1960s American Counter Culture Analysis

Podcast Script

The 1960s was the beginning of a cultural revolution in America. The counter-culture of the 1960s was viewed by some as “mankind’s best, maybe only, hope; others saw it as a portent of civilization’s imminent ruin.”1 The nation’s youth began to find their voice and were slowly shaping the nation’s ideals. Music became “a medium of propaganda, identifying the young as a distinct force in society with unique values and aspirations.”2 The counter-cultural movement began in reaction to many different changes in America; the children from the “baby-boomers” after WWII were becoming old enough to form their own opinions about the state of affairs in America and were deciding how they wanted to change it, violence in Vietnam
The British Invasion began when The Beatles came over from the UK, bringing “Beatlemania” with them. They not only ushered in a new type of style for the world, in clothing, hairstyles, and music, they also brought with them the obsession and fan craze they experienced in the UK. In the midst of Beatlemania, Ed Sullivan travelled to London and saw the craze firsthand in 1963, before the Beatles came to the US. Upon his return to New York, Ed Sullivan set up a meeting with the manager for the Beatles to have them appear on the show, arranging three show appearances.8 These appearances led to more public knowledge of the Beatles in the US, the beginning of Beatlemania in the US, and to the beginning of the British Invasion. A multitude of British bands followed the Beatles to the US; Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, the Who, the Zombies, the Kinks, Ten Years After, and so many more. Different styles were brought to America and brought out different genres in American bands as well. Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and others began to develop a new style of music they called “psychedelic rock” or “acid rock,” named for the influence of drugs, especially acid, and the “trip” they took while listening to the music. Pink Floyd became one of these bands as well. Led Zeppelin brought in a style of “harder rock,” the Who brought in a new style of “punk rock,” in the late sixties, Black Sabbath brought “metal” to America. While many bands were bringing in a new genre, quite a few were conforming to popular American artists’ style. The Zombies and Ten Years After started making protest/”hippie” music, the Rolling Stones were performing songs that sounded like a mixture of a Led Zeppelin-like sound and a Beatles-like sound. Some American bands took a stronger and hard rock type of sound to protest songs. Janis Joplin used her strong voice to bring a rock edge to the psychedelic band