The 1960’s Youth Movementand Pop Culture

The Youth Movement• Generation gap—difference in

years, culture, attitudes, and beliefs between generations

• 1964—baby boom generation entered college

• Many protests took place on college campuses—protesting wars, right to free speech, civil rights

• Young people rejected materialism and their parents work ethic

Hippies• Young people left their jobs, school, and

traditional home life• Studied eastern religions and astrology• Wore casual and colorful clothes, jeans,

dashikis• Public displays of nudity• Wore their hair longer, long beards, afros• Sometimes called flower children• Lived together in communes—shared

houses and grew their own food• Height of the hippie movement—1967

“The Summer of Love”• 100,000 people gathered in San Francisco—practiced “free love”

Problems Associated with the Hippie Movement

• LSD (acid)—mind altering drug promoted by Timothy Leary

• Leary tested LSD on his Harvard students—he was fired and encouraged young Americans to drop out of school, quit their jobs, and follow him

• Drug addiction increased• Sexually transmitted diseases

increased• Homelessness increased

The Arts• Pop Art—artists took their inspiration

from popular culture• Andy Warhol—led the pop art

movement—used a process called silk screen—his art was mass produced

• New rating system for movies—from G to X—popularity of adult movies grew

• To Kill a Mockingbird, The Sound of Music, Planet of the Apes, Psycho, Night of the Living Dead

Music of the 1960’s: Rock• The British Invasion—introduction of

British music to an American audience• The Beatles—very popular with

American teenagers after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show

• Other artists—The Rolling Stones, The Who

• Folk Music—acoustic music with a political message—Bob Dylan

• Electric guitar—introduced new loud and innovative sounds to audiences

• Jimi Hendrix was the master of the electric guitar in the 1960’s

Music of the 1960’s: Soul• Motown Records—record company in

Detroit founded by Berry Gordy Jr.—popularized African-American artists

• Styles of music made popular by Motown—rhythm and blues and soul

• James Brown— “Godfather of Soul”—known for his energetic live shows

• Aretha Franklin– “Queen of Soul”—several #1 albums—Rolling Stone magazine called her the #1 greatest singer of all time

Woodstock (August 15-17, 1969)• Woodstock Music and Art Fair—3

day festival in upstate New York• 400,000 people attended—

people parked as far as 20 miles away

• People paid $18 for a 3-day pass, on Sat. the gates were opened for people without tickets

• Non-stop music: Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Janis Joplin, Santana

Woodstock: Problems• Rain and mud• Food and medical supply shortages• Widespread drug use—bad acid trips• Traffic jams• Crowd control• No place to go—to sleep, bathe, eat• The Rolling Stones held a similar

festival 4 months later in Altamont, California

• Hell’s Angels were hired as security and killed an African-American man in plain view near the stage