The Culture Of Los Angeles

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

Coming into the 70s, San Francisco Rock became apparent. It was the alternative scene which was developed in San Francisco. This alternative rock music was a combination of folk, rock, blue, and world music, according to the lectures. The scene was focuses on a hippie movement. This movement was defined as a psychedelic movement, and not just for its music stylings. This was a time in history where drug use was very apparent, and music helped

The social and political context of the 1950’s is crucial to any understanding of the birth of rock n roll.

     Rock ‘n’ roll music came of age in the sixties which was a period in the nation’s history when a young generation expressed their anguish and sense of alienation to the country’s social establishments by searching for new answers to the age-old questions concerning the meaning of life, the value of the individual, and the nature of truth and spirituality (Harris 306). The classic rock music which was created during this period gave form and substance to this search. Songs such as “My Generation” by the Who recorded the keen sense of alienation that young people felt from the past and the “Establishment” and it also showed the keen sense of community they felt among themselves.      Classic albums such as the Beatles’ “White Album,” the Who’s “Who’s Next,” Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited, and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” capture what was essential about the time because they were both a result of that time and because they helped to produce it by reinforcing the younger generation’s feelings of alienation and separation.      Although

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

A misperception of the global community is that countries are comprised of a single culture. In this compartmentalized worldview, a country has the same food, ideas, and traditions as if our national borders are the only aspect to define us. However, Mexico is far from a homogenized culture or identity; there is a myriad of differences within present day Mexico and the Mexican-American Community. In Chicago, the Westside neighborhood of Pilsen showcases the rich diversity of Mexican culture. Pilsen has changed hands as many immigrants thrived in its streets throughout the century and is now predominantly Latino/Mexican. The small neighborhood’s vibrant culture is encapsulated in the brilliantly colored painted murals featured on many building,

Another area that new music was beginning to develop was in the slums of San Francisco. The Haight-Ashbury district would spawn acts such as Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead. San Francisco had developed a consciousness about rock. Janis Joplin left in 1967 and traveled to Texas where she found her claim to fame. Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead stayed in Sna Francisco playing in small theatres and venues. The most famous of these was the Filmore West. The combination of this improvisational rock bands and psychedelic drugs produced a subculture never seen before. The hippies had invaded the United States. Jimi Hendrix helped pave this new style of music. "He challenged people with his extensions of the guitar into all sorts of realms that had been overlooked, ignored, or undiscovered." The improvisational rock was strongly supported by an underground force that helped the band in many ways. They gained the band popularity by spreading the word, they kept the venues packed by

Picture this, you are teenager growing up in Los Angeles, on your way to school and you turn on the radio. “Yo thanks for tuning into to the hottest radio station in the streets of LA. Up next we got N.W.A. with their new single Appetite for Destruction.” That was common for nearly every person who lived in LA and enjoyed hip-hop music. During the early 90s and late 80s, West coast hip-hop was dominated by the gruesome realities of gangster rap and g-funk. Rap at the time was intense, authentic, and unbearable. Ultimately, this wave of “fuck you” sprouted from the injustices that plagued many impoverished communities. Individuals were angered from the oppressive acts that hindered any attempt to reach success, and gangster music within LA served as the platform to express the frustration under such terrible circumstances. Although the sound was revolutionary and taking over the entire nation, still Los Angeles needed a fresh of breath of air to display the artistic talent that came out of Los Angeles. New York could play with both sides of the hip-hop spectrum of light-heartedness to aggressiveness, but unfortunately for LA, they only had one sound. In New York, they had artists from Kid N Play to Public Enemy. If Los Angeles were ever going to snatch the throne from New York, they needed to do so quickly before the dawn of Golden Age ended.

Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, a wave of new musical movements by independent record labels and new artists emerged in the United States. This movement is captured in the stories of those label creators and owners, and in the turbulent journey through their successes and failures. The first emergence was fueled by multiple factors: competitive economic circumstances, up-and-coming local musical talent in conjunction with the independent labels and studio owners, and the commercially viable musical interest and curiosity of consumers in these local artists. An article poses another causative factor that makes sense: when rock and roll

“The rise of rock ‘n’ roll and the reception of it, in fact, can tell us a lot about the culture and values of the United States in the 1950s. According to historians James Gilbert, there was a struggle throughout the decade ‘over the uses of popular culture to determine who would speak to what audience, and for what purpose”. At the center of that struggle, rock ‘n’ roll unsettled a nation had been “living in an ‘age of anxiety’” since 1945” (p.15). Altschuler talks about how music and race interlock with one another. Rock had become a “highly visible and contested arena for struggles over racial identity and cultural and economic empowerment in the United States” (p.35). Other chapters within the book state the battles involving sexuality, generational conflicts, as well as other social issues. The author states ideas that are somewhat problematic. For example, he states that there is a myth that rock ‘n’ roll went into a “lull” following the payola hearings (the practice of record promoters paying DJs or radio programmers to play their labels ' songs) of 1959 and did not come about again until the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.

When thinking about Hispanic parties, most people think of piñatas, traditional hollow papier-mâché creations filled with candy. Each child at the party is blindfolded and given a stick to try and break the piñata, spilling the candy onto the ground for all the children to collect (Explore Hispanic Culture, 2012). However, researchers believe this tradition extends back to Mayan times, where clay pots filled with gifts were broken open and considered to be favors from the gods (EHC, 2012).

Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, popular music and culture became significant influences on the lives of many individuals within the city of Los Angeles. East Los Angeles (“East L.A.” or “the Eastside”), in particular, was a center of flourishing musical, cultural, and social scenes with strong connections to the changing Chicano/a identity. Under this environment in which the Chicano movement (moviemiento) continued to prevail, a large number of socially aware and politically active, Latin-fusion “Chicano” bands were developed. One of such was the Ozomatli band, who strived to express their activist viewpoints through popular music. The spatial context of the band’s emergence, their links to past musical movements, and their implementation of a wide array of musical styles and genres all define their impact on Chicano identity in Los Angeles. Through their music, the Ozomatli band has showed much about the importance of the changing Chicano culture and served as the framework for cultural and social dynamics of present-day Los Angeles.

Many psychedelic bands came from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The Grateful Dead was one of the most popular psychedelic rock bands ever. Although they did not sell many records, they were very well known for their live performances, and their music was often used as a soundtrack for LSD parties. While the Bay area, and especially the Haight-Ashbury, was good for producing great bands, there was a downside as well. Other than the many people dying LSD related deaths, many of the early bands were exploited by the record companies. The record companies wanted to profit from the hippy movement, but they did not like their music. Some producers were paid specifically to change a band’s original sound into a more popular sound, such as

Los Angeles is one of the most exciting cities in the United States. According to the Los Angeles post record tourist numbers in 2012, the city attracts 41.4 million visitors per year. Even though the traffic is terrible, Los Angeles is still one of my favorite places because of the many restaurants to dine in, and the many wonderful attractions.