Sex Drugs And Roll Essay

The 1960’s were arguably the most influential years in American music’s history. The music helped connect people of all races, whom enjoyed visiting jazz-clubs in the early to mid-60s, to listen to the music and poetry performed by African-Americans. Much of the music from the 1960s also led to the creation and popularization of new genres and subgenres, such as rock-and-roll. These new music styles influenced the lifestyles of a large majority of Americans, particularly teenagers and young-adults, who mimicked the lifestyles of many stars of the time.

In the 1960s, Rock ‘n’ Roll was replaced in popularity by other branches of rock such as Acid Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Hard Rock as a hippie counter culture arose, mainly to protest against the Vietnam war. These new forms of rock provided social commentary on the wide range of assassinations and anti-civil rights actions that infested the country, and united those that wanted to end them. They too celebrated anti-authority actions, but now they were used to promote peace and drugs. Americans—mainly college students—were still rebelling against societal constraints, but instead of fighting against the conformity of white suburbia and their parents, they were uniting to fight against U.S. governmental authority. Rock in the 1960s still mainly appealed to the younger generations, but its influence was spreading. Folk Rock (Bob Dylan) was playing in protest, reminding the individuals there that they were fighting for peace, and Psychedelic Rock—which replicated or enhanced the mind altering experience of psychedelic drugs—created a soothing and new atmosphere in the U.S. Music festivals such as Woodstock in 1969 sprung up to promote peace, do drugs, listen to music, and enjoy being alive and young.6 However, this element of extreme partying and pleasure, eventually brought a few stars to early deaths, such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. In the

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

It was argued that the song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ', was code for the hippy drug LSD. Though the band claimed it was based on a painting that Lennon 's son Julian had drawn. The fact that the group had admitted they 'd done the drug previously didn 't help their case, but they

The goal of LSD, along with other psychedelic drugs, was to open the mind and “find a new light to look upon things” (Bacig). Many artists took this approach to their music and would drop acid before composing music. This gave the music of this era a distinct sound and without LSD, the world would not have psychedelic rock. During this time, many artists referenced LSD in their songs because of the profound effect it had on them. In order to produce the psychedelic feel, the artists would write “esoteric lyrics, often describing dreams, visions, or hallucinations” as well as use other techniques such as distorting and delaying the sound, and playing sections of the song backwards. Another important part of psychedelic rock is the influence of Indian music. Bands such as The Beatles popularized this technique of using ”exotic instruments like the sitar, the tambura, and the tabla” in their music (Psychedelic Rock).

The beginning of Pink Floyd was something Britain had never seen, and really shined light on this band. Of course, they did not invent psychedelic rock by any means but did begin their own twist within this genre. There was several bands in the US that had played this genre before Pink Floyd in the late 1960’s. Their first official non-live album was Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which Britain considers this album a prime example of psychedelic rock. On August 4, 1967 this album was released. The album showed avant music, such as whimsical rock all the way to melancholic rock. Pink Floyd was not loyal to one specific genre, but ventured out beyond

Throughout the evolution of popular music in American culture, many factors have been instrumental in the inspiration musical artists. The wide range of sources reflects the variety and creativity of music in the modern day that musicians claim as their muses, ranging from religious beliefs to love interests. However, the primary driving force behind the creative minds in music in the United States has undeniably been the drug subculture that was the largest at the given time period. Without the use of recreational drugs by artists, popular music would have taken an entirely different and unimaginable evolutionary path, resulting in a completely different musical world. Music is what is taken from drug culture to be incorporated and sold

It is believed that the Hippie movement began in San Francisco, California but it quickly spread throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe and other parts of the world. The individuals involved in the hippie movement were from a wide range of different backgrounds. Many of them parted with their families and the places that they were raised to follow their own paths. Many of these individuals experimented with LSD and other drugs such as marijuana. Of all the contributions that this counter culture made to the United States, the music produced during this period was arguably the most influential. Musical icons such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan made their claim to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. This paper will consider three popular artist and

Drugs were often promoted in songs during the 1960’s. Many artists experimented with drugs in order to become more creative and influential. The most popular example is the Beatles. At the beginning of their career, the Beatles were more of a rock band then any other genre; however, after Bob Dylan introduced them to the drug Cannabis in 1964, their music began to become more mellow and contemplative. John Lennon admitted in an interview that the Song “Strawberry Fields Forever” (Document F), was affected by drug use even though there were not any specific references to the use of drugs in them. The Beatles released more songs were drug use was more evident. Lyrics used in Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds (Document H) were prime examples of this. A woman having “kaleidoscope eyes” and a place “where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies” are clear examples of the effects of drugs on individuals. Drug use was also evident in the music videos the Beatles created. A Day

Music in the 1960’s took a major turn. Psychedelic drugs began to influence bands and songwriters, resulting in a wide variety of new genres. Some of the popular bands included Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and the Beatles. In 1969, the small town of Woodstock in upstate New York hosted a three day event known throughout the world as The Woodstock Festival: An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music. Thirty two artists performed in front of an audience of 500,000 people. This event was highly influential and considered by many as one of the greatest moments in music history. Throughout three days, the bands listed above, and more played and young hippies gathered, listening to the music, experiencing sexual and drug influenced days.

Psychedelics, and drugs in general became such an important part of life during the 60’s that it’s influence was inescapable. Nowhere can this fact be seen more clearly than in the music of the time. The most obvious influence drugs had on music can bee seen in the lyrics. Drug references abound, be it Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” of marijuana smoke, or the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, obviously referring to LSD. Even the names of the bands were drug inspired, as Garofalo points out in reference to the Doors: “The group took it’s name from Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, a book about the liberating aspects of drug use.” Even the music itself was influenced by drugs. Take for example much of the music by the Doors. Their song “the End” is a psychedelic journey in to the world of LSD. The slow beat and “trippy” music in the song was probably created with the use of drugs and hence is better appreciated when heard while on drugs. This is also true of the music of the Grateful Dead, although this can be much more clearly seen in their live performances as opposed to their studio work. Much of their music is geared specifically toward those in the audience who are on drugs. Hearing one of their 30 minute jams is a much different experience on drugs, and that is the experience that they intended the audience to have. While drugs were very much connected to the music of the sixties,

In 1967 the Beatles were in Abbey Road Studios putting the finishing touches on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. At one point Paul McCartney wandered down the corridor and heard what was then a new young band called Pink Floyd working on their hypnotic debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. He listened for a moment, then came rushing back. "Hey guys," he reputedly said, "There's a new band in there and they're gonna steal our thunder." With their mix of blues, music hall influences, Lewis Carroll references, and dissonant experimentation, Pink Floyd was one of the key bands of the 1960s psychedelic revolution, a pop culture movement that emerged with American and British rock,

Each new music genre introduces the counterculture or opposition of previous generation’s values. Led Zeppelin sparked the beginning of the heavy metal culture-- the counterculture to psychedelic rock. The anti-war movement was also prevalent in this counterculture. Led Zeppelin and the Vietnam War influenced the new, darker, generation of rock: heavy metal.

In an interview hosted by CNN, author Ken Johnson stated: “I think any work of art encourages you to imagine your way into a state of consciousness that may not be your normal state, so you kind of suspend disbelief and allow yourself to be imaginatively seduced into a different way of relating to the world so that you study things more carefully, you think about how things are affecting you.” Johnson also stated, “but they start thinking about how our perceptions work and how interesting it is the way we think about the world, so we think about our thinking.” This proves that in the 60’s many people discovered that drugs, such as LSD, were a way to see the deeper meaning behind things because it rearranged the whole way your brain may have thought. Another reason that psychedelic art was so popular in the 60’s was because all of the art pieces, more specifically rock concert posters, they “tried to visually express the feeling of tripping out.” (visualartsdepartment.wordpress.com) An article on arthistory.net titled “Psychedelic Art,” says that many of these art pieces were also popular because of their “visually captivating styles.” Obviously, many people enjoyed these feelings because they could avoid mainstream thinking without having to actually use said drugs. The 60’s were a period of experimenting, not only with art, but with things like fashion to music

For thousands of years, music has been influencing people in extraordinary ways. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band should not be mistaken as an ordinary album. Without a doubt, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an incredibly innovative album, stands as the most influential album of all time; it stands as a true masterpiece. People all around, especially artists, were influenced greatly by the innovations the album brought to the world of music. Many people have said that from the moment they heard the first track of the album, it was life changing. Like the first falling domino tile of a domino show, June 1, 1967, would mark the start of the influence of many generations of music to come. The album helped popularize concept albums, in which songs are connected to a theme, which would inspire many musicians to do the same. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a psychedelic rock album; a manifestation of life in the 1960’s. This genre of rock is home to the work of numerous artists who were influenced by the album’s use of this style of rock. The hours of work put into by the Beatles to create this album surpassed those of any of their albums. Not only that, it altered the way music was recorded by creating their own recording techniques. Surely, these recording techniques and tactics were used by future artists in their work which then led to the creation of legendary music. Sgt. Pepper’s opened the gate to innovation; an album whose impact on