The nineteen sixties were a time of great cultural turmoil and in response to that, the Hippie movement gained prominence. This movement was began as a youth movement in the US and spread to all ages as well as reaching other countries around the globe. Hippie ideology evolved from the countercultural values of the Beat Generation. They formed their own social groups, which embraced the sexual revolution, opposed the Vietnam War, as well as experimenting with drugs to explore alternative states of consciousness, but most of all, they listened to rock music.
Rock music, or Rock-and-Roll as it was first called, is a genre of music that exploded onto the musical scene in the 1950s. Since then rock has become the vehicle by which many cultural movements have identified themselves from the Mods and Rockers of 1950s in the UK to the Punk Rockers of the 1980s. In many ways, rock music affected the cultural movements, which it has become the driving force behind but at the same time many of these cultural movements had their own impact on rock. Though there are many examples that could be examined, today we shall focus on the Hippie movement of the 1960s and how it affected rock as well as how rock affected it.
The Hippie movement has had many effects on rock music such as the popularization of psychedelic rock. This type of rock came about as a way to enhance the effects of mind-altering drugs that were popular among Hippies. Psychedelic rock formed from rock bands of the late 1960s experimenting with new studio effects and non-western instruments, particularly those from India such as the sitar.
Also, the Hippie movement had a strong message of peace and love, which can be seen in many of the rock songs of the time. This message was made clear by around 500,000 hippies showing up to the Woodstock Arts and Music Festival, which was billed as “3 days of peace & love.” Woodstock became one of the most resounding successes in terms of concerts to spread the Hippies message of peace and love and it would not of been possible without the army of rock bands that played it.
One of the many effects that rock has had on the Hippie movement is that it has given the movement a soundtrack. On June 1st 1967, the summer of love begin with the release of the Beatles latest album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. From the time of its release, Sgt Pepper’s instantly enjoyed outstanding commercial success and found itself comfortably atop the charts in the US and the UK. This, of course, was due to the multitude of youth that played the album continuously throughout the summer.
One of the biggest moments in the general publics opinion towards the use of drugs was Beatle band member Paul McCartney’s admission to using LSD on national television. If the likes of the legendary Paul could take drugs, then why couldn’t any of his millions of fans? This made it seem to many that experimenting with drugs couldn’t be that bad for you.
In February of 1968, the Beatles travelled to India and seek guidance from their spiritual counsellor, the Maharishi. Their 2 month long retreat to learn Transcendental meditation turned out to be some of the bands most productive time and resulted in songs for two separate albums. From musical production to renewed exposure to non-western influences, the Beatles trip to India had many effects on the Hippie movement, including the popularization of meditation.
Another effect that rock had on the Hippie movement was when John Lennon of the Beatles and his new wife Yoko Ono staged a Bed-In in a Dutch Hotel as a peace protest. Despite media speculation that the event would include John and Yoko having sex, it did not and instead was just the couple sitting there, talking about peace with the press. This was their way of peacefully protesting wars and promoting peace, which was one of the key ideals of the Hippie movement.
Cultural movements and the music during they time period in which they happen often have profound connections to one another and the Hippie movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and rock music was no exception. While rock music and musicians influenced the Hippies by giving them the music that connected the movement to promoting Hippie ideals in public stunts, the Hippies attended large concerts to promote love and peace. The combination of the Hippie movement and rock music has left a lasting impression on history, which will never be duplicated and can never be undone.
A few days ago, we went to the British Musical Experience in London and it was phenomenal. It had exhibits for all the different time periods through British rock history and even a room were you could actually experiment with real instruments yourself. Though I spent a large majority of my time in the wing of the exhibit with the guitars and drums, which you could play, I really enjoyed seeing all the musical memorabilia that was on display from the 1950s to the present. They had an interactive part to the 1960s wings that bridged the early 60s to the later 60s by virtue of musical history of the time period that I found to be rather neat. All in all, it was a great experience.
