Leaders of a New Generation - First Draft

The youth of America in the 1960s had begun an era of total disregard of the government and any other form of authority. They saw the country, which their parents so much believe in, was following a path of corruption and was simply playing games on Capitol Hill from the McCarthy Hearings to the war in Vietnam. Musician Bob Dylan expressed the young people’s feelings when he stated, “All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie.” Their response was to “rock out” and take the upcoming generations down the path of freedom with them. Take drugs. Make unacceptable music. Wear inappropriate clothing. Within ten years from the launch of this whole idea, it would swallow the American youth whole which led to a defiant era of American history throughout the sixties and seventies. The following is a description of the period by Paul Kantner of the legendary, hippie band, Jefferson Airplane:
“But the situation was very open and very Renaissance like, a Leonardo da Vinci kind of time, in the sense of just opening up all those arts and letters and hedonism and sex-drugs-rock ‘n roll and freedom. It’s the American ideal gone bonkers.”
The leading pop bands of this time were the ring leaders in the revolt against authority and the search for personal freedom. There were a specific few who helped music become such a great influence on the culture of the sixties and seventies, yet each had their own way of influencing the rebellious youth of that generation. Jimi Hendrix proclaimed, “I try to use my music to move these people to act.”
The music of Jimi Hendrix can be labeled as the psychedelic blues which is sustained guitar feedback over a bass thumping out 1-4-5 note progressions. The older generations firmly believed this was not music, rebellious and not beautiful, but the youth loved it. It was different and powerful. It was no longer men in pressed suits with neatly cut hair standing on a small stage. They were rocking out in tie-dye, draped in jewelry while listening to Jimi’s revolutionary music which made them feel free.
Another musical influence was the band, The Doors, which included famous vocalist Jim Morrison. They were able to bring a theatrical feature to the stage and truly knew the power of entertainment which was seen during the Monterey Pop Festival, the Human Be-Ins in San Francisco, and Woodstock. These music festivals were reinforcements of the mass movement that was occurring in the 1960s, a place where the followers were together, united in a cause of rebellion. The youth desired for musicians to go out of control, and that is what they received from The Doors. Not only were they open on stage, but this band was open about their disgust with the government and their desire to see the war come to a close. The youth felt that it gave them power to make changes if the famous pop stars of their time were fighting for them too.
The Grateful Dead was different in the way that they did not take strong stands on hot issues that were fueling the movement in the sixties and seventies such as civil rights and the Vietnam War. They were just modern transcendentalists, using the contemporary tools of electronically amplified music and, yes, large quantities of psychedelic drugs. They laughed at the social movement, and Jerry Garcia once stated, “Why enter this closed society and make an effort to liberalize it when that's never been its function? Why not leave and go somewhere else?” But they were a part of it in a way by encouraging the upheaval with their famous Acid Tests, loose morals, and hippie style of clothing.
What Janis Joplin did was to fuel the fire in the fight for women’s liberation in the sixties, another leading social issue of that era. The expectations of what a woman could give as a musician were changed when Janis was a front runner, the star, not a back up singer, but a premiere, white, female vocalist. She sang from within and “there was something about her. She was sensuous. She almost made love to a song. Actually, she didn’t almost make love to a song, she almost fucked it. She was powerful yet feminine.” She inspired many during her short life, and even today female performers still try to live up to what Janis was able to give to her audience, which was music, along with passion.
This free spirit movement mainly led by the musicians and their compositions caused the youth of this particular era to be widely regarded to this day as the pioneers of anti-conformist radicalism. Because of all the political and social issues during the sixties and seventies the idea that public interest could never be served by blind obedience to authority was fueled by the musicians of the day. Music was the tool of expression the people used to show that they were no longer going to sit back; they were going to see changes.