Popular Culture of the 60s

The counterculture movement dominated the second half of the 1960s, its most famous moments being the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967, and the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York in 1969. Psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, were widely used medicinally, spiritually and recreationally throughout the late 1960s, and were popularized byTimothy Leary with his slogan "Turn on, tune in, drop out". Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters also played a part in the role of "turning heads on". Psychedelic influenced the music, artwork and films of the decade, and a number of prominent musicians died of drug overdoses (see 27 Club). There was a growing interest in Eastern religions and philosophy, and many attempts were made to found communes, which varied from supporting free love to religious puritanism.

MusicBritish Invasion: The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964 "The 60?s were a leap in human consciousness. Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Che Guevara, Mother Teresa, they led a revolution of conscience. The Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix created revolution and evolution themes.

The music was like Dalí, with many colors and revolutionary ways. The youth of today must go there to find themselves." – Carlos Santana [17]Popular music entered an era of "all hits", as numerous artists released recordings, beginning in the 1950s, as 45-rpm "singles" (with another on the flip side), and radio stations tended to play only the most popular of the wide variety of records being made. Also, bands tended to record only the best of their songs as a chance to become a hit record. The taste of the American listeners expanded from the folksinger, doo-wop and saxophone sounds of the 1950s to the Motown sound, folk rock and the British Invasion.

The Los Angeles and San Francisco Sound began in this period with many popular bands coming out of LA and the Haight-Ashburydistrict, well known for its hippie culture. The rise of the counterculture movement, particularly among the youth, created a market for rock, soul, pop, reggae and blues music.Significant events in music in the 1960s:* Elvis Presley returned to civilian life in the U.S.

after two years away in the U.S. Army. He resumes his musical career by recording "It's Now or Never" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" in March 1960.[18] * Motown Record Corporation was founded in 1960. Its first Top Ten hit was "Shop Around" by the Miracles in 1960.

"Shop Around" peaked at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100, and was Motown's first million-selling record. * Folksinger and activist Joan Baez released her debut album on Vanguard Records in December 1960. * The Marvelettes scored Motown Record Corporation's first US #1 pop hit, "Please Mr. Postman" in 1961. Motown would score 110 Billboard Top-Ten hits during its run.

* The Four Seasons released three straight number one hits * In a widely anticipated and publicized event, The Beatles arrive in America in February 1964, spearheading the British Invasion. * The Mary Poppins Original Soundtrack tops record charts. Sherman Brothers receive Grammys and double Oscars.* Lesley Gore: At age 17 hits Number one on Billboard with "It's My Party" and '64 with Number 2 "You Don't Own Me" behind the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

" * The Supremes scored twelve number-one hit singles between 1964 and 1969, beginning with "Where Did Our Love Go". * The Kinks release "You Really Got Me" in late 1964, which tops the British charts; it is regarded as the first hard rock hit and a blueprint for related genres, such as heavy metal.[19] * John Coltrane released A Love Supreme in late 1964, considered among the most acclaimed jazz albums of the era. * The Grateful Dead was formed in 1965 (originally The Warlocks) thus paving the way, giving birth to acid rock. * Bob Dylan went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

* Cilla Black's number-one hit "Anyone Who had a Heart" still remains the top-selling single by a female artist in the UK from 1964.* The Rolling Stones had a huge #1 hit with their song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in the summer of 1965. * The Byrds released a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", which reached #1 on the U.

S. charts and repeated the feat in the U.K. shortly thereafter. The extremely influential track effectively creates the musical subgenre of folk rock. * Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is a top-five hit on both sides of the Atlantic during the summer of 1965.

* Bob Dylan's 1965 albums Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited ushered in album-focused rock and the "folk rock" genre. * Simon and Garfunkel released "The Sound of Silence" single in 1965. * The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds in 1966, which significantly influenced the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album a year later.

* Bob Dylan was called "Judas" by an audience member during the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert, the start of the bootleg recording industry follows, with recordings of this concert circulating for 30 years – wrongly labeled as – The Royal Albert Hall Concert before a legitimate release in 1998 as The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. * In February 1966, Nancy Sinatra's song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" became very popular. * In 1966, The Supremes A' Go-Go was the first album by a female group to reach the top position of the Billboard magazine pop albums chart in the United States.* The Seekers were the first Australian Group to have a number one with "Georgy Girl" in 1966.

* Jefferson Airplane released the influential Surrealistic Pillow in 1967. * The Velvet Underground released its self-titled debut album The Velvet Underground ; Nico in 1967. * The Doors released its self-titled debut album The Doors' in January 1967'. * Love released Forever Changes in 1967.* Cream (band) released "Disraeli Gears" in 196 * The Jimi Hendrix Experience released two successful albums during 1967 Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love that innovate both guitar, trio and recording techniques.

* The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in June 1967. * The Moody Blues release the album Days of Future Passed in November 1967. * R & B legend Otis Redding has his first No.

1 hit with the legendary Sitting on the Dock of the Bay. He also played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 just before he died in a plane crash. * Pink Floyd released its debut record The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.* Bob Dylan released the Country rock album John Wesley Harding in December 1967. * The Bee Gees released their international debut album Bee Gees 1st in July 1967 which included the pop standard "To Love Somebody". * The Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 was the beginning of the so-called "Summer of Love".

* Johnny Cash released At Folsom Prison in 1968* 1968: after The Yardbirds fold, Led Zeppelin was formed by Jimmy Page and manager Peter Grant, with Robert Plant, John Bonham andJohn Paul Jones; and, released their debut album Led Zeppelin. * The Band released the roots rock album Music from Big Pink in 1968. * Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin as lead singer, became an overnight sensation after their performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and released their second album Cheap Thrills in 1968. * Gram Parsons with The Byrds released the extremely influential LP Sweetheart of the Rodeo in late 1968, forming the basis for country rock.* The Jimi Hendrix Experience released the highly influential double LP Electric Ladyland in 1968 that furthered the guitar and studio innovations of his previous two albums. * Simon and Garfunkel released the single "Mrs.

Robinson" in 1968; featured in the film "The Graduate" * Sly & the Family Stone revolutionized black music with their massive 1968 hit single "Dance to the Music" and by 1969 became international sensations with the release of their hit record Stand!. The band cemented their position as a vital counterculture band when they performed at the Woodstock Festival.* The Rolling Stones filmed the TV special The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968 but the film was not released for transmission. Considered for decades as a fabled "lost" performance until released in North America on Laserdiscand VHS in 1996. Features performances from The Who; The Dirty Mac featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell;Jethro Tull and Taj Mahal.

* The Woodstock Festival, and four months later, the Altamont Free Concert in 1969. * The Who released and toured the first rock opera Tommy in 1969. * Proto-punk band MC5 released the live album Kick Out the Jams in 1969. * Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band released the avant garde Trout Mask Replica in 1969. * The Stooges released their debut album in 1969.

* The Flying Burrito Brothers released their influential debut The Gilded Palace of Sin in 1969. * King Crimson released their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King in 1969.