Counterculture Era

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the flourishing of an American counterculture that affected many walks of society. The movement's music provided the soundtrack for this bellwether time in American cultural history. Such performers as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, The Doors, John Lennon, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and The Grateful Dead ushered in new sounds, as well as new attitudes and philosophies for an emerging generation. With vibrant narrative chapters on the role of music in the anti-war movement, the Black power movement, the women's movement, political radicalism, drug use, and the counterculture lifestyle, James Perone details the emerging issues explored by performers in the Sixties and Seventies. A chapter of biographical sketches provides an easily accessible resource on significant performers, recordings, and terminology. Also included are chapter bibliographies, a timeline, and a subject index.

The American History through Music series examines the many different styles of music that have played a significant part in our nation's history. While volumes in this series show the multifaceted roles of music in culture, they also use music as a lens through which readers may study American social history. The authors present in-depth analysis of American musical genres, significant musicians, technological innovations, and the many connections between music and the realms of art, politics, and daily life. Chapters present accessible narratives on music and its cultural resonations, music theory and technique is broken down for the lay reader, and each volume presents a chapter of alphabetically arranged entries on significant people and terms.

This essay collection recounts the spirit of music from the American counterculture and shows how performers provided a soundtrack for this bellweather time in American society.

JAMES E. PERONE is the author of ten books, including Paul Simon: A Bio-Bibliography, Songs of the Vietnam Conflict, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk: A Bio-Bibliography. He is Associate Professor of Music at Mount Union College, where he teaches Music in America, Vernacular Music and the Vietnam Conflict, Music Theory, and Clarinet.