User:Pwnage8/Sex, Drugs and Music in the1960s

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Contents 1 Sex, Drugs and Music in the 1960s 1.1 1950s Precursor to the Sexual and Drug Revolution 1.2 Changes in the 1960s 1.3 Music and Drugs 1.4 Music and the Sexual Revolution 1.5 Conclusion 2 References

[edit] Sex, Drugs and Music in the 1960s

The 1960s were a time of great societal change. The Civil Rights, Vietnam Anti-War, and Feminist movements as well as other social revolutions and technological advancements are prominently associated with the 1960s. As these movements brought openness for change, the counterculture of the 1960s gave rise to the sexual and drug revolutions. In the 1950s, Elvis Presley pushed the boundaries of open sexuality, setting the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, where these boundaries would be breached further with the help of new technology. The 1950s restrictive culture led to the rebellious counterculture that brought musical experimentation which in some subcultures was enhanced by drug use. The music of 1960s reflected these changing attitudes toward sexuality and drug use.

[edit] 1950s Precursor to the Sexual and Drug Revolution

1950s American youth's growing cultural influence is witnessed in the popularity of emerging artists like Elvis Presley and the explosion of rock 'n' roll. This period allowed an opportunity for the American youth to voice a distinct and vocal opinion, which was the result of several factors following World War II. While Elvis can be seen as a representation of the growing subculture in music, Pat Boone represents the typical 1950s popular music that aligned with the social norms of the time. The combination of the American baby boom, the cultural containment against the Soviet Union's Communism and the growing affluence of America's middle class all affected the relationship of American youth to popular music.

Following WWII, there was a general trend of American families increasing in size as part of a perceived nationalistic crusade. As argued in Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, having more children was a part of cultural trend to reinforce parents' commitment to the nation, as if bearing children was a civic duty ^[1]. Due to this rush, American demographics saw a staggering proportion of youths never seen before. With this new advance of a group who typically fell silent, a chance to influence the American culture became apparent.

Growing up during the Cold War, children were taught to conform to common morals and what were deemed by society as normal lives. Not only was the United States in an ideological war with the Soviet Union, but internal witch hunts were pointing fingers at possible subversives and spies. This paranoia of the soviet spy within led many families to focus on maintaining a "typical American" household, with females and males closely following their gender specific roles. Any odd or non conformist behavior was regarded with suspicion and ultimately those restrictions led to the rebellions of millions of American teenagers. In addition television shows pushed the idea of sterile, permanently happy families and families worked to portray this typical American image. In reality, teens dealt with an array of tensions and emotions that were often ignored or considered abnormal ^[2]. It was in this atmosphere where artists like Pat Boone thrived.

Pat Boone was an artist deemed respectable and American by the mainstream adult culture. He morphed emerging R&B hits into a more marketable and clean sound that was acceptable among the American middle class. His lyrics were deemed appropriate and moral, so parents encouraged their children to buy his albums. His hits covered songs from Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" to Fats Domino's "Ain't it a Shame", often becoming more popular than the original ^[3]. While this type of popular music was prevalent, a growing number of American youth were beginning to connect to the original songs as authentic, fresh and rebellious. The 1950s music scene pulled American teenagers in two directions; towards the pre-approved music of their parents or towards a rough, authentic new sound.

With the addition of America's growing economy, American teens found themselves in the position to influence consumer markets with their own personal purchasing power. Teens were rejecting the forced normalcy and shallowness of their family lives and demanded some form of acknowledgment of real life. The discovery of one major new avenue of music, rock n' roll, was the beginning of a deep connection between social change and the music that embraced it.

One such musician, Elvis Presley, offered an unedited sound that allowed teenagers to relate to feelings that had been repressed. His songs and dance moves were sexual and suggestive, giving teenagers something new and rebellious. Songs like "Teddy Bear" were filled with suggestive lines that adults wanted to ban while teenagers reveled in the rebel against the morals and norms of their uniform family lives ^[4]. The honesty in his lyrics lent him a level of authenticity lacking in the music of Pat Boone. Rock 'n' roll and other non-conformist music offered an escape from the roles placed upon young men and women by society.

The role of rock 'n' roll music like Elvis Presley also encouraged teenagers to think about sex in more casual way than preached by their parents. Lyrics suggested the lure and enjoyment of intimacy before marriage with words like "Baby, let me be around you every night, run your fingers through my hair, and cuddle me real tight."^[5]. That message stood in direct contention with the social values of the time, when children were pushed to wait until marriage. This seed of opposition would blossom in the 1960s as circumstances allowed for the sexual revolution to emerge.

[edit] Changes in the 1960s

The 1960s era of American popular music marked a significant shift in American music and began with the formation of the first teen pop stars. This shift followed the introduction of the pop music genre during the 1950s. After an aggressive marketing attack by the record industry, pop artists such as Rudy Vallee and Frank Sinatra took hold and launched some of the first incidents of mass hysteria among young teens. Solo artists soon transformed into boy bands such as The Monkees and the Jackson 5, who gained extreme popularity with America's youth during the 1960s. Just like many teen pop stars from the current era of American music, several of the popular music groups from the early 1960s were formed first based on their charming good looks rather than their outstanding vocal skills. The tenure of this musical genre in American culture was one of high impact for the time being, but did not have much staying power in the music scene.

During the 1960s, however, there were other forms of popular music that have proven to outlast that of the teen pop stars; pop-folk, soul and rock. Rock and roll can trace its roots to a similar genre called "rockabilly," which emerged in the South during the early 1950s. Rockabilly is said to be a fusion between rock and roll and hillbilly (or country) music. The first sub-genre of rock and roll to achieve mainstream status in the early 1960s was the sound of the surf associated with the youthful surfing culture of Southern California. Many people today associate this sound with the 1961 Beach Boys hit, "Surfin' USA" but are unaware that a majority of surf rock was instrumental with a twangy, distorted guitar as the source.

Another important development in music during the 1960s was the technological innovations implemented with the way Americans heard their music. The most important of these upgrades was the introduction of the mini-transistor radio. This ultimately became the world's first personal music device, making it a large luxury during the 1960s. The mini-transistor radio sold for approximately $20 allowed for the consumer to move beyond their living rooms and garages, taking their music with them. Prices of these mobile devices fell to $10 each as other prototypes came to America from the tech-savvy country of Hong Kong.

With a majority of the Vietnam War taking place during the 1960s, it was a predictable occurrence for American music to eventually reflect the growing anti-war sentiment among many youth. With these opposition ideals, a counterculture to America's mainstream began to develop. Those involved in this counterculture became politically active and also preached hipster, or hippie, ideals that came to fruition during this time as well. If there is one issue upon which most scholars agree, it is that rock music receives inspiration from, and stimulates the personal, cultural, and political struggles of its audience ^[6]. Through the hippie movement, folk-rock artists like Bob Dylan and psychedelic rock bands such as The Doors were able to push their music to the forefront of this counterculture. This movement was also coupled with the "British invasion" of bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who and most famously The Beatles. This foray from overseas contrasted with the laid back style of the hippie era, bringing it's hard edged image and sound to go along with.

A landmark counterculture event was the Woodstock Festival, held in upstate New York in August 1969. Billed as "three days of peace, music, and love," the promoters expected a large crowd but not the 300,000 to 400,000 people who actually attended. In spite of the large numbers, there were no serious problems; adequate medical care was available and the police decided not to try to enforce drug laws ^[7]. Unfortunately this was not the case for future counterculture events as America's drug revolution began to take hold.

[edit] Music and Drugs

During the 1960s, illegal drugs became perhaps one of the most influential variables in the music of that era. Not only did drug use influence the lyrics of music produced during this decade, it influenced the structure of albums as a whole. Bands such as The Byrds, Bob Dylan, and the Grateful Dead changed the way in which many people looked at both drugs and music. Influenced by various British bands that had previously toyed with the concept of mixing illegal substances with their music, these American bands experimented with drugs such as LSD and marijuana, believing that their experimentation would lead them to create better music.

Though common misconception places a drug revolution in the 1960s in the United States, the drug experience of in this country really did not occur until the 1970s ^[8]. However, LSD use was very prevalent in the production of music in the 1960s. Young people during this era greeted this musical progression with open arms and said that drugs changed both the music itself and how one was able to perceive the music. Drugs, although used as a tool for motivation and musical progression for some, were also a means of destruction for many others.

The biggest influence of drugs on music in the 1960s in the United States was the prominence of experimentation with LSD or 'acid' in Califonia and other parts of the West Coast ^[9]. LSD was introduced to the masses by Timothy Leary, an ex-Harvard professor, in the early 1960s and was so quickly adopted by young people in the era that it created a youth subculture. Leary urged young people to "turn on, tune in, and drop out". ^[10]. Woodstock-type music festivals that occurred in the United States in the 1960s were notorious for drug hawking ^[8]. The counter-culture produced by this experimenting led to a genre of music referred to as acid rock. This music, unlike the pop and rhythm and blues genres that came before, focused on compiling a whole album rather than various chart singles. Album tracks tended to be longer, which allowed instrumentalists to record a display of their skills rather than just popular hits. The Grateful Dead was among the longer-lasting bands of this movement of musical freedom ^[9]. Long compositions that emphasized the playing ability of instrumentalists became the focus of these so-called acid rock bands. The longer length of the albums seemed to reflect the lengthy timescale of an acid trip, which lasts between and eight and twelve hours on average.

LSD was not the only drug that was used for experimentation in the music scene of the 1960s. Marijuana, too, became popular during that decade. In fact, even though the Beatles are known for their interest in marijuana and psychedelic drugs, it was Bob Dylan, an American musician, who first introduced the members of the Beatles to marijuana on August 28, 1964 ^[10]. Members of the 1960s subculture viewed marijuana as having the ability to expand one's mind and therefore allow people to better appreciate music ^[8]. Marijuana use was popular throughout the 60s and 70s. The attitude of accepting drugs, especially marijuana, was reflected in music ^[8].

Music in the 1960s was definitely affected by experimentation with various drugs, the most prominent being LSD on the West Coast of the United States. Although the drug revolution did not take place until the 1970s, the "psychedelic era" of the 1960s changed the way people thought about music ^[8]. It introduced drug experimentation as an important component in the both the creation of music and as well as the listening experience. People believed that drugs enhanced both sides of music production. Lastly, even though the emergence of the drug subculture in the 1960s excited people, the culture of drugs associated with rock and roll can be illustrated in the numerous drug-related deaths that occurred to popular musicians of this era – Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the lead singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison.

[edit] Music and the Sexual Revolution

The 1960s was a time of great social change. The Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War and subsequent Anti-War Movement, Kennedy’s presidency and assassination all happened in the 1960s. Gone were the days of the ‘50s housewife and repressed sexuality, at least in the eyes of many. Many people such as parents and educators attempted to resist the transformation of popular music as it became increasingly sexually charged. Ed Sullivan, host of a popular weekly TV show, tried to resist some of the lyrical style changes that were happening in popular music. His formula for success was “Open big. Keep it clean. Always have something for the kids.” This policy was not always in line with the types of artists performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. During the 1960s, three of the most popular composers/performers of the decade were faced with Ed Sullivan’s objections with the lyrics of specific songs. Two of the songs, “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues,” and “Light My Fire,” were deemed inappropriate by Sullivan for reasons other than sexual innuendo such as including drug and radical political references. The third song, the Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was considered sexually explicit. Sullivan requested that the band change the lyrics to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together,” and the Stones obliged. The word “night” in the song was actually bleeped out on the radio or removed from radio playlists altogether after it was released several days before the show.

The pre-war songwriting manual “How To Write And Sell A Hit Song” warned that: “Direct allusions to love-making ... must be avoided. Love in popular songs is a beautiful and delicate emotion and marriage is a noble institution. Profanity should never be used in a popular song. Direct references to drinking, and songs that have to do with labor and national and political propaganda are also prohibited on the air.” ^[11] This rule of thumb had obviously been broken at some point prior to the war, but became a distant memory during the 1960s.

Popular American music changed quite a bit from the 1950s to the 1960s, especially in terms of the sexual content of songs. The style of lyrics changed from more bubblegum pop songs about first dates and cars to more explicit stories of sex and drug use. Sexual innuendos in the 1960s had more to do with combining sex and drugs and one-night-stands than the safer lyrics of the 1950s. For example, one of the big hits of the 1950s was Bill Haley and His Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock.” The song is about dancing and staying up all night and there is no mention of drugs, sex, or politics. Another smash hit of the 1950s was Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” which is essentially a rock n’ roll version of the American Dream. Some of the lyrics are “His mother told him someday you will be a man, and you will be the leader of a big old band. Many people coming from miles around, to hear you play your music when the sun goes down…” There is no mention of drugs, sex, or politics in “Johnny B. Goode” either. The Rolling Stones 1967 hit “Let’s Spend the Night Together” was much more suggestive than previous 1950s hits. “Let’s spend the night together, I’ll satisfy your every need, and now I know you will satisfy me.”

While some may argue that the sexual revolution had begun prior to the 1960s, it was not nearly as reflected in music and pop culture until the 1960s began. With the advent of the first birth control pill and its subsequent approval by the FDA in 1960, the Pill became one of the greatest factors of the sexual revolution ^[12]. Women no longer had to be concerned with getting pregnant, and the Pill essentially opened the doors for women across the nation to engage in premarital sex. Furthermore, drugs were becoming increasingly common, and drug use seemed to perpetuate a sort of “free love” mentality.

Many popular songs and performers provided advice and examples about questions that were central to young people, such as how to dress and be cool, what to do on a date, and what type of limits to have sexually ^[2]. Young teens often did not have any source of information about sexuality except for the media and friends, as many parents never openly discussed sex with their children. The music reflected common attitudes about dating and relationships between males and females and therefore also helped to reinforce these ideas. Essentially, popular music mirrored popular culture, and popular culture reflected popular music.

[edit] Conclusion

Music and cultural transitions are correlated in the sexual and drug revolution of the 1960s. As the conservative ideals of the 1950s (Cold War Era) restricted individuality the 1960s generation rebelled with the aid of the introduction of more suggestive music and movements by Elvis Presley which were accepted by the 1960s opening the window for musicians to further push the boundaries. Musical changes demonstrated the shifting market and the rebellion against repression. In addition to the cultural changes that influenced the rapid transitioning of music, new technologies also take some of the credit. With the belief in some subcultures that experimentation with drugs would cause musicians to create better music, drugs became more prevalent in the music world. As this drug revolution was beginning the sexual revolution was well underway. Musicians of the 1960s revealed their new freedoms in songs with more explicit lyrics about sex and drugs.

[edit] References