Importance of music in the 60's
Music of the 1960's served as the voice of that generation. Music in the 60's represented a characteristic of the revolution that was happening in those years. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the younger people were questioning everything, including authority, corporations, the government, and other aspects of everyday life. It was essentially a revolution of the status quo. This gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement of the decade along with other movements that affected the rights of society as a whole. Before 1963, the music of the sixties still reflected the sound, style and beliefs of the previous decade and many of the hit records were by artists who had found mainstream success in the 1950s, like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Dion.
In 1963 and the years to follow, a number of social influences changed what popular music was and gave birth to the diversity that we experience with music today. The assassination of President Kennedy, the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the forward-progress of the Civil Rights Movement all greatly impacted the mood of American culture and the music began to reflect that change. The "British Invasion" also began around 1963 with the arrival of The Beatles on the music scene and the type of rabid fandom that followed them would change the way people would view and interact with music and musicians forever.
In the early 60's, folk music, with singers like Peter, Paul and Mary, and songs written by Bob Dylan and others started talking about themes like war, and racial injustice, issues that weren’t being portrayed in popular music before. As the war in Vietnam heated up, there was more music against the war, against injustice, for brotherhood.
The fact of the Beatles having long hair caused huge problems between parents and sons who wanted to grow their hair long. As the sexual revolution and drug culture spread, the songs reflected it. Parents would tell kids not to listen to certain songs because they might, might be about drugs if the parents couldn't understand the lyrics. The hippie movement, Woodstock, etc. reflected the changes in attitudes in the teen and young adult culture and that in turn was reflected in the music. Music was somewhat of a factor in the Civil Rights movement.
From 1957 until sometime in the early to mid-1960's, the music-dance show, "American Bandstand" was on every afternoon.
Often they had live entertainers. Sometimes they were African American, at a time when Blacks were almost never seen on TV. It has been said that seeing Chuck Berry or Sam Cooke or the Drifters on American Bandstand influenced kids in a subtle way that Blacks were not all bad and their music, and especially the music of Motown in the 1960's had an influence on how some White kids thought of African Americans.
To conclude, music was a representation of the revolution that was happening in that decade and it reflected all the spheres of society, something that wasn’t being shown till the 60’s, but still reflecting the previous issues. Music influenced so many things, but I guess the most important manifestation of music was the civil rights movement, being responsible for the mainstream acceptance of black people.
Sources:
http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/american_renaissance/Protest%20Music2.htm~
http://answers.yahoo.com/questiohttps://www.boundless.com/history/sixties-1960-1969/counterculture/art-and-music/n/index?qid=20100208082823AAmlxer~
http://www.spectropop.com/hmadanibrief.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s#Music
In 1963 and the years to follow, a number of social influences changed what popular music was and gave birth to the diversity that we experience with music today. The assassination of President Kennedy, the escalation of the war in Vietnam and the forward-progress of the Civil Rights Movement all greatly impacted the mood of American culture and the music began to reflect that change. The "British Invasion" also began around 1963 with the arrival of The Beatles on the music scene and the type of rabid fandom that followed them would change the way people would view and interact with music and musicians forever.
In the early 60's, folk music, with singers like Peter, Paul and Mary, and songs written by Bob Dylan and others started talking about themes like war, and racial injustice, issues that weren’t being portrayed in popular music before. As the war in Vietnam heated up, there was more music against the war, against injustice, for brotherhood.
The fact of the Beatles having long hair caused huge problems between parents and sons who wanted to grow their hair long. As the sexual revolution and drug culture spread, the songs reflected it. Parents would tell kids not to listen to certain songs because they might, might be about drugs if the parents couldn't understand the lyrics. The hippie movement, Woodstock, etc. reflected the changes in attitudes in the teen and young adult culture and that in turn was reflected in the music. Music was somewhat of a factor in the Civil Rights movement.
From 1957 until sometime in the early to mid-1960's, the music-dance show, "American Bandstand" was on every afternoon.
Often they had live entertainers. Sometimes they were African American, at a time when Blacks were almost never seen on TV. It has been said that seeing Chuck Berry or Sam Cooke or the Drifters on American Bandstand influenced kids in a subtle way that Blacks were not all bad and their music, and especially the music of Motown in the 1960's had an influence on how some White kids thought of African Americans.
To conclude, music was a representation of the revolution that was happening in that decade and it reflected all the spheres of society, something that wasn’t being shown till the 60’s, but still reflecting the previous issues. Music influenced so many things, but I guess the most important manifestation of music was the civil rights movement, being responsible for the mainstream acceptance of black people.
Sources:
http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/american_renaissance/Protest%20Music2.htm~
http://answers.yahoo.com/questiohttps://www.boundless.com/history/sixties-1960-1969/counterculture/art-and-music/n/index?qid=20100208082823AAmlxer~
http://www.spectropop.com/hmadanibrief.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s#Music