1. The Counterculture
Ch. 23.3
(pp. 777-781)

2. Counterculture: Notes
• Define/Explain
– Counterculture
– Sexual Revolution
– Woodstock
– Altamont
• What social changes were promoted by the
counterculture (make a list)?
• How did music both reflect & contribute to the
change of this era?

3. ‘50s vs. ‘60s

4. 1950s
• Conformity
• Nine-to-five jobs
• Corporate
world/businessmen
• Neatly dressed
• Flannel suits
• Military power
1960s
• “Flower Power”
• Long hair & outrageous
clothing
• Rejection of regimented life
• Bright colors & beads
• Rejection of restriction
• Challenged authority

5. A Time of Change
• Counterculture—Valued
youth, spontaneity, &
individuality
• Hippies
• Promoted
peace, love, & freedom
• New styles of
dress, music, & freer
attitudes towards sex
• Recreational use of
drugs
• “Generation Gap”
• Lack of understanding &
communication
between generations

6. A Time of Change
• Baby boom after WWII led to enormous
generation
• College attendance levels were increased
drastically
• Culture catered to them
– Music producers, clothing
designers, colleges, even politicians

7. Sixties Style
• Women
– Long, free hair
– Loose fitting dresses
• Men
– Long hair, beards
– *Read sidebar on hair on
p. 779
– Rejection of the suit &
tie
– Blue jeans, cotton
shirts, simple garments
• Ponchos from S.
America
• Dashikis from Africa
• Jewelry made by Native
Americans
• Painted buses, cars, &
bodies
• Pop art reflected Hippie
culture
– Warhol & Lichtenstein

8. Sixties Style
• Op Art
• Appeared they were
created by artists under
the influence of
psychedelic drugs
• Bright colors, optical
illusions

12. The Sexual Revolution
• Rejection of traditional
restrictions
• Sex should be separated
from ties to family life
• New living patterns;
communes, unmarried
couples
• Open discussion of
sexual subjects in
mainstream media
• 1962 bestseller, “Sex &
the Single Girl,” by
Helen Gurley Brown
• 1966 report on
scientific studies of
sexuality, “Human
Sexual Response,” by
William H. Masters and
Virginia E. Johnson
• 1972, “The Joy of
Sex,” by Alex Comfort

13. The Drug Scene
• Psychedelic drugs
• Cause brain to act
abnormally
• Hallucinations, altered
perceptions of reality
• Drug use was more
widespread, esp.
marijuana
• Researchers at Harvard
(Leary & Alpert)
involved students in
research using LSD

14. The Drug Scene
• Overdoses & addictions
• Janis Joplin, age
27, 1970
• Jim Morrison, age
27, 1971
• Jimi Hendrix, age
27, 1970

15. Music
• Revolution started by
Rock & Roll of ‘50s
• Revival of folk music
– Bob Dylan & Joan Baez
• British Invasion
– “Beatlemania” begins
in 1964
– Rolling Stones
– The Who

16. Woodstock
• August of 1969
• Up to 500K spectators
• Rural up-state NY
• “3 Days of Peace &
Music”
• Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie,
Santana, CCR, Grateful
Dead, Janis Joplin, The
Who, Jefferson Airplane
• Crosby, Stills, Nash &
Young
• The Band, Jimi Hendrix
• Lots of rain
• Overcrowded, lack of
facilities, but peaceful

17. Altamont
• East of San Francisco
• December of 1969
• Rolling Stones, Santana,
Jefferson Airplane
• Crosby, Stills, Nash &
Young
• 300K+
• Hell’s Angels hired as
security
• Paid $500 of beer?
• Fights broke out
• 4 deaths, 4 births, lots
of injuries, lots of
property damage
• Soured “Love
Generation”
– Contradictory to
“peace & love”

19. NOTES
• Define/Explain
– Counterculture
– Sexual Revolution
– Woodstock
– Altamont
• What social changes were promoted by the
counterculture (make a list)?
• How did music both reflect & contribute to the
change of this era?
• #6 on p. 781, letter to editor, in regards to rules
banning “hippie dress”