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Rebellion with a Cause

Rebel without a Cause James Dean - 1955

1 Rebellion with a Cause Civil Rights Movement and Popular Music

• Though rock and roll had bridged some racial divisions, it was avoided by civil rights activists as an emblem for their movement – Commercial success seemed inappropriate to associate with struggle against authority • Early worker’s union songs of solidarity “moved the movement” (Civil Rights) not rock – International Workers of the World (IWW) – Labor movement (1905)organized protests to secure equality for all workers – protest songs served as unifying force – IWW closed after World War I because of fears that it was a Communist organization • The Civil Rights movement opened the door for many black artists and black-owned record labels

Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) (1919-2014)

• - English, Irish and Welch music brought to US by immigrants in 19th century • Simple acoustic songs about common people and ordinary events • 20th century Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger brought political material to traditional folk music Pete Seeger • Seeger sang with “” If I Had a Hammer (1949) • Sang politically motivated songs to promote social action and support labor movements • Sang for peace, civil rights, and workers’ rights • Both Seeger and Guthrie “blackballed” as communists during McCarthy Hearings (1954) – Folk music popularity diminished until revival in early 1960s partially because of presumed connections to Communism

2 • Woody Guthrie - “This Land is your Land” (1940) written in part to show distaste for Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” (1939) which he felt was unrealistic and did not represent all people

• “I sing the songs of the people that do all of the little jobs and the mean and dirty hard work in the world and of their wants and their hopes and their plans for a decent life” - Woody Guthrie God Bless America Irving Berlin (1939)

God Bless America, Land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, Anti Flag This Land is Your Land To the oceans, white with foam (w/ from God bless America, My home sweet home. Rage Against the Machine

Folk becomes political Again • After Guthrie and Seeger some capitalized on the folk popularity without including contemporary politics - – “sincere without being serious” • Commercial success of “safe” folk “M.T.A” (1959) led some to rediscover the traditional folk music • helped politicized folk music, diverging from the commercial success of the folk revival by groups like the Kingston Trio song “M.T.A.” • Dylan suggested that if Americans don’t speak out we are betrayed by the silence of those in power. • Spoke out in his music – 1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis 12 day standoff with Soviet Union who wanted to put nuclear missile Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall installations in Cuba from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Album (1963)

3 Pete Seeger - Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall - Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

• February 1960 - Sit ins - North Carolina - 4 African American students sit at a Early Civil Rights Events “white only” counter to eat, they are not served but did not leave - within 2 day joined by 1000 students. • Practice of sit in which became a common non-violent practice during Civil Rights Movement • May 1961 - Freedom Riders - The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begins sending student volunteers on bus trips to test the implementation of new laws prohibiting segregation in interstate travel facilities. One of the first two groups of "freedom riders," as they are called, encounters its first problem “At what point does a moral man two weeks later, when a mob in act against injustice?” Alabama sets the riders' bus on fire. The program continues, and by the end of the summer 1,000s volunteers, black – Franklin McCain NY Times and white, have participated. • Early civil rights protests coincided with the rebirth of interest in folk music paving the way for Bob Dylan

4 Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman) (1941- )

• “Woody was my God” - Often visited Woody Guthrie at his bedside while he was ill before he died in 1967 • Began playing guitar at 12 • Attended the University of Minnesota 1959, dropped out 1960 • Moved to New York in 1961 • Early songs directly reflected the social mood of the 60s and the Civil Rights Movement • in Guthrie’s style of “talking ” (rhythmic speech) Talkin’ World War III Blues (1963) • “Dylan’s importance is rivaled only by the Beatles. His lyrics affected [and reflected] the consciousness of an entire generation, in both a political and a personal way.”

The Folk Revival

• College students looking for different outlet other than current pop and rock music that addressed their identity and their concerns • Pop music lacked the lyrics of rebellion at the time and the protest songs of the folk singers lacked popular musical appeal, the Freedom Riders - 1962 folk music revival brought the two together and altered the course popular music by integrating the power of rhythm and blues with the power of protest.

Phil Ochs • Attended Ohio State, but dropped out in his senior year over disputes connected with his work on the school newspaper • Activist and songwriter I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore • Wrote 100s of songs and released 8 - 1965 albums

5 Joe Hill - early immigrant to the US - organized unions and fought for worker’s causes - tried for the murder in Salt Lake City, convicted and executed on Nov. 19, • “Bobby Dylan was what a lot of 1915 people my age feel but cannot say.” - He always proclaimed his innocence and many believed he was executed • “Folk music depends on intent. largely because of his role as a labor If someone desires money, I activist don’t call it folk music.” - Tribute poem written in 1930 called “I • First appeared at the 1959 Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” Newport Folk Festival in Newport Rhode Island

Civil Rights (continued) • June 1963 - Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries. Finally convicted in 1994. • August 1963 - About 250,000 people join the March on Washington. Congregating at the Lincoln Memorial, participants listen as Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (1963) Perform at the March on Washington

6 Only a Pawn in Their Game (1964) - Song about Medger Evers’ assassination

• Nov. 22, 1963 - assassination of JFK Disillusioned • The optimism of the activists and folk musicians was challenged • “I have to make a new song out of what I know and out of what I’m feeling” - Bob Dylan • Started to write cryptic, poetry inspired songs that pushed rock lyrics to a point they had never been before • Folk music was again becoming more commercial and accessible to a wider audience, thus losing it’s power to provoke change • July 25, 1965 Newport Folk Festival - Dylan plugs in! introduces by backing up his music with a rock band – Originally the Blues Band then later The Band • Dylan was booed and was accused of Maggie’s Farm “selling out” his values and the values of the folk “movement”

7 Folk Rock - The Byrds

• Dylan’s “electrified” folk introduced an era of folk rock • Members – Jim McGuinn – – Chris Hillman – Gene Clark • Sometimes referred to as “The American Beatles” • Folk Rock musicians embedded “Chimes“Chimes of Freedomof Freedom” Byrds” Dylan (1965) (1964) social protest in their songs, thus embracing the rebellious spirit of rock and infusing it with the social voice of folk

Bob Dylan – Not Dark Yet 1997

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