Music and the 60's

Woodstock Nation, 1967-1972

The late 1960s and early 1970s, according to some observers was a time of "sex, drugs, and rock and roll." Certainly, the period saw an explosion in the recording industry and the kinds of music that appealed to the listening public. Music serves widely as a symbol of the 60s youth culture itself. Some identify this period as the heyday of protest music: music aimed at awakening public awareness of social issues, particularly the Vietnam conflict.

Here is an example, Neil Young's song Ohio, performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. The song was released as a single in 1970 and briefly reached number fourteen on the pop charts

Ohio
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (1970)

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin,'
We're finally on our own,
This summer I hear the drummin'
Four dead in Ohio

Got to get down to it.
Soldiers are gunnin' us down.
Should have been gone long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

La, la, la, la

Got to get down to it.
Soldiers are gunnin' us down.
Should have been gone long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drummin'
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,

Here is a second example, "War," by Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield, which ended the year as the fifteenth best selling song of 1970. Edwin Starr performed the song.

War
Edwin Starr, War and Peace (1970)

War-huh-yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely NOTHING!
Uh huh, Uh huh (repeat)

War-I despise
'Cos it means destruction
Of innocent lives
War means tears
To thousands of mothers how
When their sons go off to fight
And lose their lives

I said
War-huh (etc)

War has caused unrest
Among the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die?

I said
War-huh (etc)

It's an enemy of all mankind
The thought of war
Blows my mind
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord, there's just got to be a better way

War
It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War

Below is a list of the top ten selling songs for the year 1970. (Source:Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1999: Chart Data Compiled from Billboard's Pop Singles Charts, 1955-1999)

The Top 10 Singles of 1970

1. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - B.J. Thomas
2. "I Want You Back" - The Jackson Five
3. "Venus" - The Shocking Blue"
4. "Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin" - Sly & the Family Stone
4. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon and Garfunkel
5. "Let It Be" - The Beatles
6. "ABC" - The Jackson 5
7. "American Woman" - The Guess Who
8. "Everything is Beautiful" - Ray Stevens
9. "The Long and Winding Road" - Beatles

In your web journal, consider the following questions

Questions to consider:

What event do the vocalists memorialize in "Ohio?"
What were the top ten movie sin 1970? The top ten albums?
How many artists do you recognize in the "Top 10 Singles" list? Transcribe the lyrics to the top ten songs. What are the major themes in the top ten record sales? How do these themes compare with those in the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and Edwin Starr pieces?
How does list of best-selling singles compare with the list of most popular movies? Do a web search to discover the most popular movies of 1970. If you aren't familiar with these films, you can see a description of each by searching at the All-Movie Guide How would you account for this differences you find, if any?
How do the movies, albums and songs of 1970 compare to those of today in terms of their political content?
Judging the "Top 10" lists, was the nation's popular culture particularly concerned about the Vietnam War or other social issues? What other issues seem to be of concern? Using these lists as an index to national attitudes, what were the nation's interests in 1970? Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages generalizing about history from these sources.

Assignment:
What explicit messages did the pop music of 1970 convey—what was it "about"

Related Websites:

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum
http://www.rockhall.com/home/
Devoted to the history and development of rock and roll from 1950s forward

The SuperSeventies
http://www.superseventies.com/1970.html
Lists of popular culture from the 1970s with links to mini essays about items on the various lists

The Internet Movie Database
http://us.imdb.com/
A comprehensive database of movies, including plots, cast, personnel, awards, and so forth

The All Movie Guide
http://www.allmovie.com/
A solid database of movies, including plots and lists of movie personnel in addition to a review or two

The Sixties Project & Viet Nam Generation, Inc.
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/sixties/
Both a gateway and multimedia site for the history of the 1960s

The Wars for Viet Nam: 1945 to 1975
http://www.vassar.edu/vietnam/index.html
An elegantly designed that includes an overview and documents relevant to both French and US involvement

Re: Vietnam: Stories Since the War
http://www.pbs.org/pov/stories/vietnam/story.html
A follow-up to the PBS Vietnam Series that concentrates on participants' reminiscences

The All Music Guide
A database of American popular music, offering reviews and bibliographic information