1960s: Motown & Revolution

1. 1960s: Motown & Revolution

2. Day 20: Introduction & Civil Rights Movement • Conservative society of the 1950s gave way to open social and political upheaval in the 1960s • Musically, the decade was marked by the Beatles (British Invasion). • Movements: civil rights, antiwar, black power, student power, counterculture, & women’s rights • New President – John F. Kennedy

3. Civil Rights Movement • Civil rights activists avoided R&R music at first because its commercial side didn’t fit with their goals. • Regional struggles for equity (mainly in the South)

4. “Girl Groups” and the Men Behind Them The Shirelles Phil Spector Producer at the lead of the “girl group” phenomenon Controlled every aspect of the production process Righteous Brothers: You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling Blue-eyed Soul • From Passaic, NJ • Combined gospel with uptown r&b • Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow • Dedicated to the One I Love • George “Shadow” Morton • Songwriter • Wrote Leader of the Pack

5. Day 21- Motown: The Integration of Pop • Primary task of African Americans during civil rights mvmt was to integrate into mainstream American life. This was how Motown developed and defined itself. • Motown was the largest black-owned corporation in US, until 1988. • Berry Gordy – founder of Motown • All of Motown’s creative personnel were African American’s groomed for long careers. • Musical formula = upbeat black pop that was irresistibly danceable and threatening to no one in tone or content • 1961-1971, 100 singles in the pop Top 10 • Motown’s understanding of Top 40 radio format permitted it to produce so many hits.

6. The Supremes Signed to Motown in 1964 Turned out five #1 singles in a row Had a sleek, elegant image Stop in the Name of Love

7. Day 22 - Folk Music: The Voice of Civil Rights • Woodie Guthrie • Wrote some of the country’s most enduring folk songs, This Land is Your Land • Pete Seeger • College educated, New York radical who saw music as a means for helping to mobilize a mass movement • “Authentic” vs. “Commercial” in folk music

8. Bob Dylan Openly challenged authentic vs. commercial Born Robert Zimmerman, son of a Jewish middle-class family Grew up in Hibbing, Michigan listening to a 1950s mixture of r&b, c&w, R&R, and pop Signed to Columbia Records in 1962 Leader in the civil rights movement Only a Pawn in Their Game Performed at ‘March on Washington’ Transformed the lyric content of popular music The Times They Are A-Changin’

9. Day 23: The British Invasion Occupies the Pop Charts • JFK assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. National mood of defeat and depression. British Invasion started in 1964. • The Beatles upbeat sound revitalized the nation’s mood.

10. The Beatles Charted 30 songs and released 6 best-selling albums in 1964 alone. From 1963-1968, they sold an estimated $154 million worth of records worldwide! Obscured all other talent. Covered many AA hits, but did so to pay tribute to those who influenced them. Brian Epstein – Manager of the Beatles “Fab Four” arrived in NYC on Feb. 7, 1964. I Want to Hold Your Hand A Hard Day’s Night Can’t Buy Me Love Beatlemania!

11. More on the British Invasion (1964) • 3 Cities • Liverpool • Beatles home town • Created “skiffle” • Manchester • Herman’s Hermits • London • Manfred Man to Dusty Springfield • The Kinks

12. African American Influence on British Rockers The Animals The Rolling Stones Satisfaction • House of the Rising Sun Lead to debate over white people singing the blues. Only Motown acts survived the British Invasion.

13. Images Created for the U.S. • Beatles were made into middle-class family entertainment by their manager. Even parents liked them – they were “cute.” • The Rolling Stones had the opposite image as menacing, street-toughened alternatives to the playful mop-tops. • Both images were based on strategic career choices.

14. Day 24: Breaking the Sounds of Silence • Folk Rock • The Byrds • turned folk rock into a genre • Recognized that rock could revitalize folk • Mr. Tambourine Man • Simon and Garfunkel • Sounds of Silence • Mrs. Robinson • Bridge Over Troubled Water

15. Folk Rock continued… • The Lovin’ Spoonful • Do You Believe in Magic • Summer in the City • The Mamas and the Papas • California Dreamin’ • Monday Monday • Folk rock sounded very lighthearted.

16. Southern Soul Music • Challenged Motown’s power over black pop, recorded in Memphis • Stax-Volt (Memphis, TN) • Motown’s chief competitor founded c. 1960 • Wilson Pickett • Signed to Atlantic in early 1960s • In the Midnight Hour • Land of 1000 Dances • Hits were straight-ahead dance tunes

17. Southern Soul Music continued… Aretha Franklin James Brown Was called “Soul Brother No. 1” His music was the ideal first sound of “funk” and significant for black pride (I Got You) I Feel Good • Signed to Atlantic in 1967 • Respect • Crowned “Lady Soul” because she took the fusion of gospel and r&b to new heights • Confirmed the slogan “Black is Beautiful”

18. Day 25: Counterculture (aka Hippies) • The making of the counterculture was based on a rejection of the competitive, achievement-oriented culture surrounding them in favor of free-living, free-loving lifestyles and shared communities of choice. • These citizens of counterculture were called “hippies” • San Francisco was the center of the hippie movement

19. Psychedelic Rock Jefferson Airplane The Grateful Dead Never registered a Top 10 album or single until 1987 Represented the counterculture to the rest of America Jerry Garcia (band leader) Lived with their fans in the heart of the hippie scene Performed more free concerts than any band in the history of music • First group to get a major label contract and the first to get national exposure • Somebody to Love • White Rabbit

20. Psychedelic Rock continued… • The sense of community led bands to start naming themselves in the singular, instead of the plural. • The music that emerged from Psychedelic Rock came to be known as Acid Rock • Swirling concert posters • Art and light shows • Colorful moving images

21. Cream British Group One of the first Supergroups(groups that were comprised of top musicians from previously existing groups) Eric Clapton – guitar Sunshine of Your Love

22. Janis Joplin Prominent as one of the few white female blues singers in San Francisco Lived for the moment A symbol of rebellion for millions of white middle-class teens Died of a heroine overdose in 1970 Me and Bobby McGee Mercedes Benz

23. San Francisco Scene • Peaked during the 1967 “Summer of Love” • Scott McKenzie advised young people heading to San Francisco to “wear some flowers in your hair” • “Flower Power” became the hippie’s slogan • Showed the gentler, perhaps more female, side of resistance

24. Monterey International Pop Festival • Held June 16-18, 1967 at the Monterey Fairgrounds in CA • The perfect opening event of the Summer of Love • The first huge rock festival (30,000 fans in attendance) • Launched the careers of the Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Otis Redding • Got Janis Joplin a contract with Clive Davis of CBS Records

25. Day 26: The Monterey Pop Festival continued… • A platform for the politics of its supporters • The Byrd’s, He Was A Friend of Mine • The Animals, We Gotta Get Out of This Place

26. Jimi Hendrix Left-handed African American virtuoso guitar player from Seattle Made it big in England first, then came over with his trio (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) After performing at Monterey Pop Festival, he toured as the opening act for The Monkees Died unexpectedly in 1970 Songwriter and pioneered adding distortion and feedback into popular music His version of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower

27. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band • Took 8 months to make the album • It epitomized all the creativity and excess of the counterculture • Was the first concept album • An album designed as a coherent whole with each song moving seamlessly into the next

28. The Doors Avatars of the darker side (exact opposite of the Beatles) Signed to Elektra in 1967 First hit single was Break on Through (To the Other Side) Became the #1 teenybopper band in the country with Light My Fire Performed on the Ed Sullivan Show Jim Morrison died on July 3, 1971, most probably from a drug-induced heart attack Riders on the Storm

29. Riding the Storm • 1968 – Tet Offensive in Vietnam • MLK Assassinated (April 4, 1968) just after the Kerner Commission on Civil Disorders • Provoked violent reactions in over 100 American cities • James Brown joins gov. as “Ambassador to the Streets” • Robert Kennedy murdered • Aretha Franklin’s version of Young, Gifted, and Black • NOW (National Organization for Women) was founded in 1966 • Counterculture split into two groups • Revolution by the Beatles in 1968 • Imagine by John Lennon

30. Day 27: Woodstock and Altamont • Woodstock Music and Art Fair • August 1969 on Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in Bethel, NY • Expected 50,000 people, but got 7-8 times that number • Road blocked; not enough food, water, medical facilities, bathrooms…then it began to rain! • The counterculture’s finest hour • No violence and spirit of cooperation

31. Woodstock continued… • Jimi Hendrix – version of the Star Spangled Banner • Santana • Guitar • Sly and the Family Stone • Dance Hits

32. Crosby, Stills, and Nash Supergroup who started in 1968 Song Ohio Members had freedom to work on solo projects

33. Altamont Festival • Held at Altamont Speedway just outside San Francisco, CA in 1969 • Many problems…a lot of violence…