Rock Music in the 1960’s

Rock Music in the 1960’s A Time of major political and social change

Timeline of Historic Events & People that shaped the 1960’s • Sept. 1960 Kennedy & Nixon hold first televised presidential debate. • Jan. 1961 John F. Kennedy became President of the United States. He was the youngest president who issued in a liberal, democratic set of values. • Aug. 1961 The Soviets built the Berlin Wall which intensified the Cold War. • Nov. 1962 The Cuban Missile crisis brings intense negotiations with the Soviet Union. • Aug. 1963 The landmark March on Washington occurred featuring Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech- (video)

Timeline of Historic Events & People that shaped the 1960’s Nov. 1963 President Kennedy is Assassinated in Dallas, TX. Feb. 1964 The Beatles land in America to meet hysterical fans and perform on the Ed Sullivan Show(video) Summer of 1964 – All major civil rights groups join to register African American voters during what was called the Freedom summer. July 1964 President Johnson Signs the Civil Rights Act. Aug. 1964 Congress approves the military action in Vietnam…US involvement in Vietnam War.

Timeline of Historic Events & People that shaped the 1960’s • Feb. 1965 Malcolm X, is murdered in New York City. • 1966 The National Organization for Women is founded to establish full equality for women in America. • Oct 1967. Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American Supreme Court justice. • April 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Riots erupt in 125 cities.

Timeline of Historic Events & People that shaped the 1960’s • June 1968 Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated as he campaigns for president. • July 1969 The United States wins the space race with Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon. • Aug. 1969 Woodstock Music Festival draws 500,000 baby boomers to a multiday concert in upstate New York. • The 1960s were a time of social upheaval and unrest, change & advances that shaped people’s lives.

1960’s Influence of Television • Televisions were in color for the first time with 75% of households in the US having one or more TV’s. • Televised national and international news reports made the world seem smaller and more connected than before. • Several Television shows became an important way to introduce new music/bands to the public: The Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand, and the Smothers Brothers. • The Ed Sullivan Show featured many live “first” performances of 1960’s bands. (video)

Counter cultures emerge- Flower children/Hippies • The baby boom generation ( born in the years after World War II) actively sought alternatives to their parent’s values and lifestyles. • Most of the counter cultures were recognized by the clothes and attitudes that the press labeled “Hippies.” • They began to grow long hair, wear colorful beads, ragged jeans and put flower in their hair. • The Hippies/Flower children experimented with many illegal drugs that they used to both rebel and escape the realities of life.

Music – The British Invasion • The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star led the British Invasion in 1964. • The other British groups that were soon to follow included: The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Manfred Mann, the Zombies, the Searchers and the Kings. • The success of the British Invasion changed the way the music industry worked…instead of performing songs that other people wrote, the British bands wrote and performed their own music. • The Beatles and Rolling Stones were the most successful and pioneered some of the most creative ideas in 1960’s music.

The Beatles • The Beatles had many early hits including: “Love me do, I Want to Hold your Hand, and Please, Please Me.” • Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band- is considered by music critics to be the Beatles most important album. (music) • The album is a studio recording masterpiece, with one track flowing seamlessly into the next. • The group used a range of instruments on the album, including a brass band, Indian sitar to give the overall sound a much more international feel.

Music – Celebrating the California Lifestyle • The Beach Boys- brothers Brian Wilson,Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson and their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine- was the only 1960’s boy band to rival the Beatles. • Their song lyrics told a life of endless sunshine and fun. • Three of their most popular hits included: “Surfin USA”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations” (music)

Folk Rock/Rock Music • Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. • The term "folk rock" was itself first coined by the U.S. music press to describe The Byrds' music in June 1965, the same month that the band's debut album was issued. • The release of The Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its subsequent commercial success initiated the folk rock explosion of the mid-1960s (video)

Folk Rock • In the United States, folk rock arose mainly from the confluence of three elements: • The urban vocal groups of the folk revival; folk-protest singer-songwriters and the revival of North American rock and roll after the British Invasion • Some of the folk-protest artists include as Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, and Peter, Paul and Mary, many of whom would transition into folk rock performers as the 1960s progressed. • What were they protesting?

Music of Motown (Detroit, MI) • Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first record label owned by an African American to primarily feature African-American artists who achieved crossover success. • In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. • Motown has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, although it is most famous for its releases in the music genres of rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop, and pop

Music of Motown • Smokey Robinson said of Motown's cultural impact: • Into the '60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands.[2]

Motown Musicians • From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits, and artists such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes(video), The Four Tops, and The Jackson 5, were all signed to Motown labels. • Additional artists on motown labels include: The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight & the Pips also recorded on motown labels.

Rock Music in the 1960’s