The Temptations Essay Research Paper The sixties

The Temptations Essay, Research Paper

The sixties were the age of youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change in the cultural fabric of American life. No longer content to be images of the generation ahead of them, young people wanted change. The changes affected education, values, lifestyles, laws, and entertainment. Many of the revolutionary ideas, which began in the sixties, are continuing to evolve today.

During the sixties, college campuses became centers of debate and scenes of protest more than ever before. Great numbers of young adults (Baby Boomers) were reaching military draft age and not yet voting age (minimum voting age did not become 18 until 1971), caused a struggle, which played out on many campuses as the country became more involved in the Vietnam War.

In 1966, James S. Coleman commissioned by the government, published Equality of Educational Opportunity, a landmark study that led the way to forced integration and bussing in the 1970’s.

The Civil Rights movement made great changes in society in the 1960’s. The movement began peacefully, with Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael leading sit-ins and peaceful protests, joined by Whites and Jews. Malcolm X preached black superiority, and by the end of the decade the Black Panthers were advocating black separatism, violence and anti-semitism. The term “blacks” became socially acceptable, replacing “negroes.” The number of Hispanic Americans tripled during the decade and became recognized as an oppressed minority. Cesar Chavez organized Hispanics in the United Farm Workers Association. American Indians, facing unemployment rates of 50% and a life expectancy only two-thirds that of whites began to assert themselves in the courts and in violent protests. The Presidential Commission of the Status of Women (1963) presented disturbing facts about women’s place in our society. Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinham (National Organization of Women) questioning unequal treatment of women, giving birth to Women’s Lib, and discovered the “glass ceiling.” The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to include gender. The birth control pill became widely available and abortion for cause was legalized in Colorado in 1967. In 1967, both abortion and artificial insemination became legal in some states.

While all this change is taking place, a lot of it through music.

In 1960, Elvis returned to the music scene from the US Army, joining the other white male vocalists at the top of the charts; Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, Del Shannon and Frankie Avalon. America, however, was ready for a change. The Tamla Motown Record Company came on the scene, specializing in black rhythm and blues, aided in the emergence of female groups such as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas, the Supremes, and Aretha Franklin, as well as some black men, including Smoky Robinson, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and the Temptations. Bob Dylan helped bring about a folk music revival, along with Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary. The Beach Boys began recording music that appealed to high schoolers. The Beatles, from England, burst into popularity with innovative rock music that appealed to all ages.

There was a major change in popular music in the mid-1960’s, caused in part by the drug scene. Acid Rock, highly amplified and improvisionational, and the more mellow psychedelic rock gained prominence. When the Beatles turned to acid rock, their audience narrowed to the young. Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead grew out of the counterculture in 1967. The musical phenomena of the decade was Woodstock, a three day music festival that drew 400,000 hippies and featured peace, love, and happiness…and LSD.

The modular synthesizer, developed in 1960 by Robert Moog and Donald Buchla, marked a major change in serious music. Innovative composers were already experimenting with electro acoustic music. Now they were able to go further with John Cage’s 0′0 (Zero Silence) to be performed by anyone in anyway; Morton Subotnik’s Silver Apples of the Moon; the Sonic Arts Union’s Wolfman. In 1967, Alvin Lucier, one of the co-founders of the Sonic Arts Union, created “Music for a Solo Performance,” in which electrodes were attached to the performer’s scalp. His alpha waves, controlled by his concentration, resonated from loudspeakers, accompanied by occasional percussion. Computers were used in music composition and sound synthesis, notably Max Mathews’ Music 4 and Music 5. By the end of the decade, popular music was also using synthesizers and other electronic devices.

The founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy did what many people of his time believed could never be done: he brought Black music into millions of White Americans’ homes, helping both Black artists and their culture gain acceptance, and opening the door for a multitude of successful Black record executives and producers. Though the music of Motown was not as raw or edgy as other R&B labels, such as Chess and Stax, the songs that were written, produced, and released from “Hitsville USA” comprise some of the most enduring, sophisticated and popular music of our time. Influential artists such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder,