Progressive Rock Legacy Essay

Music is a form of expression that allows artist to share their experiences with others. A critical time in the progression of music especially rock music came about in the 1960’s. Many Individuals during that time turned to music to ease the troubles going on in the world. The hippie movement was a new phenomenon that came about during this time period. Drugs and sex became very popular amongst the people who were into rock music and part of the hippie movement. People of this counterculture turned away from the norms of life and wanted a much simpler life. This counterculture allowed music to improper for the time period and the revolution of rock music. Bob Dylan was one of the first to introduce progressive rock music. He was doing a show at a folk music concert when he plugged in his electric guitar while singing folk music. People in the crowed were outrage, but in due time the music caught on. Bob Dylan combined bluegrass with rock music and created masterpieces. His spontaneity and creativity allowed listeners to slowly ease into a new type of music. The Beatles, like Bob Dylan, created new sounds for their audiences. Given that the Beatles were very popular, they could experiment more than most artists without the fear of failure. The Beatles added lyrics about racy subjects that would have appalled many people just a couple years before. Since the Beatles were so popular and they exposed the public to this new progressive rock music, it allowed other artist to join the progressive rock era. Progressive rock music cannot easily be defined. The music includes new sounds, jam sessions, trippy noises, and combining all sort of musical genres into one. White middle aged, middle class kids normally listened to this type of music. Largely influenced by the music, many of these listeners had a very different view of the world from their parents. These kids liked the experiences they got while listing to progressive rock music. It was something that they could talk about with their friends and not their parents. This was known as the generation gap. The idea of love, freedom, and minimal materialistic needs among these young listeners lead to a movement known as the â€Å"Hippie Movement†. The hippies had a completely different view of the world than those living in normal society. Instead of finding happiness in families, jobs, and nice things, hippies found happiness in the non-materialistic things in life. The hippies no longer spent money on an education, nice clothes, or even a shelter. Second hand stuff was popular amongst this movement. Love once meant marriage, but the hippie saw it in a different light. Everyone loved everyone and sex was very common. The hippie counterculture did not frown on making love without being married. Many of these people had multiple partners and that was accepted. Countless number of the songs during the sixties agreed with the hippie counterculture. Songs such as â€Å"Like a Rolling Stone† by the Beatles talked about how well educated people dropped out of society to live a simple life. The song addresses issues such as having no direction and having to scrounge for the next meal. The hippies did not mind living this kind of live style. Other songs such as â€Å"Love me Do† also by the Beatles, although very simple explain the sex culture between the hippies. Lyrics such as â€Å"Someone to love, Somebody new, Someone to love, Someone like you† showed it did not matter who you were loving as long as you were open to new experiences. The reason why people of the hippie movement liked to listen to this new type of rock music and join a counterculture that goes against everything normal in society is because the listener is free to interoperate the music any way they wanted. Unlike in real life no one is telling the listener what to do or think. The hippies were about individualism and freedom to express and the music let them experience that. A normal conversation between two hippies would be about what they thought the music was trying to convey and how the music made them feel. They would learn from each other and were free to think what they wanted. The principal common thread that was apart of not only the hippie movement, but also most of the artist of the late sixties that was part of the counterculture and progressive rock music was drugs. Drugs such as marijuana and acid were very popular within the hippie culture because it allowed them to escape reality and opened their minds to the music. It was a way for the hippies to feel the music in a way they could not when they sober. The feeling of being apart of the song not just listening to the song was key for the hippies listening to the music. The drugs allowed the mind to escape and enjoy the present time. A quote from Tony (ask jarl his last name), a famous musician, nails why the drugs such as marijuana and acid were so popular for people listening to music. Tony states, â€Å"I think if you smoke (marijuana) this enables you to sit back and relax more than anything, and let’s you listen (to music), you know, without any hang-ups, you sit back and listen. Whereas with acid you see right into the music it’s a bigger thing altogether. You hear things on Pink Floyd on acid, well I do, that I don’t hear when I’m straight. When on drugs the listener can interoperate the meaning of the songs in a completely different manner then if the listener is sober. Going along with the counterculture of the hippie movement, freedom is key and drug allowed hippies to think freely when listening to the new and improved groovy tracks. Expression did not only come in the form of talking amongst the hippies. Hippies at live shows while on acid would expression themselves through dance. The acid allowed the listener to dance whatever way the music made them feel. This goes back to the individualism that was so important to the hippie movement. People did not judge one another by the way they dance, everyone was so into the music that they were oblivious to what was going on next to them. Another form of expression was the light shows during live performances. Artist would combine very colorful lightshows to enhance the viewing experience of the listener. A very popular visual effect would be projecting oil and water onto a big screen. Combining great music and stimulating visual effects with drugs such as acid caused the hippie culture to be infatuated with live shows. Live shows were so popular and it would allow artist to be exposed. Without the live shows, artist would not have got nearly as much exposure to new fans. Many of the artist in the sixties were joining in on the counterculture and experimenting with drugs. By using drugs the artist became more experimental and could connect with the listeners. While writing artist could keep the listeners in mind and right music that would be stimulating to everyone. Drawn out solos and experimenting with all different types of sounds were encouraged. Songs included very interesting noises such as sounds of animals locked up in cages and sounds of love making between groups of people. These were included to allow the listener to interoperate the song in a way that made sense to them. A great example of an artist that connected with his audience and joined in on the counterculture of the sixties was Jimmy Hendrix. He would talk about his experiences with the drugs such is so in the song â€Å"Purple Haze†. This would allow the audience to connect with him. Not only was Jimmy Hendrix making great music, but he was also part of the listener’s counterculture. Jimmy also included sick Guitar licks in his music. Real groovy stuff. His guitar sounded like it was telling a story all by itself. The counterculture of the 1960’s that included the hippie movement, the expression of freedom, love and drugs, all contributed to the great music that was produced during that time. It helped music become progressive rock music. The progression was attributed to both the artist and the followers. If the artist did not have the hippie movement, the culture would have been much different and the music would not have been so experimental. Drugs, part of the hippie movement, were very important to this movement as well. The artist could create sounds that allowed listeners to get lost in the music. The artist themselves would create the music and while being lost in it themselves. One of the key virtues that everyone of this movement followed was finding one self. The music of this time period help individual find themselves. As quoted by Harry (ask Jarl his last name), â€Å"It (the music) played a big part in making me the way I am now†. Many of these people that listened and experienced progressive rock music to the fullest would agree with Harry.