0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains very strong language and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:08 > 0:00:11- MUSIC: "Born In The USA" - The golden age of American rock,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13when singers were gods, guitarists were axemen
0:00:13 > 0:00:15and songs were anthems.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18# Born in the USA
0:00:18 > 0:00:23# I was born in the USA... #
0:00:23 > 0:00:26The soundtrack of a nation forged one stadium at a time.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29# Welcome to the Hotel California... #
0:00:29 > 0:00:32For three decades from the late '60s,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34rock music was the sound of America,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37taking over virtually every mainstream radio station in the country
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and then its TV screens.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45# Welcome to the jungle We got fun and games
0:00:45 > 0:00:48# We got everything you want... #
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Rock music that became the embodiment of America at its most brash
0:00:51 > 0:00:55was born during the protest movement of the late '60s.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01This programme explores the emergence of American rock
0:01:01 > 0:01:04at the end of the decade - the era of flower power,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07mass protests, Vietnam and LSD.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Inspired by the experimental sounds of the Beatles,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15some of the biggest names in US rock released their first albums in 1967.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18# Break on through to the other side
0:01:18 > 0:01:21#Break on through to the other side... #
0:01:21 > 0:01:25They were musicians who not only sang about the social revolution,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28they were the revolution.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32It was just great to be part of it. You felt part of something.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34I think that the youth finally had a voice.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Make love, not war.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38It was as if someone had lifted up a giant flat rock
0:01:38 > 0:01:40and everyone crawled out from underneath it.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45It was pretty crazy, yeah. It was madly, wonderfully crazy, though.
0:01:45 > 0:01:46Thank God.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49MUSIC: "Born To Be Wild"
0:01:49 > 0:01:52This is the story of classic American rock told by
0:01:52 > 0:01:58the people who were there and made the music that shaped a generation.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02# Born to be wild
0:02:05 > 0:02:11# Born to be wild... #
0:02:11 > 0:02:14# You shake my nerves And you rattle my brain
0:02:14 > 0:02:17# Too much love Drives a man insane
0:02:17 > 0:02:20# You broke my will But what a thrill
0:02:20 > 0:02:23# Goodness gracious Great balls of fire... #
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Classic American rock has its roots in the rock 'n' roll era
0:02:27 > 0:02:29of the late '50s, when the US was enjoying
0:02:29 > 0:02:32an unprecedented cultural and economic boom.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Growing up through the end of the decade,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38our fledgling '60s rockers were all turned on by the new craze.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41# Hm, feels good... #
0:02:41 > 0:02:42When I was growing up in the '50s,
0:02:42 > 0:02:49what was on the charts was hard-ass rock 'n' roll.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51It was Little Richard.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52It was Elvis Presley.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55# Everybody in the whole cell block
0:02:55 > 0:02:57# Was dancing to the jailhouse rock... #
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Rock 'n' roll took the '50s by storm,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03blowing away the austerity of the post-war years.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06For the first time in history, teenagers had a voice.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11But not everyone was seduced by the sexual awakening of the baby-boomer generation.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13# Everybody let's rock... #
0:03:13 > 0:03:17I think the DJs got wise to it
0:03:17 > 0:03:22that the girls are getting moist, shall we say?
0:03:22 > 0:03:25The boys are hard.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Again. Constantly.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31And things were going on that were untoward, that were not allowed.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Rock 'n' roll has got to go and go it does.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36That's the best way I know to get rid of them.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41The USA entered the '60s in a self-confident and optimistic mood.
0:03:41 > 0:03:46That was expressed by the election of a 43-year-old president, John F Kennedy, in 1960.
0:03:46 > 0:03:52JFK's message of hope reflected the liberation felt by the Fifties teenyboppers.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56But rock 'n' roll's original spirit was already in danger of burning out.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57Chuck Berry were sent off to jail.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Little Richard wanted to be a preacher.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Um, Elvis was in the Army.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Then, all of a sudden, we had this, what I call, the pretty-boy singer era.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12# I love, I love, I love my little calendar girl
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- # Every day - Every day
0:04:15 > 0:04:17- # Every day - Every day
0:04:17 > 0:04:18# Of the year... #
0:04:18 > 0:04:20There was very white bread kind of music, you know.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Rock 'n' roll kind of very clean
0:04:24 > 0:04:28and, um, you know, formulised.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30# Who wears short shorts?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35# We wear short shorts
0:04:35 > 0:04:37# They're such short shorts
0:04:39 > 0:04:42# We like short shorts... #
0:04:42 > 0:04:44Kind of soft, melodic pop.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48And young girls, you know, loved that,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53but for people who wanted some meat on the bone, what happened?
0:04:53 > 0:04:56# Round, round Get around, I get around
0:04:56 > 0:04:59# Yeah Get around, round, round... #
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Bands like the Beach Boys reflected the happy-go-lucky,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04cash-rich lives of the country's teenagers.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Two bonus burgers, a vanilla shake and some French fries.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Under the spell of Kennedy's vision,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16there seemed to be no limits to the country's ambition.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving
0:05:19 > 0:05:24the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon
0:05:24 > 0:05:26and returning him safely to the Earth.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31# We shall overcome. #
0:05:31 > 0:05:34JFK also challenged America's younger generation
0:05:34 > 0:05:36to look at the inequalities in their country.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40And when the Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, marched on Washington
0:05:40 > 0:05:46in August 1963, it resonated with young people of all races.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49The First Amendment deals with certain basic freedoms,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52such as freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of press
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and the right to protest for rights.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58The failure on the part of the government to protect these rights
0:05:58 > 0:06:01is one of the great failures that we face.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Frustrated by the failures of the older generation
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and inspired by their new charismatic leaders,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10young people were no longer afraid to voice their opinions
0:06:10 > 0:06:14on everything from civil rights to impending war in Vietnam.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Kids are just getting to the point where they just say,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21"Forget you, Mom and Dad, I don't want your society."
0:06:21 > 0:06:24# Baby love, my baby love... #
0:06:24 > 0:06:27One clear sign of the changes in American society
0:06:27 > 0:06:31was the growing commercial success of black artists with young white audiences.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34# I never loved no-one but you... #
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Yet much of American popular music of the early '60s
0:06:37 > 0:06:40was still preoccupied with teenage love.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46But when folk singer Bob Dylan stepped into the spotlight in 1963 from the booming folk circuit,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51his thoughtful, intelligent songs articulated the baby boomers' concerns
0:06:51 > 0:06:54with the slow pace of change in modern America.
0:06:54 > 0:07:00# How many years could a mountain exist
0:07:00 > 0:07:05# Before it's washed to the sea? #
0:07:05 > 0:07:10When we first start hearing some Bob Dylan, that was a different voice.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14What we liked is the message, more than anything, from Dylan.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17He was one of... He was a symbol for change.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23# The answer, my friend is blowing in the wind
0:07:23 > 0:07:30# The answer is blowing in the wind. #
0:07:30 > 0:07:34As Americans faced the increasing threat of their country's involvement in Vietnam,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39the younger generation still hoped that their dynamic president would be the catalyst
0:07:39 > 0:07:41for a peaceful, fairer country.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49But, in November 1963, their hopes were dashed.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52After President Kennedy's assassination, Sir Winston Churchill
0:07:52 > 0:07:57said that the loss to the United States and to the world is incalculable.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06'The bright promise of the Kennedy administration has been replaced by doubt and apprehension.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11'Most, when you ask about the days to come, have no answer, or a shake of the head.'
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Kennedy's short presidency had captured the imagination of America's youth
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and when four cheeky musicians from Liverpool landed in New York,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22three months after his funeral,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24they found a country that was eager to build on his legacy.
0:08:24 > 0:08:30# She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
0:08:30 > 0:08:37# She loves you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
0:08:37 > 0:08:40# You think you've lost your love
0:08:40 > 0:08:41# Well, I saw her... #
0:08:41 > 0:08:43They were like our gods.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48Wow, every two weeks there was a new record, both sides were fantastic.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50The Beatles led us all.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Musically, we all looked to the Beatles
0:08:52 > 0:08:56and the Beatles were the pied pipers and they took us down that road.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59# It's been a hard day's night
0:08:59 > 0:09:02# And I've been working like a dog
0:09:02 > 0:09:05# It's been a hard day's night... #
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Suddenly, kids like me, that were 15 years old,
0:09:08 > 0:09:12that was going to go to work in a car wash, decided to start bands.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And it scared the other generation to death,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19because, all of a sudden, this generation
0:09:19 > 0:09:21was getting creative.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22I was an Elvis fan.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28It didn't seem like an attainable thing to be a rock star.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34But when I saw a self-contained unit, like the Beatles were -
0:09:34 > 0:09:38they were making the music together, they were singing the music together,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43writing the music - then you went, "Ah, I see.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"I see how this can be done."
0:09:46 > 0:09:50In the wake of Beatlemania, new bands formed all over the US.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56# Hey, Mr Tambourine Man play a song for me... #
0:09:56 > 0:10:00In California, The Byrds were pioneers of folk rock,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04playing traditional and folk material on electric instruments.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07They reached the top of the American charts in April 1965
0:10:07 > 0:10:11with a radical cover version of a Dylan song that was influenced
0:10:11 > 0:10:14by the new sounds of the Beatles.
0:10:14 > 0:10:21# In the jingle-jangle morning I'll come following you. #
0:10:21 > 0:10:24When we first heard it was like 2/4 time.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28# Hey, Mr Tambourine Man play a song for me
0:10:28 > 0:10:29# I'm not sleepy
0:10:29 > 0:10:32# And there is no place I'm going to... #
0:10:32 > 0:10:39- I took it and I put a Beatle beat to it, like... - PLAYS MORE SLOWLY
0:10:39 > 0:10:42# Hey, Mr Tambourine Man
0:10:42 > 0:10:45# Play a song for me
0:10:45 > 0:10:52# In the jingle-jangle morning I'll come following you... #
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Hot on the heels of the Beatles was another British outfit,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12the Rolling Stones.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15The band made a huge impression on white American audiences
0:11:15 > 0:11:19with their cover versions of songs by largely unknown blues artists,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22such as Howlin' Wolf's Little Red Rooster.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25# I'm the little red rooster, babe
0:11:25 > 0:11:27# Too lazy
0:11:27 > 0:11:30# To crow for day... #
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The Stones started bringing the blues back,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36our blues back to us.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38There were people who had never even heard
0:11:38 > 0:11:41of most of the blues musicians they were playing
0:11:41 > 0:11:43a lot of their songs.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46# Upset in every way... #
0:11:52 > 0:11:56When these guys came from England, playing American rock 'n' roll
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and playing it really, really well, adding a whole new life to it, actually,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03thank God for that.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08As we used to say, "I love the limeys for what they're doing."
0:12:08 > 0:12:10To their everlasting credit, it was the Stones
0:12:10 > 0:12:14who insisted on Howlin' Wolf appearing with them on Shindig.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18You know, they said, "He doesn't get to play, we don't play."
0:12:18 > 0:12:19I was in Chicago a little while ago
0:12:19 > 0:12:23and I came across this restaurant and I went in and I found
0:12:23 > 0:12:27a chap singing the blues, I thought he was fantastic, so I booked him.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29- And, er... - "Jolly good chap. He's on."
0:12:29 > 0:12:34And it turned out to be somebody you know about, in fact he's quite famous, isn't he?
0:12:34 > 0:12:38- Yes, he was the first one who recorded Little Red Rooster.- Was he?
0:12:38 > 0:12:43Up until that time, most white kids... "Who are these guys?"
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Well, they're the ones who laid the groundwork
0:12:45 > 0:12:48for that music that cool music that you love so much.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52# How many more years
0:12:52 > 0:12:56# Have I got to let you dog me around?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02# How many more years
0:13:02 > 0:13:08# Have I got to let you dog me around? #
0:13:08 > 0:13:13The difference between the Rolling Stones and us is they idolised
0:13:13 > 0:13:15all these great old blues guys,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17but we could actually go see these guys.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21We'd have to sneak in, but, you know, we did,
0:13:21 > 0:13:26and Jimmy Reed and Howlin' Wolf and all these people we got to see.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30While the first wave of the British invasion inspired
0:13:30 > 0:13:35the emerging American rockers to look closer at home for musical direction,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38when the Beatles returned to the US in 1965,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42they'd become politicised pot-smokers, who had a huge influence
0:13:42 > 0:13:45on the way young people thought and behaved.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48MUSIC: "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles
0:13:48 > 0:13:52It's hard to imagine, if you didn't live through it,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54when the records came out, how important it was -
0:13:54 > 0:13:57culturally, how much we all went to someone's house
0:13:57 > 0:14:00to listen to that album come out that day and all the bands followed,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03and when the Beatles said something, you listened.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06As the Beatles pushed the boundaries of popular music,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08they inspired young American bands to believe
0:14:08 > 0:14:12that rock 'n' roll could be much more than pure entertainment.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14Suddenly, they had a voice.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20Now they felt, "Well, if the Beatles and Bob Dylan can protest the war, so can we."
0:14:20 > 0:14:23And that's when the whole thing ruptured, I think.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Energised by the British invasion and Bob Dylan's social commentary,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31American bands branched out in many directions,
0:14:31 > 0:14:36taking influences from the blues, folk, country and rock 'n' roll.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39# Get your motor running
0:14:39 > 0:14:41# Head out on the highway
0:14:43 > 0:14:45# Looking for adventure
0:14:45 > 0:14:49# And whatever comes our way... #
0:14:49 > 0:14:52What began to emerge was a distinct American rock style
0:14:52 > 0:14:58that was heavier and louder than the bubble-gum pop that had dominated the charts in the early '60s.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Songs such as Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf captured
0:15:01 > 0:15:03the spirit of rebellion and freedom
0:15:03 > 0:15:06at the heart of the new wave of rock bands.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09# We were born, born to be wild... #
0:15:09 > 0:15:14And as bands all over the country added their own local flavours to the mix,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16classic American rock was born.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20# Born to be wild
0:15:22 > 0:15:26# Born to be wild. #
0:15:26 > 0:15:31Many early American rock tracks were as much about attitude as social awareness.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36But when the US Marines were dispatched to Vietnam in March 1965,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40it marked the beginning of the ground war, and the message changed.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43# I see the bad moon arising
0:15:45 > 0:15:48# I see trouble on the way... #
0:15:48 > 0:15:52For teenage boys in the mid-'60s, including those in rock bands,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55the threat of being called up was a constant worry.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58That unease was captured by the foreboding lyrics of songs
0:15:58 > 0:16:02such as Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05# It's bound to take your life
0:16:05 > 0:16:08# There's a bad moon on the rise... #
0:16:10 > 0:16:17President Lyndon B Johnson's government drafted 400,000 ordinary teenagers into the Army every year.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22By 1967, half a million young Americans
0:16:22 > 0:16:26were fighting on the other side of the world in Vietnam.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29- Name?- Raymond Daniel Manzarek.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- Age?- Born 2.12.39.
0:16:33 > 0:16:34Here come the politicians.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40"You boys are going to have to go off to war to go fight Vietnamese."
0:16:40 > 0:16:42"What's a...? Excuse me?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44"Where is it Vietnam, first of all, and what's a Vietnamese?
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Name?- John Densmore.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49- Age?- 23.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52We certainly were all educated,
0:16:52 > 0:16:57so we quickly learned that the Vietnam War was not where it's at.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06It was, in our eyes, a very unjust war.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08We had no business being there.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12This was the first time everybody looked at America
0:17:12 > 0:17:16as a country where God was no longer on our side.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17It just didn't fly the way...
0:17:17 > 0:17:21For example, nobody had to question why we were fighting
0:17:21 > 0:17:22after Pearl Harbor,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25in World War II, that just didn't come up.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31When it became clear to this younger generation that it could be
0:17:31 > 0:17:37drafted and sent to Vietnam, to be blown up, or to kill
0:17:37 > 0:17:39maybe harmless people,
0:17:39 > 0:17:45this started to become a rallying cry for our generation
0:17:45 > 0:17:49in a way that might not have been if it hadn't been for the draft.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Guys didn't want to go. Guys said, "No way, man. Hell, no,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56"we won't go." There were big protests in the street.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00ALL CHANT: Hell, no, we won't go!
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Inevitably, the draft impacted the newly formed rock acts.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and drummer Doug Clifford were both drafted in 1966
0:18:10 > 0:18:16and their sense of injustice in the system was expressed in Fortunate Son.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19# And when you ask 'em How much should we give?
0:18:19 > 0:18:23# The only answer More, more, more
0:18:23 > 0:18:26# It ain't me, it ain't me
0:18:26 > 0:18:28# I ain't no military son. #
0:18:28 > 0:18:34A lot of the people - the elected officials' kids somehow managed to not go.
0:18:34 > 0:18:42They were able to buy a favour, or knew somebody, so it was obvious.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44It was the working class and the middle class
0:18:44 > 0:18:48that did the dirty work.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49# More, more
0:18:49 > 0:18:52# It ain't me, it ain't me
0:18:52 > 0:18:54# I ain't no fortunate one. #
0:19:02 > 0:19:04With more young men called up,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07dodging the draft became a game of cat and mouse.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11The image of unruly '60s kids head-to-head with the US Army
0:19:11 > 0:19:14became ingrained in the American psyche.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17These encounters were captured in the black humour
0:19:17 > 0:19:19of the 1978 cult movie Big Wednesday.
0:19:19 > 0:19:25This is your induction visit.
0:19:25 > 0:19:32Now if you pass today, you will be a member of the United States Army.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I hope you brought your toothbrushes.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39When I was in the Army psychiatrist's office,
0:19:39 > 0:19:45I pulled my chair over to the corner and sat with my back to the man.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Er, this is amusing now - I was terrified, let me tell you.
0:19:50 > 0:19:57And he yelled at me and I said, "I am not good material for the Army. I took LSD."
0:19:57 > 0:20:00And he said, "Great, you're going in."
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Oh, thank you very much(!)
0:20:02 > 0:20:08And so on the way out, this wonderful, elderly, large black woman,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12who was taking the forms looked at me
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and she could tell I was just so shattered, I could barely function
0:20:16 > 0:20:21and she pointed to the "homosexual tendencies" box.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24And implied that if I checked that, I wouldn't be in.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30And this was back when they didn't even have the word "gay",
0:20:30 > 0:20:33it was more derogatory.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37And, you know, um, I checked that box.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Thank God.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Sent to fight or left at home, the baby-boomer generation
0:20:43 > 0:20:46was desperate to escape from the reality of war.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Thousands of young Americans flocked to San Francisco,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53attracted by the city's liberal attitude to sex and drugs.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57It also boasted one of the most dynamic music scenes in the country,
0:20:57 > 0:21:04where acts such as Country Joe and Janis Joplin provided the soundtrack to 1967's Summer of Love.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07# I need a man to love me
0:21:08 > 0:21:12# Don't you understand me, baby?
0:21:12 > 0:21:14# Why
0:21:14 > 0:21:17# I need a man to love... #
0:21:17 > 0:21:21San Francisco's always been a liberal place, where there's so much going on.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25And when I grew up here, there was the beatniks and the jazz cats,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28so it was a natural place for something to ferment.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Everybody's wearing feathers and beads and long dresses
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and wild hats.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37And it was as if someone had lifted up a giant flat rock
0:21:37 > 0:21:39and everyone crawled out from underneath it.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And it was kindred spirits.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Let's face it, we were all a bunch of dope-smokers,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52so that was against the law.
0:21:52 > 0:21:53And nobody wanted to drink
0:21:53 > 0:21:56and they didn't want to do what the straight people did.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00# I'm stuck on the LA freeway
0:22:00 > 0:22:04# Got rainwater in my boots... #
0:22:04 > 0:22:09We call upon the world to help us celebrate the infinite holiness of life.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12We ask all who come here to come here in love
0:22:12 > 0:22:15and we ask all who live here to greet all men with love.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22There was this great love vibe, everybody loved everybody.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26I don't know, everybody slept with everybody, as far as I know.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31# I went flying
0:22:31 > 0:22:33# And high...
0:22:33 > 0:22:36For the first time it was, "Wow, we are united."
0:22:36 > 0:22:42And it was sort of us against them, but we wanted to bring the straights into the freak scene.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46It wasn't like we were... We were hoping to... That we could all become one.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50It was all very much to do with that kind of belief that
0:22:50 > 0:22:55we can overcome any negative bullshit with music and loving each other
0:22:55 > 0:22:56and it was sincere.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01The city's rock scene grew hand-in-hand
0:23:01 > 0:23:04with the flower-power generation's experimentation with LSD.
0:23:04 > 0:23:11The Fillmore Ballroom became home to a new breed of psychedelic bands, such as Jefferson Airplane.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15# It's no secret
0:23:15 > 0:23:19# When you' got me jumping up and down
0:23:19 > 0:23:22# It's no secret
0:23:22 > 0:23:25# Cos my heart is chained and bound
0:23:25 > 0:23:27# I love you
0:23:27 > 0:23:29# Yes, I love you, yeah
0:23:29 > 0:23:33# It's no secret... #
0:23:33 > 0:23:37At the gigs in the ballrooms, we had this barrel of apples
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and every apple was syringed with acid.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45And we had a big fruit bowl, you know, punch when you come up the stairs in the Fillmore,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47you know, laced with acid.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51So the audience is having a good time, too, you know,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53and they got very loose with us.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56# See that girl barefootin' along
0:23:56 > 0:24:00# Whistling and singing She's a-carryin' on... #
0:24:00 > 0:24:03The legendary shows at the Fillmore by bands such Jefferson Airplane,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Quicksilver Messenger
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and Grateful Dead were mirrored in other parts of the country
0:24:08 > 0:24:13as kids fell under the influence of flower power and its soundtrack.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19People my age and, you know, from 15 to 20, just rocking out,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23dancing, loving each other, carrying flowers and incense around,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27smoking a lot of pot and feeling like part of a community,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30part of a revolution that was brewing.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And the music had everything to do with it.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38The words the musicians were singing, the way they looked,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41it was brand-new, it was fresh and exciting.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Jefferson Airplane was the first San Francisco psychedelic outfit
0:24:56 > 0:24:58to hit the big time.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And lead singer Grace Slick's White Rabbit captured
0:25:01 > 0:25:05the experimental spirit of flower power.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08# One pill makes you larger
0:25:08 > 0:25:13# And one pill makes you small
0:25:13 > 0:25:17# And the ones that Mother gives you
0:25:17 > 0:25:21# Don't do any thing at all
0:25:21 > 0:25:25# Go ask Alice
0:25:25 > 0:25:28# When she's ten feet tall... #
0:25:28 > 0:25:31As LSD became widespread in the music scene,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35even heavier rock bands of the era, such as LA-based Steppenwolf,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40experimented with atmospheric songs and abstract sounds.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42In San Francisco, they were stretching out,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45they were jamming, they were psychedelic,
0:25:45 > 0:25:51they tried things and, since a lot of the ballroom audience
0:25:51 > 0:25:56was on the same trip with them, it was not only tolerated,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59it was kind of, "Wow, it's really far out, man."
0:25:59 > 0:26:01It was that kind of experience.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And we started to do likewise, to see whether it can create
0:26:05 > 0:26:12a mood, some kind of mental picture that we can generate in your mind.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# You don't know what we can find
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# Oh, why don't you come with me, little girl
0:26:29 > 0:26:31# On a magic carpet ride...? #
0:26:31 > 0:26:36It wasn't only in the studio where musicians explored with new psychedelic sounds.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38When Jimi Hendrix burst onto the American scene
0:26:38 > 0:26:42at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45he transformed the possibilities of rock music
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and the first American guitar hero was born.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Come on, man!
0:26:59 > 0:27:02# Wild thing
0:27:04 > 0:27:07# You make my heart sing
0:27:09 > 0:27:13# You make everything groovy... #
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Hendrix was alien to me.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19I listened to it and I went, "What is he doing, how is it happening?"
0:27:19 > 0:27:22He took a Stratocaster, plugged it into a Marshall stack
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and did something that was not designed to ever happen before and transferred a language.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38He is somebody that, I think,
0:27:38 > 0:27:44best expressed what electric lead guitar sounds like.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47MUSIC: "Purple Haze"
0:28:05 > 0:28:09He was the first one that really put that screaming element into it.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13A lot of people are experimenting and stuff and checking out
0:28:13 > 0:28:16new sounds and new techniques, all kinds of great stuff.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21But when he came out, it really came from the heart and he heard music
0:28:21 > 0:28:24played with that sound and he went after it and fucking created it.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42I've never seen anything like that since, never. That creativity.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44I mean, there's the great Jeff Becks and Claptons,
0:28:44 > 0:28:49but nobody was that sexy, you know.
0:28:49 > 0:28:55I see guys all the time, "Hey, I can play Purple Haze, but they don't play it like the way Hendrix...
0:28:55 > 0:28:58I mean, he fucked every note, you know.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09With their often outlandish image, and open use of illegal substances,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14rock musicians were inevitably associated with hedonistic lifestyles.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19Yet, for many of this generation, it wasn't just an excuse to smoke pot.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24There was a growing sense of empowerment,
0:29:24 > 0:29:29new lifestyles were butting up against conservative lifestyles
0:29:29 > 0:29:33and establishment, and the counter-culture began to be
0:29:33 > 0:29:35better defined as opposing forces.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39The generation's values that had been inspired by JFK
0:29:39 > 0:29:43at the turn of the decade, were given a huge boost when his younger brother,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47the charismatic 40-year-old figure of Bobby Kennedy, joined the race
0:29:47 > 0:29:51to become the Democratic nominee for the 1968 presidential election.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55# Excuse me while I kiss the sky... #
0:29:59 > 0:30:02We can start to work together. We are a great country,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04an unselfish country and a compassionate country
0:30:04 > 0:30:09- and I intend to make that my basis for running. - CHEERING
0:30:09 > 0:30:12With his baby-faced looks and positive vision,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Kennedy expressed the generation's hopes for a peaceful future.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19But not everyone viewed the country through the same rose-tinted glasses.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26Formed in Los Angeles, in 1965, on Venice Beach
0:30:26 > 0:30:32by four middle-class college boys, The Doors expressed a very different vibe.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36Their combination of free-form jazz, flamenco and poetry
0:30:36 > 0:30:42acted as a dark counterpoint to the San Francisco hippy scene.
0:30:42 > 0:30:48# Carry me, caravan Take me away
0:30:48 > 0:30:53# Take me to Portugal Take me to Spain
0:30:53 > 0:30:56# Andalusia
0:30:56 > 0:31:00# With fields full of grain
0:31:00 > 0:31:02# I have to see you
0:31:02 > 0:31:05# Again and again... #
0:31:05 > 0:31:06They were LA's sex music,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09whereas San Francisco had a groovy,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13"Let's all get together in the park and smoke marijuana
0:31:13 > 0:31:17"and listen to Country Joe And The Fish," you know.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20The Doors were this other entity.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23They were kind of this dark, sexy entity.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34The band was fronted by the enigmatic Jim Morrison,
0:31:34 > 0:31:35whose film-star looks
0:31:35 > 0:31:39and brooding stage presence fascinated everyone who saw him.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42You couldn't take your eyes off Morrison, because you didn't know
0:31:42 > 0:31:44if he was going to jump off the stage,
0:31:44 > 0:31:49if he was going to collapse - he was totally unpredictable.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52- Your name?- Er, Jim.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55- Occupation?- Um...
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Morrison's stream-of-conscious poetry
0:32:00 > 0:32:02was as unpredictable as his behaviour,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and pushed the boundaries of rock lyrics in epic songs
0:32:05 > 0:32:07such as The End.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10# This is the end
0:32:10 > 0:32:14# Beautiful friend
0:32:16 > 0:32:19# This is the end
0:32:19 > 0:32:23# My only friend, the end
0:32:23 > 0:32:28# Of our elaborate plans The end... #
0:32:28 > 0:32:34He sort of expressed the underlying angst the teenagers were feeling at the time
0:32:34 > 0:32:37and I remember very vividly his darkness.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41He had a dark quality and it was very sexy.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44And the stuff he sang about was pretty profound and deep.
0:32:44 > 0:32:51# Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
0:32:54 > 0:32:59# And all the children
0:32:59 > 0:33:02# Are insane...
0:33:02 > 0:33:09"Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain and all the children are insane."
0:33:09 > 0:33:13# Are insane...
0:33:13 > 0:33:15"Waiting for the summer rain."
0:33:15 > 0:33:20# Waiting for the summer rain... #
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Whoa, wait a second, man, is that Rimbaud? What is that?
0:33:26 > 0:33:29That's not rock 'n' roll lyrics.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34In the late '60s, radio was still the dominant medium for broadcasting music,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38but the constraints dictated by commercial radio was ill-equipped
0:33:38 > 0:33:40to deal with the changing face of rock.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44Songs such as The End were too long and lyrically challenging
0:33:44 > 0:33:47to be played on the singles-dominated radio stations.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51In San Francisco, all that was about to change.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Prior to April of 1967...
0:33:56 > 0:34:01..there was no FM radio, no FM rock radio.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07It was Top 40 bubble gum, AM, mono.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10And that was fine, you know, for the '50s,
0:34:10 > 0:34:17but, now, the Beatles had come along and the Stones were here.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20And Bob Dylan had arrived.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24And The Doors, you know.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27So along comes Tom and Raechel Donahue,
0:34:27 > 0:34:32who are sitting in their apartment in San Francisco one night.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36We're playing cards and drinking iced water,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39and butterscotch candy and taking acid,
0:34:39 > 0:34:44and, all of a sudden, we hear "Father, I'm going to kill you!"
0:34:44 > 0:34:47"What, what? Did he just...? What did he just say?"
0:34:48 > 0:34:49# Father Yes, son
0:34:49 > 0:34:51# I want to kill you
0:34:57 > 0:35:01# Mother
0:35:02 > 0:35:05# I want to...
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Agggghhhh!
0:35:08 > 0:35:10# Come on Oh... #
0:35:13 > 0:35:19The length alone, the construction of the song, it's scary.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24And it was dark and it was not anything like anything anybody else was doing.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29And Tom asked the fateful question, "Why don't we hear this on the radio?"
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Next day, he gets up, Tom and Raechel get their VW van,
0:35:32 > 0:35:37or whatever they're driving at the time, and they find a radio station
0:35:37 > 0:35:40who is so poor their phone has been disconnected.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43So Tom and Raechel go back to their place.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48They pack up their own albums in cardboard boxes, go back to the station
0:35:48 > 0:35:55turn it on and that was it. Like, instantly, Haight-Ashbury lit up.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07People were putting their stereo speakers out on the balcony, "Hey, listen to this!"
0:36:09 > 0:36:13It was so completely different, because, suddenly,
0:36:13 > 0:36:19you're getting all of this extraordinarily rich culture coming at you,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23delivered from people who you could relate to.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26What we want to do is everybody working together to make it as cool
0:36:26 > 0:36:30and groovy a trip as we can and to make it as happy a party as we can.
0:36:30 > 0:36:31You had disc jockeys
0:36:31 > 0:36:35that were kind of making up their own mind what they played.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37They were taste-makers.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39If you have a guy who had good taste,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42you had a really great radio show.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45This is KSAN in San Francisco, Tom Donahue and Raechel
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and lots of other people tonight, lots of friends until midnight.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50The DJ just went, "I've got all these albums,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52"I've got these glut of music.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56"I can play Quicksilver Messenger Service for 12 minutes."
0:36:56 > 0:37:00You wouldn't play the same song from an album, you'd work your way through an album.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03So if there was a new Jimi Hendrix album,
0:37:03 > 0:37:04when the new Cream album came out,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07we'd work our way through all the cuts, so that
0:37:07 > 0:37:10the audience could hear everything on it before deciding to buy it.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12With the arrival of FM radio,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15many of the protest movement's ideas on tackling poverty,
0:37:15 > 0:37:20ending sexual and racial inequality started to be embraced more widely.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25They were able to relate what was going on in the street to the music.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27So, suddenly,
0:37:27 > 0:37:33they could tie in what Dr King was saying with a Bob Dylan song.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and now you got something more powerful than the two separately.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Now you're starting to think about this stuff in a whole different way,
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and it spread like wildfire,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and it started spreading across the country.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50In a country as vast as the US, each city had distinct political
0:37:50 > 0:37:55and social issues and these were reflected in the local music scene.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59The industrial city of Detroit was home to some of the loudest,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03wildest bands in the country, such as the Stooges and MC5.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06# Love is like a ramblin' rose
0:38:10 > 0:38:12# The more you feel it The more it grows... #
0:38:12 > 0:38:16It was a far cry from the love vibes of flower power.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Detroit was a dynamic city at that time
0:38:19 > 0:38:24and working in the factory was portrayed as bang, bang, bang, bang.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27And it was sort of a bang, bang, bang, bang.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29And that got into their music.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34You know, the hard, driving rhythm, "Kick 'em out, don't give up."
0:38:34 > 0:38:37# Kick out the jams, motherfuckers... #
0:38:38 > 0:38:41The four working-class boys that were the MC5
0:38:41 > 0:38:44added some urban grit to the Summer of Love soundtrack
0:38:44 > 0:38:48with high-energy tracks, such as Kick Out The Jams.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52# Well, I'm feelin' pretty good
0:38:52 > 0:38:56# And I guess that I could Get crazy now, baby
0:38:57 > 0:38:59# Cos we all got in tune
0:38:59 > 0:39:03# When the dressing room Got hazy now, baby
0:39:04 > 0:39:07# I know how you want it, mama Hot, quick and tight
0:39:07 > 0:39:10# The girls can't stand it When you're doin' it right
0:39:10 > 0:39:13# Get me up on the stand
0:39:13 > 0:39:16# And let me kick out the jams... #
0:39:16 > 0:39:17There's an old saw
0:39:17 > 0:39:21that the Summer of Love didn't make a stop in Detroit.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25We tried. We had our hippies.
0:39:25 > 0:39:31We believed that peace and love were better than hate and violence.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34If you wanted the peace and love, you could get it here, too.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38There were, you know, "We love you, peace."
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Well, there was also...
0:39:40 > 0:39:45# Kick out the jams! #
0:39:47 > 0:39:50In Detroit, there was a different vibe.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Here people wanted, like, a little bit harder
0:39:53 > 0:39:55rock 'n' roll than that.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58We're not that laid-back here!
0:40:02 > 0:40:03San Francisco bands, to me,
0:40:03 > 0:40:08they all sounded like folk guitar players with electric guitars.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The rhythm sections were always terribly weak
0:40:12 > 0:40:15and they just didn't... They didn't have that...that drive.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24At the heart of the Motor City music scene was one of the craziest venues on the circuit,
0:40:24 > 0:40:25the Grande Ballroom.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34It was just a fabulous place where anything could happen
0:40:34 > 0:40:40any given night. There were scandalous amounts of sex happening in the ballroom
0:40:40 > 0:40:42in the course of the evening.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Drugs - psychedelic drugs, marijuana.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49On stage, it was like an orgasm.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51Yeah, it was.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54People would come in their... After the show, we'd find little wet spots
0:40:54 > 0:40:56where the audiences were, sometimes.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00The ladies got too carried away. I'm sorry, but that's the truth.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06As well as MC5's celebration of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll,
0:41:06 > 0:41:10they also promoted a very different message.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Along with many young black people,
0:41:12 > 0:41:17MC5's members were frustrated at the slow pace of change on civil rights.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21In Detroit, the Black Panther Party organised community projects
0:41:21 > 0:41:24in addition to protecting black people from police brutality.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29And the MC5 were sympathetic to their militaristic stance.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34The White Panther Party grew out of our frustration with the slow pace of change.
0:41:34 > 0:41:40We were young and we wanted things to happen now. Now, now, now.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44And, um, one of our friends was in jail
0:41:44 > 0:41:47and he read in the Black Panther newspaper
0:41:47 > 0:41:50that the Black Panthers had asked for a group of white people
0:41:50 > 0:41:55to come forward to do parallel work in the white community,
0:41:55 > 0:41:57that they were doing in the black community.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01And we said, "Hey, that's us. "They've got guns, we've got guns.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04"They're revolutionaries, we're revolutionaries."
0:42:04 > 0:42:10And, um, even though they were kind of more serious
0:42:10 > 0:42:13and we were, like, more crazy. HE LAUGHS
0:42:13 > 0:42:15We were, like, stoned out.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19I mean, the White Panther Party was kind of like a bunch of guys
0:42:19 > 0:42:23sitting around a table smoking a lot of reefer, laughing their ass off!
0:42:27 > 0:42:30On generational, racial and social grounds,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33American society was divided.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Viewed by many as the embodiment of the hippy generation,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40the sight of long-haired musicians on the road in the American heartlands
0:42:40 > 0:42:43was often met with suspicion.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46People would chase you, come after you,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50throw things at you, say things to you.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54It was very, you know... For us it was great, you know.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57We were disturbing these people.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01We'd come to disturb the comfortable and make the comfortable disturbed.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Even members of bands steeped in American roots music,
0:43:05 > 0:43:10such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, weren't safe on their travels.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14# When I was just a little boy
0:43:14 > 0:43:17# Standing to my daddy's knee... #
0:43:17 > 0:43:21We did Johnny Cash television summer show in Nashville
0:43:21 > 0:43:26and I wanted to buy a country shirt, a Western shirt, from Nashville.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33And it was lunchtime. I went out. I asked where I could buy one.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38Somebody said, "Two blocks this way four blocks that way, you can get...
0:43:38 > 0:43:42"There's a big store, you can get all the shirts you want."
0:43:42 > 0:43:43So I went down to buy one.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Went by a bar and I heard this commotion
0:43:45 > 0:43:48and the next thing I know, I'm up against the wall
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and there are five guys that had me pinned against the wall.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56And, er, "So, what have we got here, what have we got here?
0:43:56 > 0:43:59"We've got us a hippy boy.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02"Well, I don't know whether to fuck it or to shoot it."
0:44:02 > 0:44:05I mean, that's what they're saying. But I'm dead.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09I am going to certainly get the crap kicked out of me.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Then I have this deep voice. "Hey, boys, what the hell are you doing?
0:44:12 > 0:44:15"Let that man go." It was Johnny Cash.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20Thank God he was going out to... I don't know where he was going,
0:44:20 > 0:44:23but he passed by that bar and saved my ass.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28And, er... I said. "I'm going to be staying in the studio from now on."
0:44:29 > 0:44:32The culture clashes experienced by bands on the road
0:44:32 > 0:44:35were a sign that the paradise dreamt
0:44:35 > 0:44:38by the peace-and-love generation was turning sour.
0:44:38 > 0:44:43By the end of the decade, America was out of control at home and abroad.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45The body count went through the roof
0:44:45 > 0:44:50as the news carried daily images of the horror in Vietnam.
0:44:50 > 0:44:56The brutal assassination of Martin Luther King ended hopes of a non-violent solution
0:44:56 > 0:44:58to the civil rights campaign.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00And when Bobby Kennedy was shot on the campaign trail
0:45:00 > 0:45:03in June in 1968, the generation's hopes
0:45:03 > 0:45:08of electing a sympathetic figure that would end the war died with him.
0:45:08 > 0:45:14When Robert was assassinated, that was a real sinker, emotionally,
0:45:14 > 0:45:15because a lot of us
0:45:15 > 0:45:20had hoped that he was the guy that was going to,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23with his youthful charisma and energy,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26was going to pull the whole country forward.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Shocked by the loss of their charismatic leader
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and frustrated by the lack of progress on Vietnam,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35the frustration of the peace-and-love movement
0:45:35 > 0:45:37boiled over onto the streets and into the music.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42You could not disconnect the social movement from the music,
0:45:42 > 0:45:44it was that important.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46Again, you tasted it, you knew it.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49# Looks what's happening out in the streets
0:45:49 > 0:45:51# Revolution
0:45:51 > 0:45:54# Hey, I'm dancing Down the streets... #
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Jefferson Airplane, who'd captured the spirit of flower power,
0:45:57 > 0:46:01was one of the many bands who shed their psychedelic skins in favour
0:46:01 > 0:46:06of political anthems that reflected the tensions on the streets.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08# And now it's time for you and me
0:46:08 > 0:46:12# Got a revolution... #
0:46:12 > 0:46:15The hippy generation's mantra had been the freedom
0:46:15 > 0:46:18to experience alternative lifestyles in peace.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22As the Summer of Love turned into 1968's winter of discontent,
0:46:22 > 0:46:25the message changed from peace and love
0:46:25 > 0:46:27to a revolutionary call to arms.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29# Got a revolution... #
0:46:29 > 0:46:32'68 was a scary time. It was dark. Ugh.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37'67 was beautiful and then '68 was dark, you know.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40It was such a sudden change.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Things that had started out in a much more benign way,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45er, started to get heavy.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48People weren't seeing things happen quickly enough.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51And so violence started to creep into all the movements.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Some of the worst riots were in Detroit,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58home of revolutionary band the MC5,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01where a police raid of an unlicensed bar
0:47:01 > 0:47:03triggered five days of violence...
0:47:03 > 0:47:08# You know the Motor City's burning, babe
0:47:08 > 0:47:13# There ain't a thing in the world they can do... #
0:47:13 > 0:47:17..culminating in 46 deaths, 7,000 arrests
0:47:17 > 0:47:20and 2,000 buildings destroyed.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25Detroit was at war for a week with the Detroit police
0:47:25 > 0:47:30and, in the end, the United States Army came into separate everybody
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and calm things down, because the police had gone mad.
0:47:34 > 0:47:3740 or 50 people that were killed in that riot,
0:47:37 > 0:47:42they weren't snipers, Black Panther snipers, picking off police.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47They were just regular people that the police shot and killed.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52And when the Democratic Party convention in Chicago
0:47:52 > 0:47:55gathered to nominate a presidential candidate to take on
0:47:55 > 0:47:58the bruising figure of Richard Nixon,
0:47:58 > 0:48:00it was a disaster waiting to happen.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04The event that should have been Bobby Kennedy's coronation turned nasty
0:48:04 > 0:48:08when the other anti-war candidate, Eugene McCarthy,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11was beaten by Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15'I don't know what's going on but these are security people, apparently.'
0:48:15 > 0:48:17But the scenes in the convention took second place
0:48:17 > 0:48:21to the running battles between demonstrators and the police
0:48:21 > 0:48:23on the streets of Chicago.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29The convention in Chicago was disastrous, absolutely insane,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31wild, crazed.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35It was like a teenage movie, a political rebellion,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38except it was actually happening right on TV.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43There was a girl starting a fire and I was walking by, and they...
0:48:43 > 0:48:45they asked the girl what she was doing.
0:48:45 > 0:48:46She said she was starting a fire.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48This was this one man,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51short, fat guy in a green plaid jacket, and he said, "Really?"
0:48:51 > 0:48:52and he pulled out a black can
0:48:52 > 0:48:55and he just put it right up to her face and shot her.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Are you kidding me? Is this going on in America?
0:48:58 > 0:49:01When what we basically have
0:49:01 > 0:49:07are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of hippies smoking pot.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11When Republican candidate Richard Nixon
0:49:11 > 0:49:14was inaugurated as President in 1969,
0:49:14 > 0:49:18the flower power generation knew that their ideals had been rejected
0:49:18 > 0:49:21by the majority of Americans.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23But not everyone wallowed in self-pity.
0:49:23 > 0:49:24In upstate New York,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27an ambitious idea of a festival of peace and music
0:49:27 > 0:49:31near the quiet hamlet of Woodstock gathered momentum.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Really what we were trying to do was bring everybody together.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36We wanted to have an event
0:49:36 > 0:49:39which celebrated the positive side of our experiences.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43# We can be together
0:49:43 > 0:49:47# Ah-ahh, you and me... #
0:49:47 > 0:49:51We conceived it as this gathering of the tribes to sort of...
0:49:51 > 0:49:55get ourselves together and see if we could actually live, you know,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58the kind of... even for that brief period of time,
0:49:58 > 0:50:03in the kind of relationships and the way that we aspired to.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06What does it cost to put one of these things together?
0:50:06 > 0:50:07- A fortune. - A fortune?- Right.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12I planned Woodstock for 200,000 people. That was our real number.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15We built for it, we thought we were providing for it
0:50:15 > 0:50:18in terms of food, you know, capacities for toilets.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Everything was based on that number, 200,000,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23cos I thought, you know, "How ridiculous can it get?"
0:50:23 > 0:50:24Maybe that ridiculous.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27We were standing on the kerbs watching them come in last night,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29all the townspeople.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32It was just like an army invading your town!
0:50:32 > 0:50:34On the grass!
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Please walk on the grass!
0:50:38 > 0:50:42At some point, somebody observed that during that weekend,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46Woodstock was the third largest city in New York State.
0:50:46 > 0:50:52And we had expected one-twentieth the size of this crowd.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55American rock legends Jefferson Airplane,
0:50:55 > 0:50:56Creedence Clearwater
0:50:56 > 0:51:00and Woodstock residents The Band were among an A-list of acts
0:51:00 > 0:51:03hellbent on putting on an unforgettable show.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07# I was feeling 'bout half past ten
0:51:08 > 0:51:14# I just need to find some place where I can lay my head... #
0:51:14 > 0:51:18From the beginning, we all agreed.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20We did not want to make a political statement.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22We felt the biggest statement we could make was,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24this is going to work, we don't have to say anything.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31# Take a load off, Fanny
0:51:31 > 0:51:32# Take a load for free
0:51:34 > 0:51:36# Take a load off, Fanny
0:51:38 > 0:51:41# And you put the load right on me
0:51:41 > 0:51:44# And you put the load right on me... #
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Woodstock was really, really special.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54You could feel the love. I mean...
0:51:54 > 0:51:57I don't mean to be cliched but, I mean, I can't think of anything...
0:51:57 > 0:52:00That's what it was, was pure love.
0:52:00 > 0:52:01Morning, people!
0:52:06 > 0:52:11I was playing cards with Janis and Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15and whoever kept losing, and Janis would say, "OK, you go next."
0:52:15 > 0:52:18She was calling the shots, you know.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21And we didn't get on till, like, seven in the morning, you know.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25By that time, God, we'd been drunk and sobered up so many times.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30# Won't you try?
0:52:30 > 0:52:33# Won't you try?
0:52:33 > 0:52:36# Come on and try
0:52:36 > 0:52:40# Won't you try?
0:52:41 > 0:52:44# Find a way to need someone
0:52:44 > 0:52:47# Find a way to see... #
0:52:47 > 0:52:49What nobody talked about out loud a lot
0:52:49 > 0:52:52was the possibility of civil disorder.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Otherwise known as rioting!
0:52:55 > 0:52:57We just kept our fingers crossed
0:52:57 > 0:53:00and, sure enough, the audience,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03recognising that it was up to them to recreate civilisation...
0:53:06 > 0:53:11..reached inside and, out of some sense of...
0:53:11 > 0:53:17of integrity or decency or golden rule or community, really,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21and love, recreated society themselves.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23What you have here is this culture and this generation
0:53:23 > 0:53:27away from the old culture and the older generation,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29and you see how they've bunched in on their own,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33without cops, without guns, without clubs, without hassles.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35Everybody pulls together and everybody helps each other.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38And it works. It's been working since we got here.
0:53:38 > 0:53:39And it's going to continue working.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41No matter what happens when they go back to the city,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44this thing is happening and it proves that it can happen.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47MUSIC: "Star Spangled Banner" by Jimi Hendrix
0:53:52 > 0:53:55On the fourth morning, Jimi Hendrix closed the festival
0:53:55 > 0:53:57with his haunting version of the national anthem.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08Yet, instead of providing a platform
0:54:08 > 0:54:10for re-energising the social movement
0:54:10 > 0:54:14and inspiring a new wave of revolutionary music,
0:54:14 > 0:54:16the legacy of Woodstock was, instead,
0:54:16 > 0:54:21hijacked by record moguls and money men who were waiting at the gates.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23It was always about, you know,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26fuck the establishment and we're not buying it, and...
0:54:26 > 0:54:28and that started to change, you know.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31When the music business, after Woodstock,
0:54:31 > 0:54:37became the music industry, when great labels like Atlantic
0:54:37 > 0:54:39got taken over by these big corporations
0:54:39 > 0:54:42who had year-end reports and stockholders
0:54:42 > 0:54:46and things had to happen according to a schedule, all of it changed
0:54:46 > 0:54:48and, suddenly,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51bands who would never have thought about taking a sponsor on,
0:54:51 > 0:54:56for example, and "selling out" in that way
0:54:56 > 0:54:59were saying, "That's what the business is."
0:54:59 > 0:55:04And so, as time went on, it became more and more of the reality of...
0:55:05 > 0:55:07..the world of rock 'n' roll.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Suddenly you have lawyers, you have accountants and investment
0:55:10 > 0:55:13and managers and road guys and roadies and this and that,
0:55:13 > 0:55:15and everybody's telling you what to do
0:55:15 > 0:55:16and everybody's got their own big head
0:55:16 > 0:55:20and their egos and their drugs, and it's very boring, you know.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22I mean, every time the Airplane would try to get together,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25after we were popular, you know, if we had a rehearsal,
0:55:25 > 0:55:27lawyers would come, the accountants would...
0:55:27 > 0:55:29It's the only time they could get us all together.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32It was like, "Hey, we're trying to rehearse here," you know,
0:55:32 > 0:55:35"We're trying to put something new together."
0:55:35 > 0:55:37It took an element of its independence away
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and it took an element of its...
0:55:40 > 0:55:42um...
0:55:42 > 0:55:43value...
0:55:44 > 0:55:46..to young people away.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49Just a few months after Woodstock,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53the anything goes, peace-loving ethos of the flower power generation
0:55:53 > 0:55:55was delivered a fatal blow
0:55:55 > 0:55:59when a black music fan was killed by a member of the Hells Angels
0:55:59 > 0:56:03who were policing a Rolling Stones festival at Altamont, California.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Although much had changed socially and politically
0:56:06 > 0:56:08in a short space of time,
0:56:08 > 0:56:12America ended this turbulent decade in its history as it began,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16the world's undisputed superpower, even delivering on JFK's promise
0:56:16 > 0:56:19to land a man on the moon by the end of the '60s.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22But with a conservative presence in the White House,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24the war still raging in Vietnam
0:56:24 > 0:56:27and civil rights battles still being fought,
0:56:27 > 0:56:29had the Woodstock generation
0:56:29 > 0:56:32and the rockers who provided the soundtrack to their ideals blown it?
0:56:32 > 0:56:34This generation that we're talking about...
0:56:35 > 0:56:39..did change the world. Let me emphasise that.
0:56:39 > 0:56:45The seeds of civil rights, feminism, peace movement, anti-war,
0:56:45 > 0:56:48were planted in the '60s.
0:56:48 > 0:56:54Now, these are deep, serious issues that need a lot of water,
0:56:54 > 0:56:57maybe 50 or 100 years of water, I don't know,
0:56:57 > 0:57:01but they were planted and the fruition is slowly coming.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06That revolutionary time, I hope it comes...
0:57:06 > 0:57:10I hope someone can make a dent like that in the future,
0:57:10 > 0:57:12but it hasn't happened yet.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18I think the spirit goes on. It doesn't change, you know.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22The soul of people doesn't change, you know.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24We all want love, we all want peace.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27We all want to make something happen in this world,
0:57:27 > 0:57:29and I have a feeling that we're going to.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35By the end of 1971, three of America's biggest rock stars -
0:57:35 > 0:57:38Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix -
0:57:38 > 0:57:43would be dead in their 20s, all unable to control their drug habits.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Their deaths marked the end of an era
0:57:45 > 0:57:48when rock music genuinely challenged the establishment
0:57:48 > 0:57:51with its celebration of alternative lifestyles
0:57:51 > 0:57:54that embodied the generation's spirit of revolution.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02In the next part, we tell the story of the acts
0:58:02 > 0:58:05who followed in the wake of America's rock pioneers...
0:58:05 > 0:58:10I saw the '70s as starting down the road of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13We stopped the war, now we're going to party.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17# School's out for summer... #
0:58:17 > 0:58:20..a decade when cocaine replaced LSD...
0:58:20 > 0:58:23The emotional feel of the love, love, love
0:58:23 > 0:58:26became much more up in your head because of the...
0:58:26 > 0:58:28that particular drug.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31..when the protest was replaced by indifference
0:58:31 > 0:58:34and when rock music became the safe music of middle America.
0:58:34 > 0:58:38I mean, you want rock 'n' roll to be dangerous, we were dangerous.
0:58:38 > 0:58:40I said, "When you're in this band, three things are for sure.
0:58:40 > 0:58:43"You're going to see the world, you're going to get paid,
0:58:43 > 0:58:44"you're going to get stitches."
0:58:44 > 0:58:49# For the music is your special friend
0:58:50 > 0:58:55# Dance on fire as it intends
0:58:55 > 0:58:59# Music is your only friend
0:59:00 > 0:59:04# Until the end... #