Music of the Sixties Essay

From that moment on rock was there to stay. With an almost empty genre of music, the creative opportunity was infinite, which large scores of bands that took advantage of. Alongside The Beatles, other popular rock bands of the time were The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, all of whom were British. While British-rock bands dominated the scene of rock-and-roll, American bands began making many variations of the genre, which became known as the aforementioned subgenres. Arguably the most popular in the states was psychedelic-rock, headed by many artists such as The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors. Other mainstream sub genre artists included folk-rock Bob Dylan, blues-rock Santana, and surf-rock The Beach

Into the 2nd half of the decade came the arrival of The Rolling Stones and The Who. These continued along the Blues Rock path pioneered by Cream and Zeppelin, and both had great success. It was these acts that led to the nickname, ‘the swinging 60’s’. 1966 saw the beginning of psychedelic music. It was The Beatles who first began to experiment like this. Adding new

Music is an outlet to all aspects of life and culture is a significant way of forming people and the way they live. Although not always seen directly culture has an overbearing influence on the music that is produced and made popular. The political Climate of the early seventies was full of fire with issues such as Vietnam and constant protest throughout the county. Later in the 70’s the end of the Vietnamese conflict brought the rise of the Watergate scandal and Iran Contra. These issues swept headlines and ingrained people’s thoughts. Social issues also played a big role in the developing culture of the seventies. Protests and constant outbreaks about gay rights and women’s rights seemed to

The racial diversity of mainstream music in the 1960s was widely spread, which is why this was such a significant decade for music. There was a so called “British invasion” that took place roughly between 1964 and 1966. British bands like the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Animals, the Beatles, and many more came to America bringing their version of rock music with a British twist (British Invasion). The

In the sixties, the psychedelic music scene was at its prime and the world was full of hippie musicians that loved to drop acid and create some of the most interesting and innovative music known to man. During this time, drugs were a very popular part of the hippie culture and the prevalence of LSD helped to create the distinct genre of psychedelic music known as psychedelic or acid rock. Many bands and artists such as Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, and The Byrds were heavily influenced by LSD, which led to the creation of some very popular music. This decade was full of adventure, music, sex, and drugs, and it was all made possible due to this powerfully trippy drug.

As well as music, The Beatles made a lot of influence is society. They challenged the rules in a way no one had done before—they broke the boundaries between what was normal and acceptable and what was not. Everybody did the same things, and acted by the same standards. At the time, for men in society, wearing long hair wasn’t very common and totally acceptable. But The Beatles changed that perspective in society, managing to make the long hair style in men very fashionable and conventional, as well as their taste in clothe—even though they were constantly criticized. All though the public sometimes criticized their freedom of speech regarding style, the Beatles opened up their own store, the Apple Boutique, in London. They also made available the possibility of buying

One of the most well-known things about the sixties is its music. Bands in the sixties started to break the conservative boundaries by talking about drugs and sex in their music; the drugs and sex revolution in this music also

The British invasion change musical landscaped of the 50’s and 60’s began with the British took over AM radio in the 1950”s Then in the 1960’s by introducing musical legends such as the Quarrymen and the Silver Beatles. The members of the Beatles such as John Lennon and Paul McCarthy went on to produce first rate music in the American culture of rock and roll. The mop top hairstyle of the Beatles also caught the attention of the young American pop culture to have a reason to rebel against authority. The Beatles hit the Billboard top 100 in 1964 which made a great impression on the American music scene.

One of the most influential groups of the 20th Century—the Beatles revolutionized rock and roll into what we know it as today. Not only were they great musicians, they wrote and composed each of their songs. The band proved to be popular and exciting causing mass hysteria at each of their public performances. The “Fab Four’s” talent was so great that the phenomenon was termed “Beatlemania” in Britain and eventually erupted in the United States being called the British Invasion of the Beatles (Britannica Online, 2005).

The Beatles were more than their music. They influenced the lives of millions of people unlike any musicians before them. They were the first and most popular band in one of the most important music movements in American history, the British Invasion. The year 1964 was the year both the British Invasion and “Beatlemania” came to America and forever changed the landscape of music in the United States by introducing the genre of pop, as it is today. The Beatles changed the rules of music. Many things that are considered normal now were pioneered by the Beatles such as: creating compilation albums, expressing their views on world happenings through the media, musicians in movies, and even mass media advertising. The beatles

The Beatles started a fashion trend that spread to all other bands and the general population in the 1960s. First off, they all had shaggy, bowl haircuts which were a very big change from the slicked back hairstyles of the

The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular

Questioning the correlation of commercial success and true artistry began in the light of mainstream music. Mainstream music has been given a negative connotation due to the supposed lack of originality of the artists. Repetitive chord progressions and meaningless lyrics compose the majority of “mainstream music,” making each song sound like the next . Despite these patterns in music, artists still ventured outside of what was societally normal and created music that was unheard of. Despite the potential risks in being an individual in the music industry, several groups achieved high success and maintain the popularity in the present. Creativity and commercial success can definitely exist alongside one another, and this paper will prove that through the music of the Beatles, the performance styles of David Bowie, and the grunge movement in Seattle which was fueled by Nirvana.

Known for being pioneers for rock 'n roll music in the 1960s the Beatles weren 't always musical celebrities. Coming from humble beginnings in

Believe it or not, on January 1st of 1962, the group known as The Beatles flunked their audition at Decca Records in London, England. The label’s executive, Dick Rowe, brushed them off like they were nothing. He simply stated that “guitar groups are on the way out.” Little did Rowe know, The Beatles would soon conquer modern society and alter the course of pop and rock music. There have been no other entertainers in the history of music that has been so popular, influential, or as groundbreaking as The Beatles. In the early 1960’s, their popularity was often called “Beatlemania,” as thousands of screaming fans would crowd their concerts and sing-along with the Fab Four. They sold over 600 million albums internationally and had 20 Number One hit singles – a Billboard record that has yet to be broken. The band took over the entertainment media with music videos and films, but also influenced sociocultural, political, and fashion movements throughout the sixties and seventies. From experimenting with several different genres to incorporating classical elements into their melodies, The Beatles still reigns as one of the most creative and successful bands several decades later. Today, fifty years later, The Beatles and their music are still engraved in the hearts of many.