LEC 10

what causes the folk revival?

a. increased in people moving to rural areas

b. teens that were part of the golden age of rocknroll are now in their 20s looking for more “serious” music

c. british artists were inspired by American folk artists and created their own interpretation of the genre

b

true or false: folk musicians were typically on the political right

false: political left

which statement is true about folk artists pre WWII:

a. they were seeking fame

b. performed by amateurs

c. were serious musicians, not just having fun

d. concerned with innovation

b

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a-not seeking fame

c-not serious, just having fun

d-no, concerned with tradition

how are pre WWII folk artists and post WWII folk artists different?

pre WWII they were not professionals

post WWII we have professional artists that make their living performing the repitour of folk music, they are maintaining tradition

true or false: woody guthrie embodies a pre WWII folk musician in many ways b/c of the strong politically left aspect to it which he shows in his music post WWII

true

what did woody gutheries guitar say, and what did it mean?

“this machine kills fascists”

* why? who works the “machinery” → facotry workers, farmers, working class!

how did the statement on woody gutheries guitar show how he saw himself?

* he saw himself as another labourer
* sees himself as no different from those that work in a factory or farm
* he sees himself as part of the collective

true or false: the weavers are a group playing soul music part of STAX

false: they are a folk group

when did the weavers come about?

during beginning of WWII

1940

when did “this land is your land” come out?

1940

who wrote “this land is your land”?

woody guthrie

who performed “this land is your land”?

the weavers

what instrunments are present in “this land is your land”

Bango

acoustic guitar

harmonica

who is the leader of the weavers?

pete seeger

which of the following about the weavers is the most true:

a. they are a very showy band

b. they tend to have improvised instrumental solos in their songs

c. they tend to have controlled and retrained vocal timbre

d. they tended to have more controlled and retrained voices to appeal to middle class audience

c

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a-they were not showy at all

b-they dont have improvised solos, but they do have solos!

c. true

d. they had restraint and control but not to appeal… they were just interested in keeping it consistent and more interested in the music itself and making sure they were doing what was appropriate for the song

what happened in 1952 that caused the success of the weavers to fade?

pete seeger was blacklisted in 1952 b/c of a left-wing connection

* pete was called by HUAC (house un-American activities committee) to name names of communists and he refused, so their careers were over for about 5 yrs

between what years were the weavers most successful?

1940 to 1952

what is the HUAC?

the human un-American activities committee is government committee that is set out to do nothing other then look for communists and punish them for being communists

who were the major targets of HUAC?

* people working in:
* government
* academic fields
* labour movement → recall how folk music was represented
* entertainment industry

how are pre WWII folk artists and post WWII folk artists different?

Pre-WWII folk artists were mostly traditional and rural, preserving and passing down old songs and stories through generations. They used acoustic instruments and sang in regional dialects. Post-WWII folk artists were more urban and politically aware, using music as a tool for social activism and protest. They often incorporated electric instruments and experimented with different genres, blending folk with rock, blues, and jazz.

post WWII who is the new enemy of the US after they defeat Germany?

why?

soviet union

* because they’re communists and the US HATES communists
* very far left! - where the US was on the far right

what is a “witch hunt”?

who took part in this?

why?

* government is putting lots of resources into a search for something that isnt there and the government is set out to find it even if they have to make it up
* Use this to abuse other rights and freedoms
* the HUAC took part in this
* to find communists in the US

who is joseph mccarthy?

what is McCarthyism?

he was essentially in charge of this “witch hunt” that the HUAC took part in

McCarthyism is a reference to a government with unchecked power to investigate people and stomp all over their rights, accuse them, and be guilty until proven innocent

true or false: if you were accused of being a communist by McCarthy you would essentially be blacklisted and have your life ruined

true

what is the one way to get out of the torture of having your life ruined when being accused of being a communist?

you could name names

* basically throwing ppl under the bus
* and you would be hailed a patriot

why was the communist witch hunt of concern to folk musicians?

b/c pre WWII they were associated with the political left

* trade unions
* labor movements

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making folk musicians PRIME targets

true or false: due to the blacklisting of pete seeger, this drew a bad rep with folk music and its association with communism so for most of the 1950s folk music falls into disfavour

true

how did folk music re-emerge after falling under a bad rep with communism?

baby boomers going to college!

end of the 1950s

why were baby boomers interested in folk music when they went to college?

* folk music had stories and issues and dealt with ideas
* which was more fitting for a young intellectual looking for serious music

in the late 1950s/early 1960s what do record companies start doing to appeal to the younger generation of baby boomers going to college

* they take note
* look at how to target the younger demographic
* begin to produce a whole generation of young folk singers

which of these bands appealed most to the younger generation of the late 1950s/early 1960s

a. the weavers

b. the supremes

c. the kingston trio

c

who was part of the kingston trio

peter, paul and mary

why are the records of the kingston trio smoother and more produced?

b/c these were targetted at people who are more discerning in how records are put together

when was “tom dooley” recorded?

1959

who sang “tom dooley”?

the kingston trio

give an example of pre war folk music and post war folk music

pre war = this land is your land by the weavers

post war = tom dooley by the kingston trio

who is the biggest star of the folk revival?

bob dylan

true or false: pre war folk music was smoother in how its put together and has more details with background music

false: post war does this, they are thinking more deliberately with what theyre doing

who was bob dylans hero and molded his style around?

woody guthry

true or false: bob dylan maintained traditional approaches of folk music from 1961 to 1965

true!

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* he wrote songs that sounded like they could be traditional/old
* sang traditional songs too

who sang “a hard rain’s a gonna fall”?

bob dylan

when did “a hard rain’s a gonna fall” come out?

1962-63

why was “a hard rain’s a gonna fall” such a timeless and unique song?

* due to the lyric style
* they’re complex
* everything is figurative language
* the lyrics sound very old, it could be from centuries ago
* the repetitive structure (fairytale style)
* uses numbers (sounds like western culture in the bible… 40 days/40 nights) … spiritual texts

true or false: “a hard rain’s a gonna fall” by bob dylan was a timeless song

true

what are the possible meanings behind “a hard rain’s a gonna fall” by bob dylan?

* a bleak commentary on contemporary media
* he tends to play with the media
* difficult to trust what he says → always ends up saying things to contradict himself
* nuclear war
* the world after a nuclear war
* since it came out very close to cuban missile crisis

when was the cuban missile crisis?

1962

true or false: bob dylan was influenced by the beatles

true

true or false: the beatles were influences by bob dylan

true

who created folk rock?

bob dylan

how did bob dylan create folk rock?

* went electric
* blends lyric sophistication of folk music with music of rock n roll

true or false: when bob dylan played at new port, this helped him to launch his career

false: he came out with r+b groups

* lots of booing
* pete seeger hated it!
* got lots of backlash for the performance

why did bob dylan get so much backlash from folk fans and critics for his performance at Newport?

* b/c it was believed that it was inconceivable to play rock n roll and have integrity

true or false: bob dylan got so much backlash from his performance at newport b/c he used an electric guitar

false: although the backlash was from what it represented… which was rock n roll which was thought to show no integrity

what was the name of one of the songs that bob dylan put out after new port

like a rolling stone

how was folk rock represented in the album that bob dylan put out after his performance at newport?

fused the lyrical depth of folk with the sounds of the 60s pop and rock

electric guitar

what was the name of the album bob dylan put out after his performance at Newport?

when did it come out?

highway 61 revisited

1965

all of the influences of the 1960s, from the beatles to bob dylan starting folk rock, how did this influence the baby boomers

it caused millions of baby boomers to look for a different way to live their life

what is the main idea of counter culture

its baby boomers, people in their late teens early 20s that are trying to lead a different life then their parents

what is the precursor of counter culture and essentially the foundation by which counter culture is built?

the beats

who are the influences of “the beats”

jack kerouac and allan ginsberg

what were “the beats”?

what did they do?

they were basically a group that would question authority at a time when no one else would

why were the beats so influencial back in the 1940s?

b/c at that time, no one would question aauthority of anything thed do, but these guys would

ask questions like “is the government/ big corporations really interested in us, or are they just interested in themselves”

where did the name “the beats” come from?

3 possible reasons:

* jazz beats → since music was a big part, jazz was a big part, and its b/c of the jazz beat
* beaten down → since they were questioning authority they were subject to lots of monitoring and investigation, and first ones called in the witch hunit
* they were “beaten down” by the authority
* beatitude (most likely explanation)→ a representation of a larger philosophical view
* this is the idea that one achieves a higher level of consciousness and a higher level of being that allows you to see the world as it really is a world that we are usually blinded to

define beatitude

it is a higher state of being

it is being able to achieve a higher level of consciousness that allows you to see the world as it really is

true or false: the idea of “the beats” fades out but is revived in the early 1960s by all baby boomer

false: not all baby boomers

baby boomers that were thought to be a part of “the beats” culture, where thought to be ___

hip/hippies

true or false: those taking part in “the beats” were moving away from their parents ideologies of life, with school, marriage, babies etc.

true

what are the two main centers for hippie culture?

greensich village in new york

haight-ashbury in san francisco

true or false: counter-culture shifts the focus from the collective back to the individual

false: from individual back to collective

true or false: counter culture focuses on the experience rather then material goods and want everyone to focus on sensory stimulation

true

how did counter-culture focus on sensory stimulation?

psychedelics

* using something to get the brain going t get a moment of insight
* use numbers, letters, complex structures to get your brain going
* could be on poster art
* clothing → long flowy clothes, long hanging necklaces, tie-dye
* making you the psychedelic experience for those around you
* drugs! → well-intentioned attempt to get a higher state of consciousness

describe the music of the counter-culture

* loud
* lighting shows
* longer or unusual song forms
* jamming (collective improvisation)

why does the counter culture intentionally have loud music and lighting shows during performances?

* two sensory stimulations (mind + body)
* if the music is so loud your body vibrates too
* lots of colorful lights give more sensory stimulation

true or false: counter-culture does not follow previously known song forms and structures like 12 bar blues, verse/chorus, AABA etc…

false: they do BUT these songs may go in different directions too that are unexpected

true or false: counter culture is a new style of music

false: it is.a wide and diverse range of styles all grouped into this idea of not following the norms

whats an example of folk rock band that came out of counter-culture

a. the kingston trio

b. the weavers

c. the grateful dead

c

who sang “truckin”?

when did it come out?

the grateful dead

1970

how did the grateful dead use improvisation?

how did this influence the bands?

* at their concerts when songs would end they would keep going
* each night at their concert was different

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* this caused their fans to follow them/travel with the band from concert to concert
* since they had improvisation each of their concerts were different

list some of the sounds that were found in counter culture

folk rock

acid rock/psychadellic rock

true or false: the grateful dead had more of a beatles influence, whereas the jefferson airplane had more of a bob dylan infleunce

false: vice versa

true or false: acid rock/psychadellic rock had a drug element to the music

true

which Beatles song gives the essence of psychedelic rock and inspires this type:

a. tomorrow never knows

b. love me do

c. a day in the life

d. please please me

a

what was the hit song called of jefferson airplane

a. truckin

b. a hard rains a gonna fall

c.tom dooley

d. white rabbit

d

when did white rabbit come out?

1967

how does white rabbit differ from from typical psychadellic rock?

* short → counter culture was usually more involved in longer more formal structures
* this allowed this counter culture song to be a HIT on radio → which is not something counterculture actively pursues

which of these bands represented psychadellic rock/acid rock?

a. jefferson airplane

b. the beatles

c. the grateful dead

d. the. kingston trio

a

why does “white rabbit” differ from typical counter culture songs?

* it became a hit!
* counter culture songs dont usually become hits b/c they are so long
* this one was short

what is the structure of “white rabbit” by jefferson airplane?

what does this structure represent

starts off slow and gets gradually louder

represents a druge experience

in what way does white rabbit draw influences from the beatles

* they used bolero rhythm
* this is from latin american culture
* since they are drawing on different styles from different places, they are doing what the beatles did

true or false: the white rabbit song only sounds as if there are drug references but there are not any

false: they are making drug references in their lyrics

what book does white rabbit draw on?

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

due to the drug references → Alice is drinking and eating things

* in the song “one pill makes you larger one pill makes you small”
* which happens to alice in the book

when was the peak of counter culture?

1967

true or false: counter culture in 1967 reached its peak due to the civil rights movement and was known as the long hot summer

FALSE! this was the peak of counter culture but its gone down in history as the summer of love

* they were in different worlds, african americans were in the long hot summer of the civil rights movmenet

what came out in june of 1967 that defined the summer of love for the counter culture?

an album:

sgt peppers lonely hearts club band !!

by the end of 1967, what did the people in the counterculture realize and start to do?

they begin to change its focus, they turn away from the internal goal of beatitude and start trying to make changes in the real world

* it becomes more polically engaged!!

after 1967, what does the counter-culture begin to shift their attention to?

more politically active things!

* the civil rights movment
* the draft/vietnam war

how did the counter culture help with the civil rights movement?

* since african americans were losing hope in the movement and integration so they were turning to re-Africanization
* so they started turning inward

why was the war in vietnam a political focus for counter culture

* b/c a lot of people in the US did not support this war and US’s involvement (first time in history for this to happen)
* young americans were being sent to fight and a lot of them were dying

true or false: counter culture after 1967 began apposing things in the real world instead of looking internally

true

what was the name of the political arm of the counter culture that was apposing things happening in the world around them?

a. hippies

b. yippies

c. dippies

d. beatlemania

b