Talking about the music of the 60s is talking about the rock. The music of the 60s was undoubtedly the carrier of an explosion of changes in the world. Fashion, society and politics changed forever. Women's liberation and the fight against racial discrimination were two prominent features.
A bubbling social context was the great stage that moved the artists. Bill rock and roll It was no longer banned and musical groups established themselves as fashion icons.
An example of this were the bands of rock, with its anti-war philosophy and ideology of a utopian society. In the 60s the hippie movement was born with its proclamations of flower power and free love, in which music was the common thread.
The youth proposed alternative lifestyles seeking peace in a society marked by racial conflicts and the Cold War.
The motion hippie and the music of the 60s
Emerged as a counterculture movement in the 1960s, that hippies They adopted a communal and nomadic way of life. They denied the nationalisms and traditional values of the American middle class.
Promoting a liberal lifestyle, created an aesthetic that identified them. Hair and beards were grown much longer than was considered "normal" for the time. They wore long, loose clothing with faded prints and flared jeans.
They rejected marriage and posited free love. Looking for new experiences, they stimulated themselves with drugs, such as marijuana, hashish, LSD. His best known phrases were: "Make love and not war" and "Peace and love", which synthesize his aspiration to pacifism.
Music was always present in the communities hippies. He was a fundamental presence in their lives. They were almost addicted to rock. And it was the movement hippie the one that determined the rise of the musical idols of the moment.
Music idols of the 60s
The "British invasion" was the great feature of 60s music in America until the middle of the decade. Numerous rock bands from the United Kingdom made an impact on the international scene with great popularity. This marked the first style revolution in pop music.
- In 1962 they were consolidated The Beatles. The ever-changing way of dressing, and his public statements, had an immense influence on society. They achieved the number 1 position in the music of the United States.
- The Rolling Stones released their first album in 1964 and, following the path of The Beatles they enter the American musical realms. Its validity has been uninterrupted and even today the fans continue to enjoy its recitals.
- Led zeppelin, formed by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, was originally a child group of the blues and always kept in his songs that typical sound of the blues electric.
- Bob Dylan. Rose to fame in the 60s and he consecrated himself before the public for his songs full of reflection, mysticism, passion and reality, which became true hymns for the youth.
- Janis Joplin. He was an icon for the movement hippie. Its essence was to convey feelings and emotions, and it found in the rock and roll the means to do it. With the hippies felt like a fish in water. Energetic and cheerful on stage, she was depressing and sad outside of it. That melancholy was the cause of his early death.
- Jimi Hendrix. It is without a doubt one of the greatest American guitarists of the He developed the technique and effects of the electric guitar to the point of endowing it with its own identity. It is a benchmark for guitarists of all time.
The height of 60s music: Woodstock
At the height of the movement hippie, On August 15, 1969, the Woodstock festival was held. It was an unprecedented milestone in the music history of the 60s, which meant much more than music.
Pacifist flags fluttered in the wind and spontaneously Woodstock became a hymn to peace, love and solidarity.
Arisen by the idea of a young man as a means to raise funds to set up a production company, the festival was not actually held in Woodstock, as its villagers objected. It took place in a neighboring field.
It is estimated that about 500.000 people attended and that 250.000 could not reach the place due to road blocks or lack of space.
Three days of camping in tents or outdoors, nights of sex and drugs and rock music. In the midst of what seemed like chaos, the attendees lived the most extraordinary experience of their lives.
Bob Dylan and John Lenon, invited to participate in the festival, excused themselves and did not attend.
History says that the best Woodstock songs were
- coul sacrifice - Santana
- My generation - The Who
- Freedom - Richie Havens
- With a little help from my friends - Joe Cockier
- Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
- ball and chain - Janis Joplin
- Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix.
There were other versions of Woodstock, but none achieved the splendor and fame of the first.
The music of the 60s outside of rock
Not everything was rock in the world of the 60s. Italian music began to have a great impact in Europe. The success came from the hand of romantic songs sung by men with the appearance of gallants and by women full of strength and elegance.
A highlight of the decade was the San Remo Festival. Showing up in San Remo was a symbol of prestige.
The Italian song of the 60s had two prominent representatives:
- Domenico Modugno. He was the typical melodic singer with the appearance of a gallant. He won the San Remo Festival four times. Unforgettable his songs "Nel blue dipinto di blue", "Piove", "Addio, addio", "Dio, as I love you", "La Lontananza" "Vecchio frack" y "Ma eat hai fatto."
- Adriano Celentano it was all a entertainer and interpreted songs of a very different nature. His most remembered themes are "Chi non lavora non fa l'Amore ”,“ Azzuro ”,“ Il ragazzo della via gluck ”.
There was other singers who were famous in Italy and Spain in the 60s. Among them Tony Dallara, Jimmy Fontana, Mina, Ornella Vanoni and Iva Zannichi. All of them representatives of a pop genre that would prevail in Europe and that would lead lovers of romantic music to ecstasy.
SOURCES IMAGES: blogs.gazetaesportiva.com / Plastics and decibels / DeMilked