The Civics of Rock: Sixties Countercultural Music and The
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THE CIVICS OF ROCK: SIXTIES COUNTERCULTURAL MUSIC AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE by Michael Jacob Kramer A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2006 Approved by Advisor: John F. Kasson Reader: Robert Cantwell Reader: Peter Filene Reader: Lawrence Grossberg Reader: Jacquelyn Hall © 2006 Michael Jacob Kramer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT MICHAEL KRAMER: The Civics of Rock: Sixties Countercultural Music and the Transformation of the Public Sphere (Under the direction of Professor John F. Kasson) For the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s, rock music was not only mass entertainment, but also a form of public life. While many scholars have argued that rock was incompatible with civic participation, this book claims that in music scenes such as San Francisco, in poster art and dancing, on the radio and in print publications, rock served as a flash point for dilemmas of citizenship and civil society. As frequently as it deteriorated into escapism and hedonism, rock also created an atmosphere of inquiry in which the young might listen, think, move, and feel their way through issues of public and civic interaction, such as identity, belonging, power, and democracy. Even when exported by the American military to Vietnam or when circulating to youth movements worldwide, far from eclipsing public life, rock music transformed it into a mass-mediated mode of association that prefigured the civics of global society. iii To all my teachers, beginning with my mother, Judith Clayman Kramer, 1946-2005 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express gratitude to my dissertation committee: John Kasson's unfailing support and continually incisive comments as an advisor; Peter Filene's commitment to a series of directed reading courses on the history of the 1960s; Robert Cantwell's long conversations over many a breakfast at Weaver Street Market; Jacquelyn Hall's attention to argument and writing style; and Lawrence Grossberg's willingness to engage with a history project from the perspective of cultural studies. Countless other faculty members and fellow students at the University of North Carolina helped shape the project from its earliest inception, for which I am deeply thankful. Also, without funding from the University of North Carolina History Department and Graduate School, including a Doris G. Quinn Dissertation Fellowship, Off-Campus Research Fellowship, Mowry Grant, Waddell Fellowship, and Latane Interdisciplinary Study Summer Grant, I could not have completed this dissertation. Librarians at various institutions greatly assisted me. The librarians at the University of North Carolina and Northwestern University were always helpful. Thanks also to: Jan McGee and Bryan Cornell at the Library Of Congress's Recorded Sound Division; Richard Boylan and Susan Francis-Haughton at the National Archives II; Matt Wrbican at the Andy Warhol Museum; and the expert librarians at Bowling Green State University's Music Library, Columbia University's Oral History Project and Special Collections, the Bentley v Library at the University of Michigan, the California Historical Society, the Bancroft Library at the University of California - Berkeley, the Special Collections Division at the University of California - Davis, the San Francisco Public Library's History Center, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Panels at annual meetings of the American Studies Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the American Historical Association sharpened various parts of the dissertation. Comments from Professors Barry Shank, Charles McGovern, Lisa Gitelman, Howard Brick, and Alice Echols proved invaluable. The "Youth, Popular Culture, and Everyday Life" Conference at Bowling Green State University and two meetings of the Experience Music Project's "Pop Music Conference" provoked further developments in the project. Audiences at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library's Urban History Workshop pushed me to sharpen the dissertation's focus and argument. In addition, parts of chapter two appeared in the Michigan Historical Review, whose editor, Professor David Macleod, and staff member, Mary Graham, both provided many useful suggestions. I would also like to thank those whose patient readings of drafts, thoughtful conversations, long email correspondences and phone calls, and many intellectual insights helped me along the way. I want to express my gratitude to my dear friends Joshua Shannon, Ben Strong, and Devorah Heitner as well as to various colleagues and heroes, including Paul Anderson, Robert Allen, Charles Auringer, Richard Candida-Smith, Dominick Cavallo, Roberta Cruger, Norman Davis, Raechel Donahue, Katy Fenn, Bill Ferris, Lydia Fish, Steven Hart, Rick Holen, Michael Hunt, Geoffrey Jacques, Jerma Jackson, Ann Kelsey, Richard Kohn, Lloyd Kramer, Greil Marcus, Dave Marsh, Louise Meintjes, Bob Morecook, Gail Radford, Richard Riegel, Tony Reay, Lisa Rubens, Dave Sanjek, Richard Siegel, vi Barbara Tischler, Jaan Uhelszki, Steve Waksman, Lindsay Waters, and Paul Williams. I owe special thanks to my high school American history teacher, Michael Flamm, now a professor of history at Ohio-Wesleyan University, for his inspiration. Of course, I take full responsibility for the entirety of this manuscript's contents. My family was supportive throughout, and I could not have completed the project without Kenneth and Judith Kramer, Caren Kramer and Eric Elias, James Kramer, Amy and Mark Feingold, Pearl and Samuel Clayman, Matthew Pearson and Margie Jolles, and P. David and Mary Alyce Pearson. At home, faithful dogs Lucas and Kyrie and purring cats Emma and Pippen provided endless affection. Finally, my deepest love for my colleague, partner, and heroine Susan Pearson. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures............................................................................................................ix Introduction - The Civics of Rock..............................................................................1 Prologue - Broadcasting Rock: Radio and the Soundscape of the Counterculture................................................................................................. 40 Part One - Dancing Around Rock: The San Francisco Scene and the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere............................................81 Part Two - Writing On Rock: The Critical-Public of the Countercultural Music Press............................................................................178 Part Three - Fighting With Rock: Representing Countercultural Civics in Vietnam............................................................................ 270 Epilogue - Circulating Through Rock: The Global Electronic Civics of Countercultural Music................................................................................337 Bibliography.............................................................................................................. 362 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 0.1. The Trips Festival, Longshoreman's Hall, San Francisco, January 1966......................................................................................2 Figure 0.2. "But The Man Can't Bust Our Music" advertisement, Rolling Stone, 7 December 1968............................................................................... 20 Figure 0.3. Tom Donahue in 1968.............................................................................42 Figure 0.4. Tom and Raechel Donahue, early 1970s.................................................44 Figure 0.5. An advertisement for KSAN forerunner KMPX, circa 1969..................50 Figure 0.6. "We Have Come For Your Daughters": Tom Donahue in England, 1970........................................................................................................ 61 Figure 0.7. Tom Donahue with his own daughter, Buzzy, in the KSAN radio booth, early 1970s.......................................................................65 Figure 1.1. Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium, October 9, 1966; from Time magazine, June 23, 1967.............................................. 82 Figure 1.2. The Trips Festival, January 22, 1966...................................................... 89 Figure 1.3. Poster for the "Dance of Death" Costume Ball, California Hall, October 31, 1966..............................................................................92 Figure 1.4. Handbill for the First Appeal Benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, November 6, 1965......................................................107 Figure 1.5. Poster for the Second S.F. Mime Troupe Appeal Benefit Concert, December 10, 1965.........................................................................111 Figure 1.6. Handbill for The Family Dog's first rock dance and concert, "A Tribute to Dr. Strange," October 16, 1965............................................. 122 Figure 1.7. Handbill for The Family Dog's second rock dance and concert, "A Tribute to Sparkle Plenty," October 24, 1965........................................ 125 ix Figure 1.8. Handbill for The Family Dog's third rock dance and concert, "A Tribute to Ming the Merciless," November 6, 1965...............................128 Figure 1.9. A poster announcing the third Family Dog event, "A Tribute to Ming the Merciless! in the form of a wham-bang wide open stoned dance flicking on