Gymnázium Jozefa Gregora Tajovského, Banská Bystrica
Culture and art in 1960s
Matúš Muránsky , 3.C
2010/2011
Introduction
The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties. In the United States, "the
Sixties", as they are known in popular culture, is a term used by historians, journalists, and
other objective academics; in some cases nostalgically to describe the counterculture and
social revolution near the end of the decade; and pejoratively to describe the era as one of
irresponsible excess and flamboyance. The decade was also labeled the Swinging Sixties
because of the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to sexism and racism
that occurred during this time.
1 Social and political movement
The Sixties were era stuffed with all kinds of revolutions. Almost every person in America
wanted things to change. Starting with hippies who wanted the president to witherdraw forces
from Vietnam, through patriots who supported war, to women who felt underestimated and
college students who didn’t like the consume way of living.
1.1 Social revolution
In the second half of the decade, young people began to revolt against the conservative norms
of the time, as well as remove themselves from mainstream liberalism, in particular the high
level of materialism which was so common during the era. The youth involved in the popular
social aspects of the movement became known as hippies. The movement was mainly marked
by the first widespread, socially accepted drug use, including LSD and marihuana,
psychedelic music and was often reffered to as „Flower Power“ (Picture n.1).
1.2 Antiwar movement
The war in Vietnam would eventually lead to a commitment of over half a million American
troops, resulting in over 60,000 American deaths and producing a large-scale antiwar
movement in the United States. Hippies along with college students were the most active
force in spreading the antiwar propaganda. As the movement's ideals spread beyond college
campuses, doubts about the war also began to appear within the administration itself.
1.3 Feminism
At the time, a woman's place was generally seen as being in the home, and they were
excluded from many jobs and professions. Feminists were protesting, writing books and
debating to change social and political views that limited women. In the US, a Presidential
Commission on the Status of Women broke down the last remaining legal barriers to women's
personal freedom and professional success.
1.4 Gay rights movement
Inspired by the civil rights movement and the women's movement, early gay rights pioneers
had begun, by the 1960s, to build a movement. These groups were rather conservative in their
practices, emphasizing that gays were just like straights and deserved full equality. This
philosophy was dominant, but by the very end of the 1960s, the movement's goals would
change and become more radical, demanding a right to be different, and encouraging gay
pride.
2 Popular culture
The social revolution dominated the second half of the 1960s, it‘s most famous moments
being the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967, and the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
Psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, were widely used medicinally, spiritually and
recreationally throughout the late 60s. Psychedelic drugs influenced the music, artwork and
films of the decade, and a number of prominent musicians died of drug overdoses.
2.1 Music in the Sixties
2.1.1 British psychedelia
British psychedelia emerged during the mid 1960s, was influenced by psychedelic culture and
attempted to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. The
movement drew on non-Western sources such as Indian music's ragas and sitars as well as
studio effects and long instrumental passages and surreal lyrics. Established British artists
such as Eric Burdon, The Who, Cream, Pink Floyd and The Beatles produced a number of
highly psychedelic tunes during the decade. Many British psychedelia bands of the 1960s
never published their music and only appeared in live concerts during that time.
2.1.2 Garage rock
Garage rock was a form of amateurish rock music, particularly prevalent in North America in
the mid-1960s and was called so because of the perception that it was practiced in the garages
of suburban families. Garage rock songs revolved around the traumas of high school life, with
songs about "lying girls" being particularly common.
.1.2.3 Progressive rock
Progressive rock was an attempt to move beyond established musical formulas by
experimenting with different instruments, song types, and forms. In order to achieve some
kind of „Baroque rock“ , band like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones started to use
keyboards, synthesisers and classical orchestration. Not all songs have lyrics, but those that
do, often have lyrics based on science-ficton or fantasy and are often very abstract.
2.1.4 Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock reached its peak in the last years of the decade. It’s purpose was to enhance
and alternate the experience during drug-use ( LSD and marihuana) and to express feelings
about human race. Some of the most influental bands were Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful
Dead, Love or The Great Society.
2.2. Woodstock Music & Art Fair
Woodstock was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It
was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre (2.4 km²) dairy farm near the White Lake in the town of Bethel,
New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969. During the rainy weekend, thirty-two bands and
singers performed outdoors in front of 500,000 people(Picture n.2). It is widely regarded as one of the
greatest and most pivotal moments in popular music history. The organizers were awaiting about
10 000 people, but the concert-goers were coming in far greater numbers and sooner than it was
expected. So the administration had two choices, build fences and hire more security, which could
result in violence, or make the concert free. They choosed the second option and made the Woodstock
free. Gropus and individuals like Jimi Hendrix(Picture n.3), The Grateful Dead, Jefferson
Airplane(Picture n.4) or Joe Cocker performed at this great event. Although invited, The beatles, John
Lennon, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and many others declined invitation to Woodstock.
2.3 Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during summer of 1967, when
as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco,
creating a cultural and political rebellion. While hippies gathered all around the world, San
Francsico was the center of the hippie revolution. The Summer of Love became a defining
moment of the 1960s, as the hippie movement came into public awareness This gathering of
young people is often considered to have been a social experiment, because of alternative lifestyles
that became common, both during the summer itself and during subsequent years. These lifestyles
included communal living; the free and communal sharing of resources, often among total strangers;
and free love.
Conclusion
My intention in this project was to show you a bit of the Sixties I focused on the social movemnts and
music, because I percieve those as the most interesting. I hope you enjoyed this and can now at least
imagine how the world was then. In my opinion, the freedom, the open-air music festivals and social
movements must’ve been truly great, and I personally think that American 1960s was the greatest era
one could live in.
Bibliografic data
1. W.J Rorabaugh, Berkeley at War: The 1960s, Oxford University Press, 1990
2. Joan Morrison, From Camelot to Kent State: The Sixties Experience in the Words of
Those Who Lived It. Three Rivers Press, 1987
3. Skip Stone, The Hippies from A to Z, Hip 1999
4. http://www.sixties.net/
(20-05-2011)
5. http://www.wikipedia.org/ (20-05-2011)
Atachments
Picture n. 1
Picture n. 4
Picture n. 3
Picture n. 4