CASTILLEJA SCHOOL 2010

Rock and Roll

The Impact of 1960’s Rock and Folk
Music on the American Population
Anna Cardinal
5/25/2010
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

UNITED STATES HISTORY

SECTION II
Part A
(Suggested writing time—45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score—45

Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates
your interpretation of Documents A-J and your knowledge of the period referred to in the
question. High scores will be earned only by essays that both site key pieces of evidence from
the documents and draw on outside knowledge of the period.

1. Analyze the impact of the rock and folk music from 1950 to 1970 on American culture.
Be sure to discuss the perspectives of both youth and adults.

Document A

Source: Beatlemania, 1964

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 2 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Document B

Source: Los Angeles Times, September 19, 1969

Marijuana has become so prevalent that youngsters laugh about it. Multitudes smoked it openly
at the Woodstock Rock Music Festival at Bethel, N.Y., while cops looked the other way. Sons
and daughters of prominent people have been arrested for possession and let off. Folk songs are
laced with lyrical praise of pot… “We know all we need to know about marijuana,” [Dr. Donald
Louria] says. “We’re just delaying a decision. The Kennedy commission on drug abuse urged
back in 1963 that marijuana not be equated with heroin. It’s foolish to increase penalties for
possession or sale of tiny amounts of marijuana. And if the Administration thinks that one
approach, control of supply, is the answer, they’re mistaken. Marijuana is a fad for kids, and they
might regard this action as a challenge.”

“I’d love for the kids to regard this as a challenge,” said [Dept. Atty. Gen. Richard] Kleindienst.
“They’ll find out we mean business.”

Document C

Source: The New York Times, January 6, 1958

The draft board here used to be a rather quiet place. That, of course, was before Elvis Presley
was drafted. Since then – especially after the rock and roll idol was granted an eight-week
deferment to complete a movie – letters have poured in.

Milton Bowers Sr., board chairman, is “fed to the teeth” with the outcries of those who think
Elvis is the greatest and those who think he is the least.

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 3 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

“With all due respect to Elvis, who’s a nice boy, we’ve drafted people who are far, far more
important than he is,” said Bowers. “After all, when you take him out of the entertainment
business what have you got left?

“A crackpot called me out of bed last night and complained that we didn’t put Beethoven in the
army. Considering that Beethoven was not an American and has been dead for some time, I
suppose he felt we were discriminating against rock and roll music.”

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 4 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Document D

Source: The New York Times, August 17, 1969

Mr. Roberts, the well-to-do son of a New Jersey family in the proprietary drug and cosmetic
business, said the fair [Woodstock] was “designed, conceived and operated by young people, all
26 years old and under.” There was a business, and also a sociological, purpose to the event, Mr.
Roberts said. “I had felt for a long time that the polarization of the generations is a very serious
threat to our society, and we felt that a cultural exposition created by youth could be of
inestimable value in bridging that gap… It was going to be a youth cultural exposition and that is
where the culture of this generation expresses itself more naturally.

“I think people who have some money want to offer themselves up for something that it socially
significant.”

Document E

Source: Woodstock Music Festival Poster, August 15, 1969

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 5 -
2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 6 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Document F

Source: The Washington Post, Times Herald, August 15, 1969

The hitchhikers who dot the Thruway leading upstate from New York City don’t “thumb.” They
stick out two fingers in the V peace sign… The “V,” like the hair and the bellbottoms, is the first
visible symbol that a culture is gathering. By tonight, most of the 200,000 who have bought
advance tickets will be here.

What brought them to Bethel is rock music – their common denominator, the distillation of the
finest, the worst, the angriest, the most gentle, the happiest, the saddest things that youth believe
is in their lives. “Face it, that’s their music and their way of life,” said Jerry Amatucci, Bethel’s
town supervisor and chief of police.

It’s people who are suspicious of any “outsiders” and people who serve free meals to anyone
who’s hungry, insider, outsider and even a policeman. It’s swastika-decorated “leathers” on
motorcycles that go 125 miles an hour and “flowers” in beat-up Volkswagens.

Document G

Source: Bob Dylan at Newport Folk Festival, 1965

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 7 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Analysis of Sources:

Document A: Beatlemania, 1964

This photograph is an example of the mindboggling popularity of the Beatles in the

younger population in the 1960’s as they crossed the ocean and came to the United States. Teens
were fanatic about this new wave and style of music, as it was different from anything they had
experienced previously. One could compare the British Invasion with the previous American
rock artists like Buddy Holly and Elvis and how the Beatles were even more rebellious, as they
were from a different country altogether with a very different style of music and performance. A
good use would be saying how the band, and similar bands, was idolized by American youth and
provided an escape from the stiff society as dictated by adults. The Beatles was a band young
Americans could put their full weight, hopes, and dreams behind.

Document B: “The Marijuana Crackdown and Some Unsettling Side Aspects,” 1969

This article shows an adult perspective on the rebellious nature and motives for marijuana
use by the younger generation. They think that “kids” consider it a fad, but it is also a form of
rebellion against society, and drugs in general give youth temporary freedom from a society that
does not appreciate individuality of this form. The government is ready to handle youth and does
©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 8 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

not encourage the current slack laws and enforcement of marijuana use. It is an adult viewpoint,
and it can be compared to the later accounts of Woodstock from Roberts and the younger
population. A careful reader might notice that there are conflicting viewpoints in the article, as
one adult is being cautious and is waiting for a government decision to be made before stating
his viewpoint, as he doesn’t want kids to consider it a challenge. The other viewpoint is an adult
who wants the kids to use all they’ve got, as the government is ready to react against them. When
kids want marijuana, they will do whatever they can to obtain it, and it is a very difficult task to
prevent it, as we see today in California.

Document C: “Elvis’ Draft Board Rocks and Rolls, Too,” 1958

This article is a prime example of the tension between the government, war, and the draft,
and youth, rock music, and idols. Elvis represents so much to his fans, and as he was one of the
first true rockers, his draft was very controversial. By drafting Elvis, the youth population
realized that such a confident man is still vulnerable to the government and the war, and as he
was a symbol for these people, they fought to keep him home as they couldn’t prevent the draft
altogether. A student could use this conflict on either the side of young rebels or the adults trying
to keep order in this tumultuous time.

Document D: “Promoter Baffled That Festival Drew Such a Big Crowd,” 1969

Roberts’s insights to the reasons for creating Woodstock show how, when youth put their
minds to it, they have the power and capability to form something meaningful and to make a
difference in the “polarization of generations,” as Roberts puts it. His goal was to accurately
portray the “culture of this generation” so that adults and the government could see the abilities
of youth and realize that they are a valuable part of society with invaluable knowledge and ideas
that need to be tapped. A student might use Roberts’s reference to the “polarization of
generations” as a key connection between the reason for Woodstock and the adults at the time.
He also points out that accurately portraying this new culture is important to the future as youth
discover where they truly belong in politics and society. Events like this often led to protests and
gathered people of the same political demographic.

Document E: Woodstock Music Festival Poster, 1969

This poster is entitled “Woodstock, Three Days of Peace and Music,” portraying the main
purpose of the Woodstock Music Festival. Woodstock was a gathering for young people to feel
like they were a part of something, and its nearly half a million participants all believed in the
purpose of the festival. An escape from life and the constrictive government of the time,
Woodstock provided a refuge for kids to smoke, enjoy the popular and controversial music of the
time, and bond with people of their own age and motives. A student might use this to support the
youth view of Woodstock and the lifestyle as a way to be a part of something with a group of
people who were similar and supportive of one another.

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 9 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Document F: “Thousands Rolling in for Woodstock Rock,” 1969

This article depicts the massive variation in attendees of the Woodstock festival, from
bikers to hippies, yet they all enjoy the same kind of music and have bonded behind a cause. The
article notices the rising anti-war sentiment of young people as “a culture… gathering,” and a
student might use this to connect to the Vietnam student protests during this time period as a
similar group of people. The article also covers the community formed around the festival and
how everyone is supportive of one another even if they would not be traditional allies. A
“common denominator” has been found and youth have something to rally about that adults
found repulsive at the time. Rock music provided a basis for a new culture that would later on
revolutionize rallies and anti-war protests. A student could use this as a sign of foreshadowing as
well as compare the unity of this group to the adults of the era and their repressiveness of this
kind of culture.

Document G: Bob Dylan at Newport Folk Festival, 1965

This simple photograph portrays Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, a tradition
lasting from 1959 where folk and blues artists, some of whose styles had been temporarily
forgotten, were brought back and performed to thousands of viewers. In the photograph, one can
see many microphones recording Dylan’s performance, showing the massive interest in this kind
of music. Dylan is famous for “Blowin’ in the Wind,” a song with the famous refrain, “the
answer is blowin’ in the wind,” and it is lyrics from songs like this that draw crowds to him full
of people with hope for a better future. At this time, the Vietnam War had drawn on for ten
years, and people needed a refuge from the draft, the images such as the ones seen during the Tet
Offensive, and the economic downturn. This resulted in them attending festivals such as
Newport and Woodstock. A student might use this photograph as an example of the massive
impact of folk music on the young population as a symbol of hope and an end to the war.

Likely Outside Information:

• Hair the musical debuted on Broadway in 1967, featuring motifs of peace and rebellion.
• The Weather Underground terrorist organization took its name from a Bob Dylan lyric,
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” from “Subterranean
Homesick Blues.”
• Connection between Vietnam protests and youth who listen to folk and rock music
• Any folk or rock artist, such as Joan Baez; Bob Dylan; Peter, Paul and Mary; Joni
Mitchell; Woodie Guthrie or others who advocated peace
• Jimi Hendrix’s new style of harder rock music
• Adult opposition to the British Invasion, such as the Beatles’ “long and rebellious”
haircuts, the Rolling Stones, the Who

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 10 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

• Folk music is that of working class and welcomes anyone to understand and listen its
prominent issues, such as war, civil rights, and hard times, as well as political
commentary
• Bye Bye Birdie was first performed in 1960, and is about Conrad Birdie, a fictional
portrayal of Elvis, and his fans’ extreme reaction to his being drafted
• Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan
• Berkeley civil rights protests
• Grateful Dead
• Vietnam protests at Washington Monument in 1965 and 1966 led by SNCC
• 1969, half a million people gathered in Washington, DC for a protest
• Gallup polls revealed increasing disagreement with the war
• Kent State protest and shootings in 1970

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 11 -
 2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

Bibliography

“Beatlemania.” Photo. Hulton Archive by Getty Images, 1964. SIRS Decades. Web. 14 May
2010.

“Bob Dylan at Newport Folk Festival.” Photo. Hulton Archive by Getty Images. 1965. SIRS
Decades. Web. 14 May 2010.

“Elvis’ Draft Board Rocks and Rolls, Too.” The New York Times 6 Jan 1958: 20. Historical
Newspapers. Print.

Phillips, B.J. “Thousands Rolling in for Woodstock Rock.” The Washington Post, Times Herald
15 Aug 1969: B1. Historical Newspapers. Print.

“Promoter Baffled That Festival Drew Such a Big Crowd.” The New York Times 17 Aug 1969:
80. Historical Newspapers. Print.

Thimmesch, Nick. “The Marijuana Crackdown and Some Unsettling Side Aspects.” Los Angeles
Times 19 Sep 1969: B7. Historical Newspapers. Print.

“Woodstock Music Festival.” Photo. Hulton Archive by Getty Images. 1969. SIRS Decades.
Web. 14 May 2010.

©2010 Annie Cardinal

- 12 -