In my opinion, music is a great indicator of where we are culturally. Music is one of the few things that has been a constant throughout the course of civilization. Archeologists have found instruments that date back to the days of Christ. Your great great great great grandfather was listening to something. If you take a look at the music in The United States over the course of the last 100 years you can see where we were at culturally. In the swinging 20's we had the big bands and jazz and this country was wealthy. The '30's and '40's was the rise of the blues because this country was in financial despair. In the early fifties this country began to prosper again and Rhythm and Blues turned into Rock N' Roll. Kids began slicking back their hair, rebelling against their parents, and loosening up a bit. In the early 60's everything began to change. On a smaller scale Bob Dylan was writing and performing protest songs that said something about society. On a larger scale The Beatles were invading America and this changed society forever. 4 lads from Liverpool had long hair, wrote their own pop songs, and were actually fantastic musicians. Girls loved them and guys wanted to be them. But even more important then The Beatles' contribution to society is that musically and culturally, many young people saw the power of Rock N' Roll and said to themselves "maybe I can do that". Guitar sales and microphone sales went through the roof after The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. Everyone wanted to try to find out what it was like to play in a band. Obviously only few succeeded on a large scale.
I am fascinated by cultural movements and I am also fascinated by music. The music made between the years of 1967 and 1977 in my opinion had a greater large scale influence on society then any generation before. I listen to music in every genre in basically every time period from 1955 to today. I'll admit the music between those 1967-1977 have had the greatest influence me. What is now known as "Classic Rock" is the grandfather of every band in existence today. Whether they openly recognize it or not, their sound has evolved somewhat by a band that was popular during that period. Why is it that the 10 bands below are still just as popular today and would still sell out arenas, almost 50 years after their inception.
Bands That Would Or Still Sell Out Arenas Today That Came To Prominence Between 1967-1977:
1) The Rolling Stones
2) The Who
3) Led Zeppelin
4) Pink Floyd
5) The Jimi Hendrix Experience
6) The Doors
7) The Grateful Dead
8) Aerosmith
9) The Allman Brothers Band
10) Black Sabbath
Why was so much great music made between 1967 and 1977 the most significant? I think I know. Here's the 4 reasons why:
1) The Vietnam War - The music within that time period began to express the feelings and emotions of the young people at that time. No longer was music on the radio just made for you to dance and sing along to. These musicians had something to say. They were making a statement that relayed the message to young people. Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out. Question authority. Anti War. Anti Establishment. All those messages can be found in the music of that time. Young kids were being drafted and dying for no reason. The music was a reaction to that.
2) Drugs - Never had drug use become so widespread. Kids were smoking pot, taking acid and expressing themselves like they never have before. I believe everything happens for reason. Acid being invented and coming to the forefront at that time in history is far from a coincidence. Drugs were expanding young people minds and creatively the musicians above were feeding off the drugs and the energy. No generation before them had been on acid before. It allowed young people to think differently, hence the great music made at that time.
3) Civil Rights & The Feminist Movements - Things were happening. Self expression was everywhere. Everyone wanted to better themselves and the opportunity for blacks and women to finally be treated as equals had come. The country was in a time of great change socially, culturally, economically, politically. Why not fix as many problems you can at one time. These movements were 100 years overdue and in my opinion equal rights should've been standard since the beginning of time. It's a ripple effect, when government is weak, the time to act is now and that's what these movements took advantage of. The music expresses the angst and frustration of these to social movements.
4) The Space Program - Believe it or not, America's venture into space uplifted this country. The impossible became possible and we now had more information about the universe. It changed the way people saw the world and we realized that the solar system is attainable and infinite. A lot of songs and movies responded to this and in that time of great turmoil America united around man walking on the moon. It blew everyone's mind and everyone wondered what was possible. Especially musicians.
It's amazing how things happen. It's incredible how much transpired during those 10 years. Everything changed and society is still reacting to those changes. The music created at that time will live on forever. I don't think their will ever be a musical movement like it again. I hope i'm wrong. What will be the classic rock of this current generation? God only knows...
But at the end of the day who cares!
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