currently popular song that you feel has a political message. Listen to the song several times. What is the political message? How does this message depict our recent history?
OR
Pick a song from the 1960’s that has been remade. Think about the meaning of the song in the 60’s. What do you think the message was? Now consider how the same message is relevant to our recent history.

Assignment 2
I would imagine that many of your parents grew up in the 60’s. Interview your parents or someone you know about their memories of the sixties.
• Write about their experience
• Was their experience similar to what you had envisioned from the movies?
• Explain some of the similarities and differences.
• Does this music define them? Explain.
• How does your music define you? Explain.