History of Rock and Roll California,1960s PART TWO

San Francisco 1960’s San Francisco’s youth culture was affected by the same political and cultural issues that were intensifying in other areas of the country: Discontent with escalation of Vietnam War Nationwide political protests Racial tensions, leading to violence in a number of urban areas

San Francisco, 1960’s Among the youth culture there was also a strong interest in “expanding the mind,” which manifested in various ways: Drug culture, “dropping out and turning on” A new interest in metaphysics, eastern philosophies and religion, esoteric or “new age” subjects

The Legacy of the “Beats” “The Beat Generation” of the 1950s (“beatniks”) “Beats” – a group of poets and writers whose philosophies were informed by the avant garde, jazz music (especially Bebop), the rejection of institutionalized society, and eastern philosophies, particularly Zen Buddhism San Francisco: an important geographical focus point of the early Beat Movement.

Beat Poets Jack Kerouac Allen Ginsberg Lawrence Ferlinghetti Neal Cassady William S Burroughs Ken Gary Kesey Snyder

San Francisco: a destination city for 1960s youth culture Thousands of young people flocked to the city Many had no jobs, no prospects Widespread drug culture, especially pot and hallucinogens The San Francisco hippie “scene” got a lot of media attention “Scene” centered around the area where Haight and Ashbury Streets met

San Francisco 1960s – Music Scene Between local bands at any given time in the mid 60s Large concert halls established – Fillmore West, Winterland arena The founding of a number of “alternative” FM stations (also known as “progressive” or “underground” stations)

The San Francisco “Sound” Dominated by a blend of folk-rock and the influence of British Blues Revival bands, combined with the following: Ear-splitting volume Abundant drug-culture references Emphasis on instrumentals rather than vocals Long, rambling, improvisatory “jams” Experimentation with electronic sounds Emphasis on LPs rather than singles

The Jefferson Airplane Marty Balin, vocals Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, guitars Jack Casady, bass Grace Slick, vocals (originally Signe Anderson) Spencer Dryden, drums (orig. Skip Spence)

Jefferson Airplane Somebody to Love Released on the 1967 album, “Surrealistic Pillow” Jefferson Airplane originally formed as “The Town Criers,” a folk group Bassist Jack Casady is the son of beat poet, Neal Casady

Jefferson Airplane, continued Noted performance at Woodstock – (band also played at Altamont!) Very successful career Eventually became “Jefferson Starship,” spearheaded by Kantner and Slick, and have continued with various personnel changes “Starship” also featured African- American violinist “Papa” John Creach

Jefferson Airplane White Rabbit Released on the 1967 album, “Surrealistic Pillow” Taking liberally from the “Alice in Wonderland” story, this song also features heavy drug references This song also features a rhythm that is similar to many Spanish & Gypsy songs

Grace and Janis The San Francisco scene also produced the first (white) female rock “stars” Grace Slick Janis Joplin

Jefferson Airplane We Can Be Together From the 1969 album, “Volunteers” Kantner and Slick increasingly became the dominant voices of Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane often incorporated political messages in their songs and albums

Janis Joplin Born 1943, Port Arthur, TX Went to San Francisco, returned to Texas to attend UT Invited back to SF to join Big Brother and the Holding Company Career break came at 1967 Monterey Pop Festival; signed to Columbia

Janis Joplin, continued Janis worked with several different bands : Big Brother and the Holding Company Kozmic Blues Band Full Tilt Boogie

Janis Joplin (Big Brother & the Holding Company) Piece of My Heart From the 1968 album, “Cheap Thrills” This album when to #1 on the Billboard Charts Listen to the way Joplin phrases and emotes the words, she is indebted to past blues greats, especially female blues singers

Janis Joplin Try From the 1969 album, “I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!” (Columbia) This was Joplin’s first solo effort after leaving Big Brother & the Holding Company The Kozmic Blues Band was modeled on the classic blues/soul revue bands like the Stax-Volt bands

Janis Joplin Me and Bobby McGee Released on the 1971 album, “Pearl” Joplin had recently formed the Full Tilt Boogie Band This song was written by Kris Kristofferson & was Joplin’s biggest single This album was Joplin’s biggest selling of her career

Janis Joplin, Janis had struggled with a drug and alcohol problem Just before the release of her CD “Pearl,” she died of a heroin overdose, October 4, 1970.

Country Joe and the Fish The name comes from singer “Country Joe” McDonald and lead guitarist Barry “The Fish” Melton Psychedelic style, also known for songs opposing the Vietnam war; famous performance at Woodstock

Santana Soul Sacrifice (Live) Sound blended Latin rhythms, rock, blues, jazz, with prominent Latin percussion Also featured the distinct sound and style of lead guitarist Carlos Santana Band shot to fame with their Woodstock performance, especially “Soul Sacrifice”

The Grateful Dead The “archetypal” San Francisco Band Roots in the folk era of the 1960s, and the beat culture

“Pre-Dead” Incarnations "Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions“ -- Jerry Garcia, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Bob Weir “The Warlocks” -- added drummer Bill Kreutzman, Phil Lesh (violinist and avant-garde composer) “The Grateful Dead” – added drummer Mickey Hart, lyricist Robert Hunter. Other members have included Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick. The Dead in the 1990s

Grateful Dead, continued Influences: psychedelia, country rock, blues, folk, jazz Freestyle, improvisatory live performances, Long jam sessions Concerts were “events,” sometimes lasting 4 or 5 hours Devoted fan following (“Deadheads”) – many who “toured” along with them Their success depended upon moderately-selling LPs and heavily attended concerts 9 out of their 22 LPs are live performances

The Grateful Dead Uncle John’s Band From the 1970 release, “Workingman’s Dead” Co-written by Garcia & lyricist Robert Hunter This showcases the Dead’s acoustic/folk mastery & close harmony vocal sound

The Grateful Dead Casey Jones From the 1970 album, “Workingman’s Dead” This was the Dead’s fourth studio album Their two 1970 releases (Workingman’s Dead & American Beauty) were among their most successful

The Grateful Dead Truckin’ From the 1970 album, “American Beauty” This song shows the country influence The Dead were known for taking half an hour to tune their instruments & decide what to play

Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead had a long and successful career that lasted up until the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995.