History 298: Music-Made America
The Sixties
Daniel Borus
Daniel.borus@rochester.edu
452 Rush Rhees
Office Hours: Wednesday 9:30-11
This course is one of a number offered under the rubric of Music-Made America. Those courses
seek to understand the relation between American music and the moment in which it was made
and heard. Doing so requires learning about American musical traditions and contemporaneous
history so that we can understand how music was both a consequence of its times and a builder
of them.
The topic this term is the 1960s – a period known for political and social transformation and
musical innovation. In the political and social realm, there were challenges to established ideas
about race and gender relations, the power of the government to make war and peace, how
bodies were to behave, and what forms of consciousness were acceptable. Musically, the Sixties
have come down to us as the second age of rock ‘n’ roll and the rise of soul and rhythm and
blues. Numerous genres appeared and established themselves in the period, and choosing which
ones to investigate is necessarily arbitrary. This term we will concentrate on the music that
provided the soundtrack for what was known as the youth culture – something that had long
characterized American culture but became especially pronounced in the post-WWII era.
Books
The following books are available at the Douglass Book Store and on 2-hour reserve in Rush
Rhees Library:
Glenn C. Altschuler, All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
Susan J. Douglas, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female With the Mass Media
Alice Echols, Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin
Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues
John Robert Greene, America in the Sixties
Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain, Acid Dreams
Mike Marqusee, Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s
Tim O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me
Robert Rodriguez, Revolver How the Beatles Reimagined Rock'N'Roll
Students for a Democratic Society, The Port Huron Statement
Elijah Wald, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'N' Roll: An Alternative History of American
Popular Music
2
Music
Music assignments are indicated in the schedule below on the day they will be discussed in class.
All are available for streaming and on reserve at the Art and Music Library.
Assignments
There are three written assignments for this class.
Album Review (25%) – One of the innovations of the 1960s was a renewed emphasis on the
album in its totality as a work of art. Previous decades in popular music had emphasized the
single track, available on 45 revolution per minute disk. Albums of popular music prior to the
1960s were usually greatest hits or fillers. Sixties albums, on the other hand, were subject to
extensive criticism and analysis – often undertaken by rock critics and listeners. What had once
been unanalyzed enjoyment became intellectual and cultural events. In that spirit, students will
write a five-page review of a Sixties album. The review needs to be historically based – that is,
put the album in the context of music history and American history. It should include basic
biographical information about the artist. Reviews are due the date that the albums are
discussed in class. Students may choose non-assigned albums in consultation with the
instructor.
3
Cover Review (25%) – One way to see what is particular and meaningful about a song is to
compare it with later covers. Write a five-page comparison between a Sixties original and a
cover between 1980 and 2010. Papers should indicate the differences in tone and approach and
what those differences suggest about the later interpretation. Students should indicate the two
cover versions by 27 March. Papers are due 3 April
Playlist (30%) – Create a playlist of 10 songs of the 1960s and indicate why they are historically
significant. The list will be graded on the depth of explanation and the coherence of the playlist.
Due 3 May
The remainder of the grade will be determined by class participation. Students will need to
submit a discussion question for each reading
4
Class Schedule
JANUARY 16
Music and History
JANUARY 23
Music History
Reading:
Wald, Chapters 8-17
Listening
Hank Ballard, “The Twist”
Patsy Cline "I Fall to Pieces"
Louis Jordan "Choo Choo Ch'boogie"
Al Dexter, "Pistol Packin' Mama" Country Gold, Vol 1
Hank Williams, "Lost Highway" & "Mansion on the Hill"
JANUARY 28
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Reading:
Altschuler
Listening:
Little Richard -- "Good Golly, Miss Molly"
Chuck Berry -- "Johnny B. Goode"
Chuck Berry -- "Rock n Roll Music"
Chuck Berry -- "No Particular Place to Go"
Elvis Presley -- "Hound Dog"
Elvis Presley -- "Mystery Train"
Elvis Presley -- "Blue Suede Shoes"
Elvis Presley -- "Heartbreak Hotel"
Drive-By Truckers -- "Carl Perkins's Cadillac"
5
JANUARY 30
“The Sixties” -- A lecture
FEBRUARY 4
Postwar Gender Relations
Reading:
Douglas, Chapters 1-7
FEBRUARY 6
Girl Groups
Listening:
Crystals, “Da Do Run Run”
Crystals, “He’s a Rebel”
Crystals, “And Then He Kissed Me”
Ronettes, “What’d I Say”
Ronettes, “Walkin’ in the Rain”
Ronettes, “Be My Baby”
Shangra-Las, “Leader of the Pack”
Shangra-Las, “Train from Kansas City”
Shirelles, “Dedicated to the One I Love”
Shirelles, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”
Shirelles, “Baby, It’s You”
FEBRUARY 11
Prosperity and Pleasure
Reading:
Greene, Chapters 1-2
Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket” (reserve)
Arthur Schlesinger, “The New Mood in Politics” (reserve)
6
FEBRUARY 13
Listening:
“Right Here on Our Stage”: The Beatles
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Twist and Shout”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“Money”
“Eight Days a Week”
“Love Me Do”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
Rolling Stones “I Wanna Be Your Man”
“Not Fade Away”
“I Just Want to Make Love to You”
“Heart of Stone”
Dave Clark Five “Glad All Over”
“Over and Over”
FEBRUARY 18
Race in America
Reading:
Greene, Chapters 3-5
Baldwin
7
FEBRUARY 20
Crossover
Listening:
Motown 1960s Volume 1
FEBRUARY 25
The New Left
Reading:
Greene, Chapters 6-8
The Port Huron Statement
Robert Shelton & Nat Hentoff articles on Bob Dylan (reserve)
FEBRUARY 27
Listening:
MARCH 4
Reading:
MARCH 6
Listening:
Folk Music
Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Joan Baez, Joan Baez
Soul and Black Power
George
Memphis
Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved a Man The Way I Loved You (1967)
Otis Redding, The Essential Otis Redding
MARCH 18
The Beatles Reinvent Themselves
Reading:
Rodriguez
Listening:
Revolver
MARCH 20
The Beatles in the Studio
Reading:
James Miller, “June 1: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Listening:
Sgt. Pepper’s, The Beatles (The White Album)
MARCH 25
Reading:
Listening:
Dylan Stops Pointing Fingers
Marquesee, Chapters 1-3
Another Side of Bob Dylan
MARCH 27
Dylan Goes Electric
Reading:
James Miller, “July 25, 1965: Dylan Goes Electric”
Watching:
Don’t Look Back
Listening:
Bringing It Back Home
COVER PAPER DUE
APRIL 1
Reading:
Listening:
Highway 61 Revisited
Marcus
Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde
8
APRIL 3
Listening:
COVERING
To Be Determined
APRIL 8
Reading:
DRUGS
Lee and Shlain
APRIL 10
Listening:
Psychedelia
The Grateful Dead, The Grateful Dead
Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow
Thirteenth-Floor Elevators, The Thirteenth-Floor Elevators
APRIL 15
Reading:
Vietnam
O’Brien
APRIL 17
Listening:
Sonic Dissonance
Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced?
Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold as Love
APRIL 22
Reading:
APRIL 24
Listening:
Watching:
Echols
Janis
Janis II
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills
Janis Joplin, Pearl
Monterrey Pop
9
APRIL 29
Reading:
Bad Moon Rising
Greene, Chapter 9
MAY 1
Listening:
Sympathy for the Devil
Rolling Stones, Beggar’s Banquet
10