Similarities Between The 1960s Rock And Roll And Counterculture

Yuwei Bian

Professor: Shawn Gillen

FYI INIT 009

11/14/2016

The 1960s’ Rock and Roll and Counterculture In the 1960s, the rock and roll music reached peak times. As we all know, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Kinks were all fantastic rock and roll musicians who represented the top level of that times. The rock and roll music has roused up since mid-fifties. At that point, blues, country music, and Tin Pan Alley were very popular among the adults. However, due to the end of the world war II, the society situation became much more stable, and the population increased dramatically. From 1945 to 1955, the population increased two times compared with 1935 to 1945. Many young people who had not gone through the war and raised in excellent living conditions. Some of them did not understand the parents’ idea and lifestyles. Therefore, they formed their pursuit and hobbies. Base on the weight of numbers, the began not to follow the lively rhythm music which their parents like. At the same time, they found their own voice from

It was not a coincidence that the rock and roll music prevailed among the youth. The new generation who were born after the war urged to need a kind of carriers to unleash their minds and feelings, which can express their opinions to society and the world. Apparently, the traditional art and pop music cannot satisfy the young people's demands. It led that the rock and roll music provided the most suitable and robust way to express their cognition to the world. In some sense, the rock and roll itself became a symbol which represented the brand new social campaign cutting across lines of classes and races. The fever of the rock and roll music driven the youth culture from the weak to powerful, from the edge of the society to the center. Nevertheless, it is a factor that the counterculture has been out of the stage. But, the rock and roll music still goes