History of American Pop Music
Chapter 20: The Folk Revival and Folk Rock

Chapter 21: Overview

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Chapter 21 explores how the counterculture of the late 1960s influenced a new style of rock built around experimentation, improvisation, and expanded ideas about music and consciousness. San Francisco became the center of the movement as artists such as the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin combined new studio techniques, psychedelic imagery, and live performance into a sound that reflected the social and cultural changes of the era.

Important Terms

Psychedelic Rock – A style of rock music that used studio experimentation, extended improvisation, electronic effects, and surreal lyrics to evoke altered states of consciousness.

Counterculture – A broad social movement that rejected many mainstream American values during the 1960s.

Hippie – A member of the counterculture associated with communal living, peace, personal freedom, and alternative lifestyles.

Summer of Love – The large gathering of young people in San Francisco during the summer of 1967 that became the symbolic height of the hippie movement.

Haight-Ashbury – San Francisco neighborhood that became the center of the psychedelic counterculture.

Be-In – A public gathering celebrating peace, music, spirituality, and countercultural values.

Acid Test – Multimedia events organized by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters that combined LSD, music, visual art, and performance.

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) – A psychedelic drug that alters perception, mood, and consciousness.

Psychedelic Experience – An altered state of consciousness often associated with LSD and other hallucinogens.

Synesthesia – A sensory phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense produces experiences in another, such as seeing colors while hearing music.

Ego Dissolution – A temporary loss of the normal sense of self often associated with psychedelic experiences.

Set and Setting – The user's mindset and physical environment, believed to influence the effects of psychedelic drugs.

Concept Album – An album organized around a unifying story, theme, or artistic idea.

Sound Collage – A composition created by combining recorded sounds, speech, music, and effects into a single work.

Tape Loop – A continuous loop of recorded tape used to repeat sounds or musical phrases.

Reverse Tape – A recording technique that plays sounds backward to create unusual effects.

Glissando – A continuous slide between musical notes.

Drone – A sustained note or chord played beneath changing musical material.

Raga – A melodic framework used in Indian classical music.

Tambura (Tanpura) – An Indian string instrument that produces a continuous drone.

Tabla – A pair of Indian hand drums used in classical music.

Mellotron – An early keyboard instrument that played prerecorded tape loops of orchestral instruments.

Soundscape – The overall sonic environment created by musical and recorded sounds.

Reverb – An audio effect that creates the impression of sound reflecting through a space.

Feedback – A sustained sound created when amplified sound repeatedly loops between speakers and microphones or guitar pickups.

Distortion – A gritty sound created by overdriving an amplifier.

Improvisation – Creating music spontaneously during performance.

Jam Band – A band emphasizing extended improvisation and changing live performances.

Deadhead – A devoted fan of the Grateful Dead who often traveled to multiple concerts.

Wall of Sound – The Grateful Dead's large speaker system introduced in 1974 to improve concert sound quality.

Psychedelic Light Show – A visual display using colored liquids, projections, and lighting effects synchronized with live music.

Progressive FM Radio – An FM radio format emphasizing album tracks, long songs, and diverse musical styles.

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) – A radio format emphasizing complete albums instead of hit singles.

Locked Groove – A continuous groove at the end of a vinyl record that repeats indefinitely until the needle is lifted.

Artists Discussed

The Beatles – British band whose studio experimentation helped establish psychedelic rock.

George Martin – Producer whose arrangements and studio techniques helped shape Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Geoff Emerick – Recording engineer who developed many of the Beatles' studio effects.

Brian Epstein – Manager of the Beatles until his death in 1967.

Yoko Ono – Artist and musician who became John Lennon's creative partner.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – Spiritual teacher who introduced the Beatles to Transcendental Meditation.

Ken Kesey – Author and leader of the Merry Pranksters.

The Merry Pranksters – Countercultural group known for organizing the Acid Tests.

Neal Cassady – Driver of the Merry Pranksters' bus Furthur.

Albert Hofmann – Chemist who first synthesized LSD.

Timothy Leary – Psychologist and leading advocate of psychedelic drugs.

Ralph Metzner – Co-author of The Psychedelic Experience.

Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) – Co-author of The Psychedelic Experience.

Aldous Huxley – Writer whose works influenced psychedelic thought.

Bill Graham – Concert promoter who managed the Fillmore Auditorium.

Chet Helms – Promoter who organized Family Dog concerts.

Family Dog – Concert collective associated with San Francisco's psychedelic scene.

The Charlatans – Early San Francisco psychedelic band.

The Great Society – San Francisco band that originally featured Grace Slick.

Tom Donahue – Radio pioneer who developed progressive FM radio.

KMPX – San Francisco station that introduced progressive FM programming.

KSAN – Progressive FM station that expanded the San Francisco sound.

The Grateful Dead – Psychedelic rock band central to the San Francisco sound.

Jerry Garcia – Guitarist, singer, and principal creative figure in the Grateful Dead.

Bob Weir – Guitarist and singer for the Grateful Dead.

Phil Lesh – Bassist for the Grateful Dead.

Big Brother and the Holding Company – San Francisco band that launched Janis Joplin's national career.

Janis Joplin – Singer whose blues-based style became one of the defining voices of psychedelic rock.

Kozmic Blues Band – Janis Joplin's backing band after leaving Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Jefferson Airplane – Psychedelic rock band that became one of San Francisco's best-known groups.

Grace Slick – Singer whose arrival transformed Jefferson Airplane's sound.

The Matrix – Club founded by Marty Balin that became an important San Francisco venue.

David Crosby – Songwriter of "Triad."

Up Against the Wall Motherfucker – Radical activist collective referenced in "We Can Be Together."

Jefferson Starship – Band formed from members of Jefferson Airplane.

Starship – Later version of Jefferson Starship.

Songs Referenced

  • "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – The Beatles

  • "With a Little Help from My Friends" – The Beatles

  • "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – The Beatles

  • "She's Leaving Home" – The Beatles

  • "Within You Without You" – The Beatles

  • "When I'm Sixty-Four" – The Beatles

  • "Good Morning Good Morning" – The Beatles

  • "A Day in the Life" – The Beatles

  • "Yesterday" – The Beatles

  • "Eleanor Rigby" – The Beatles

  • "Penny Lane" – The Beatles

  • "Strawberry Fields Forever" – The Beatles

  • "All You Need Is Love" – The Beatles

  • "Magical Mystery Tour" – The Beatles

  • "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – The Beatles

  • "Long, Long, Long" – The Beatles

  • "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" – The Beatles

  • "Revolution 9" – The Beatles

  • "Don't Pass Me By" – The Beatles

  • "Martha My Dear" – The Beatles

  • "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" – The Beatles

  • "Hey Jude" – The Beatles

  • "Revolution" – The Beatles

  • "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" – Grateful Dead

  • "That's It for the Other One" – Grateful Dead

  • "Cryptical Envelopment" – Grateful Dead

  • "Quodlibet for Tender Feet" – Grateful Dead

  • "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get" – Grateful Dead

  • "We Leave the Castle" – Grateful Dead

  • "Dark Star" – Grateful Dead

  • "Uncle John's Band" – Grateful Dead

  • "Ripple" – Grateful Dead

  • "Touch of Grey" – Grateful Dead

  • "Piece of My Heart" – Big Brother and the Holding Company (originally by Erma Franklin)

  • "Ball and Chain" – Big Brother and the Holding Company (originally by Big Mama Thornton)

  • "Summertime" – George Gershwin (performed by Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin)

  • "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" – Janis Joplin

  • "Kozmic Blues" – Janis Joplin

  • "Me and Bobby McGee" – Janis Joplin (written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster)

  • "Move Over" – Janis Joplin

  • "My Baby" – Janis Joplin

  • "Mercedes Benz" – Janis Joplin

  • "Somebody to Love" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "White Rabbit" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "Lather" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "Triad" – David Crosby

  • "Chushingura" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "Plastic Fantastic Lover" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "Volunteers" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "We Can Be Together" – Jefferson Airplane

  • "Miracles" – Jefferson Starship

  • "We Built This City" – Starship

Albums

  • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

  • Magical Mystery Tour

  • The Beatles (The White Album)

  • Anthem of the Sun

  • Workingman's Dead

  • American Beauty

  • Blues for Allah

  • In the Dark

  • Grateful Dead

  • Cheap Thrills

  • I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

  • Pearl

  • Jefferson Airplane Takes Off

  • Surrealistic Pillow

  • After Bathing at Baxter's

  • Crown of Creation

  • Bless Its Pointed Little Head

  • Volunteers

  • Blows Against the Empire

  • Red Octopus

Books

  • The Psychedelic Experience

  • The Tibetan Book of the Dead

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

  • The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

  • Howl