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The rise of mass popular culture in the 1920s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
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The 1960's
The 1960's were turbulent years in America, and Jim Morrison created an image of himself that stretched the boundaries of popular culture and entertainment. He was the first musician to truly live the creed of the moment, " sex drugs and rock and roll." Morrison's complicated lyrics, wild behavior, and personal charisma attracted many fans that worshipped him as a rock and roll icon. Morrision left them with a lot of great music and some very bad memories. Like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, he destroyed himself in the process of becoming a star.
Morrison's childhood gave little indication of the road he would follow. He was born on December 8, 1943 in Melbourne, Florida (Hopkins 30). Morrison's father was in the Navy so he moved around frequently. Jim started high school in Alameda, California. With his best friend, Ford Fud, he engaged in typical teenage pranks and problems. His sophomore year, Jim moved to Alexandria, Virginia where he attended a segregated, upper middle class school. In school Jim was constantly calling attention to himself. Once he chased an imaginary bee around the classroom (Hopkins 39). He was never content to be normal or average. Jim also had a huge fascination with literature and poetry, and his IQ was listed as 149 in school records.
After finishing school Jim attended the college of UCLA where he studied film. He shortly droped out and moved to Venice beach. He cut off all ties with his family. In 1965, he met Pamela Courson, a pretty California eighteen-year-old. Jim called her his cosmic soul mate. Though their relationship was as strange as the other parts of Morrison's life, they stayed together until his death (Jones 30). In Venice, Morrison lived on the roof of an apartment for three months. He was heavy into the use of LSD and marijuana. He also used this time to write most of his poems that would later form the basis of his songs.
Morrison's entry into the music scene was purely accidental. Ray Manzarek, a musician friend, read some of his poems and said it was "the best rock and roll lyrics he'd ever heard" (Jones 40). Manzarek suggested that they form a band and make a million dollars. Jim said that is exactly what he had in mind except that money wasn't important. He wanted to " go up like a roman candle, make a bright light and then disappear" (Hopkins 66).
What emerged after the explosion of rock and roll in the 1950s abandoned the roll and has now come to be known just as classic rock. This rock that was created following the decade of The King became a completely unique and different sound that changed the musical landscape and what was once a single, unified genre gave way for multitudes of variation in its sounds. These new sounds, that came mostly from abroad, had been notably influenced by the American rock of the 1950s, such as Elvis, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. These pioneers of rock came to be the essential reason for the arrival of the British Invasion and other sounds that defined the decade of the 1960s.
He aimed to be like the musicians he admired but he focused on creating his own form of music. Something that he could be proud of, expressing himself like the true rebel he was. Jimi Hendrix was also a form of expression for those who did not know how to express themselves. People could connect with his music, they were also very impressionable due to his music.The song where Jimi wrote, “Purple Haze” it was a form of Jimi Hendrix’s expression through music and many people at the time could find some meaning in these lyrics and connect to the song on an emotional level. This connection was what made Jimi Hendrix so popular and influential to the American people. He made people understand the importance of being at peace with your self and being content in life. He supported finding happiness through drugs and through life and he severely influenced the public and many people followed in his steps and this began the hippie movement. Not only did he have an impact on society but also he had an impact in the individual American’s life giving a sense of hope and freedom to the world. On September 18, 1970, Jimi died in London from drug related complications and while he was only 27 years old at the time of his passing, he left his legendary mark on the world of rock music and remains popular to this
Morrison has said, "I can easily project into other people's circumstances and imagine how I might feel if...I don't have to have done this things. So that if I'm writing of what I disapprove of, I can suspend that feeling and love those characters a lot. You know, sort of get inside the character because I sort of wonder what it would be like to be this person..." Both her novels, The Bluest Eye and Sula, speak to this statement.
Bob Dylan is an important icon whose music continues to influence rock music even six decades later, despite after several top forty hits, not one being a number one hit. His music has inspired many iconic musicians like Johnny Cash and The Grateful Dead (nj101.com) . What Bob Dylan brought to rock music back in the sixties can be heard in today’s music.
Morrison studied humanities at Howard and Cornell Universities. She pursued an academic career at Texas Southern University and Yale. She has had a chair at Princeton University since 1989. During these years she has also worked as an editor at Random House, a literary critic, and she has written and given many lectures focusing on African-American literature. Morrison's maternal and paternal influences greatly affected her outlook on life and this influence is palpable in her works and their characters and themes. From her father she learned to distrust whites and that she merited self-worth despite the white opinion of those of the black race "She readily admits: My father was a racist. As a child in ...
disappointment. It was a decade classified as the "roaring twenties." Men returning from World War I had to deal with unemployment, wheat farmers and oil companies were striking it rich, new modern conveniences were being thought up, and fashion was a major issue among the rich.
Jim Morrison’s life is full of twists and turns. Yet, despite this he still managed to keep control of himself to create well-organized works of music as well as his poems. His social life started out to be the safe variable and when he was on stage he let loose giving crazy shows for the audience. As his life went on his two lives began to blend into one big blunder where you could only see tiny specs of so-called order. As well as Jim’s life , the time he lived in behaved the same way. Order in the country was there, but its people and its government showed moments of chaos and even rejection of the government itself. Major things were happening and people were reacting in sometimes extreme ways. The sixties were jam packed with events showing disorder. In this way we can relate it to one who lived the time. Jim Morrison’s life was full of diversity, order and chaos, just like the times he lived in, the sixties.
Growing up Morrison's childhood was filled with African American folklore, music, rituals, and myths which accompany her eternally. Her family was, as Morrison says, "intimate with the supernatural" ( according to http://www.math.buffalo.edu ). This quote demonstrates that Morrison family frequently used visions and
Jim Morrison is widely considered to be one of the most iconic performers in rock and roll history. Paired with the instrumentals of The Doors, his haunting lyrics and chaotic performance style struck a chord with audiences of the 1960’s and elevated him to “Rock God” status. Morrison undoubtedly lived his life in a way to live up to that title: in his short lifetime he was arrested a total of 6 times and most of his adult life was consumed by copious amounts of sex, drugs and alcohol. Of course, all of this indulgence only led to tragedy, Morrison was often prone to self-destructive and abusive behaviors. Oliver Stone’s 1991 film The Doors as well as James Farr’s essay “'The Lizard King or Fake Hero?”: Oliver Stone, Jim Morrison, and History
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18,1931 in Lorain, Ohio to George and Ramah Willis Wofford. She was the second of four children. Her parents influenced her writing because of their contrasting views. Her father had a very pessimistic view of hope for his people; however, her mother had a more positive belief that a person, with effort, could rise above African-Americans’ current surroundings (Carmean 1-2). Her parents also influenced her because they were “gifted storytellers who taught their children the value of family history and the vitality of language”(Carmean 2).
Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.
Kurt Cobain was the singer and guitarist for Nirvana. He was born in Hoquiam (population 9,000) and after six months of life moved to Aberdeen (pop. 16,500), an old lumber town at the eastern-most point of Grays Harbor. The town is about four miles wide and three miles long. On the northern and eastern sides of town are steep hills where the richer families live in Victorian-style houses. At the foot of the hills is the poorer part of Aberdeen where Kurt grew up. (Gilmore 44)
Toni Morrison born Chloe Walker was born in Lorain, Ohio in 1931. In 1949, after graduating from Lorain high school, Morrison attended Howard University. Where she majored in English and minored in classics, also while attending Howard University Morrison was an active socialite. By 1954 Morrison graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Upon graduation Morrison devoted her time to teaching at prestigious universities such as Yale, Princeton, Howard and Southern University. After her years of teaching Morrison decided to focus her passion on writing. With her literary work Morrison’s works has become a blue print for young black writers