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Example Summaries

"Psychedelic music," as created and played in San Francisco in the 1960s, drew far more heavily from the folk revival that preceded it than has been previously acknowledged. The revival's influence on San Francisco psychedelia can be seen in its ideology, repertoire, instrumental techniques, vocal harmonies, critique of politics and society, inclusion of female vocalists and penchant for playacting. In 1966, folklorist Ellen Stekert identified four groups of people involved in the revival: traditional singers, utilizers, imitators (she later preferred emulators), and creators of a new aesthetic (Stekert 1993:96-100). Traditional singers learned their music orally in their early years. They inspired the emulators, such as the New Lost City Ramblers, who immersed themselves in traditional Southern musical and cultural milieus while aiming for a purity of intention and presentation referred to as "authenticity." Utilizers, such as the Weavers and the Kingston Trio, made folk music commercial by freely changing tunes, texts, and styles to fit an existing urban aesthetic. The fourth group, which included Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, belonged to the new aesthetic, which created new artistic traditions out "a merger of vocal and instrumental folk, classical, jazz, and pop styles" (Stekert 1993:99).The psychedelic music of San Francisco may be viewed as one stream of these new traditions; it emerged from a group of artists who had participated in the folk revival as emulators and utilizers.