Essay The Use of Drugs by 1950s Artists

The time: the 1960s. The place: United States of America. Who? The youth. Doing what? Using drugs. Why? Many reasons. The 1960s proved to be a very turbulent time in the history of American youth growing up. There were many different activist movements all over the country. The primary drug user was the male college student involved in politics. He used mostly marijuana, some cocaine or LSD and of course alcohol. The sixites culminated with perhaps the biggest public scene of drug use ever: Woodstock. American youth in the sixties turned to drugs for a variety of reasons including the Vietnam War, the feeling of rebellion, activist movements, and the general pleasure-oriented society.

The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War.  Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.

The Jazz Age was a period of radical behavior and care free living. This new music structure started the crazy decade that would change American life. “In the US during the 1920s, jazz was far more than a new musical style or genre”. A Focus on culture, fashion, and mostly freedom became huge. “The Jazz Age became a touchstone for a wide range of social and cultural issues.”1 Also the freedom during the period allowed for many different ethnicities, including African Americans, to gain freedom within society. This new music

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.

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

During this time, Americans focused most of their fears on communist subversion throughout the country and the possible threat of an atomic war with the detonation of the Soviet Union 's first atomic bomb in 1949. There was a constant unease within the people that made it extremely difficult to trust one another without the suspicion that they supported the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or had some sort of communist ties. The nationwide suspicion led to surveillance and exposure

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 promotes posturing; encourages speculation; and creates hysteria. This theme permeated American politics and popular culture during the McCarthy era of the 1950s. As WWII ended, nations began to polarize. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the leading economic and military states, and began competing for influence throughout the countries they now occupied upon liberation from Germany and Japan. Under the banner of their own brand of idealism, they individually sought geopolitical control and economic benefit. As the stakes increased, competition between the two powers spread to the atomic arena and the exploration of space. The result for the next 45 years is a saga of fear not only of the other side,

From 1953 to 1962, people were asked what the largest fear and problem is in America. For those 10 years, war was the biggest fear (document 3). When Russia had built their first atomic bomb, Americans feared for their lives. They started pouring money and resources into building bomb shelters, to prepare for nuclear war (document 5). During the Cold War, America’s defense budget jumped 1940 to 1960. It started at 18% and grew to 52% by 1960 (document 8).

Most normal American citizens lived in fear and around the fact that communism was spreading in different parts of the world and a nuclear war could breakout at any moment. Document five is a photograph of a bomb shelter under construction, during the Cold War; many people began constructing buildings that could also serve as bomb shelters and fallout shelters. The fact that they even had to prepare themselves shows just how close America was into entering a nuclear war. The threat of an attack didn’t just prompt construction of shelters however; it also influenced popular culture, especially in films. During the Cold War, there were many films centered on nuclear weapons, communism, and the Soviet Union. Notable examples include: The Manchurian Candidate, This Is Not a Test, the James Bond franchise, and King

“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.

But with every bright day, there are going to be shadows, and this is the case with the 1950s. Even though America faced no threat after World War II, this all started to change with the Soviet Union further advancements in atomic energy and as well with their spread of communism. As the decade turned from the 1940s to the 1950s the underlying threat from the soviet union became evermore present. As a result, the United States and The Soviet Union will enter the Cold War. With both of the world strongest nations carrying in their arsenal a weapon of mass destruction. The whole world was feeling the pressure. With such fears, America became a nation who was fueled by paranoid of both communism and as well of Nuclear War. This is evermore present with the Bert the turtle, a propaganda film that told to “Duck and Cover” if there was ever a time where a nuclear bomb was detonated around the area and to also ease the tension of Americans.

The Cold War propelled the United States of America into a seat of previously unattained power in the world . American citizens spearheaded the push toward advancement in their search for the epitome of happiness: the “American Dream”. Post-war paranoia was driven by the supposed threat of the spread of communism, which Americans feared could interfere with the freedoms and liberties the founding fathers fought to achieve. This paranoia eventually controlled the thoughts and actions of citizens everywhere. The Second Red Scare spread across America like a virus, leaving a trail of dread and despair in its wake. The fear of the growing communist regime, a lack of trust between citizens and the government, and a zealous streak of American pride drove the U.S. toward internal conflict and potential devastation.

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

The end of World War II was not just the end of a war, but also the beginning of a tense and dynamic period that affected society on all levels. This “postwar” period, as it became known, shaped the world, as we know it today; likewise, the period was shaped itself both by the war that had preceded it, and the powerful forces that surrounded it. As the energy of fundamentally different ideologies, Communism and Democracy collided with advances in science such as the nuclear bomb, a dangerous environment ensued that created an atmosphere of paranoia throughout the world and especially, within America.