The Beatles in 1964.

A Brief Introduction To The 1960's

The 1960s (aka the sixties) was a period of huge change and social reform with a Cultural Revolution taking place across the whole western world. The Sixties were more than just a decade, they were an era and, ironically, as they are known in popular culture today lasted from about 1963 to 1973.

The term, “The Sixties” is used descriptively by historians, journalists, and other objective academics; nostalgically by those who participated in the counter-culture and social revolution; and pejoratively by those who perceive the era as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance.

The decade was also labelled the “Swinging Sixties” because of the libertine attitudes that emerged during this decade.

Rampant drug use has become inextricably associated with the counter-culture of the era, as Jefferson Airplane co-founder Paul Kantner is quoted: "If you can remember anything about the sixties, you weren't really there."

The 1960s have become synonymous with all the new, exciting, radical, and subversive events and trends of the period, which continued to develop in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and beyond.

In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political change as countries gained independence from their European colonial rulers, only for this rule to be replaced in many cases by civil war or corrupt dictatorships.

Several Western governments turned to the left in the early 1960s. In Britain, the Labour Party gained power in 1964. In the United States President John F. Kennedy was elected as president. Italy formed its first left-of-centre government in March 1962 with a coalition of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, and moderate Republicans. Socialists joined the ruling block in December 1963.

John F Kennedy (JFK)

The overlapping, but somewhat different, movement of youth cultural radicalism was manifested by the hippies and the counter-culture, whose emblematic moments were the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969.

The sub-culture, associated with this movement, spread the recreational use of cannabis and other drugs, particularly new semi-synthetic drugs such as LSD. The era heralded the rejection and a reformation by hippies of traditional Christian notions on spirituality, leading to the widespread introduction of Eastern and ethnic religious thinking to western values and concepts concerning one's religious and spiritual development.

Psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, were popularly used medicinally, spiritually and recreationally throughout the 1960s. Psychedelic influenced the music, artwork and movies of the decade.

The rise of the counterculture, particularly among the youth, created a huge market for rock, soul, pop, reggae and blues music produced by drug-culture, influenced bands such as The Beatles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Bob Marley, Deep Purple, The Who, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Incredible String Band, also for radical music in the folk tradition pioneered by Bob Dylan, The Mamas and the Papas, and Joan Baez.

The marriage of music and movies keeps the spirit of the sixties alive today. Movies about the era are incredibly popular. The Vietnam War is the topic most often considered, with movies like Apocalypse Now; Platoon; and Born on the Fourth of July. The influence of the counterculture and Civil Rights is common as well, as seen in movies like Across the Universe; Forrest Gump; and Malcolm X. The subject material of sixties movies is coupled with, and improved by, the music of the era.