EARLY BEATLES REVOLUTION: JFK AND THE ANTI WAR MOVEMENT THAT WAS SWEEPING AMERICA
| Rock music has embodied and served as the vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major sub-cultures including mods and rockers in the UK and the "hippie" counterculture that spread out from San Francisco in the US in the 1960s. Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity | EARLY BEATLES REVOLUTION: JFK AND THE ANTI WAR MOVEMENT THAT WAS SWEEPING AMERICA |
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| The decade saw the Vietnam War, the gradual relaxation in the social structures governing morals, took a step further as millions of woman tossed out their bras. The hippies sought to depart from materialism by creating what came to be known as the anti-fashion and counter culture movement. The Sixties was a decade of Liberation and Revolution, a time of personal journeys and fiery protests. It transcended all national borders and changed the world. People, young and old, united in opposition to the existing dictates of society. Poignant was the death of JFK. The Beatles were a pick up happy energy then. Finishing ChE and dreams to go to America made a big difference of what I want to be later on. Against that was the temptations of an open society, unlike that of the country I left behind. The reasons behind American opposition to the Vietnam War fall into the following main categories: opposition to the draft; moral, legal, and pragmatic arguments against U.S. intervention; reaction to the media portrayal of the devastation in Southeast Asia. The Draft, as a system of conscription which threatened lower class registrants and middle class registrants alike, drove much of the protest after 1965. Conscientious objectors did play an active role although their numbers were small. The prevailing sentiment that the draft was unfairly administered inflamed blue-collar American opposition and African-American opposition to the military draft itself. Opposition to the war arose during a time of unprecedented student activism which followed the free speech movement and the civil rights movement. The military draft mobilized the baby boomers who were most at risk, but grew to include a varied cross-section of Americans. The growing opposition to the Vietnam War was partly attributed to greater access to uncensored information presented by the extensive television coverage on the ground in Vietnam. Beyond opposition to the Draft, anti-war protestors also made moral arguments against the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. This moral imperative argument against the war was especially popular among American college students. For example, in an article entitled, "Two Sources of Antiwar Sentiment in America", Schuman found that students were more likely than the general public to accuse the United States of having imperialistic goals in Vietnam. |
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| Former Beatle John Lennon performs during the One To One concert, a charity to benefit mentally challenged children at New York's Madison Square Garden, Aug. 30, 1972. (AP Photo) # |
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| 2. John Lennon performs on stage with his first band the 'Quarry Men' at a church function in Woolton, Merseyside, Great Britain, July 6, 1957. (AP Photo/Str) --- John Lennon spiel Guitarre bei einem Auftritt mit seiner ersten Band, den Quarry Men, auf einem Kirchenfest in Woolton, Merseyside; Grossbitannien am 6. Juli 1957. (AP Photo/Str) #
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| The Beatles, Britain's top rock band, relax in London over tea in 1963. The group from left: John Lennon, Paul McCartney; George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The group is sporting similar thatch haircuts with bangs to the edge of their eyebrows. No other information available with photo. (AP Photo) # | |
| The Beatles, from left, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr, perform on stage in London, England, Oct. 1, 1963. (AP Photo) # Britain's pop quartet The Beatles arrived almost unnoticed at the Hippodrome, Birmingham, Nov. 10, 1963, dressed as policemen. They are George Harrison, third left, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr in front. Others in picture are real policemen. (AP Photo) # | |
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| The Beatles, clockwise from top center, John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, pose with an American flag in a Paris photo studio prior to their first visit to the United States in January 1964. (AP Photo/Copyright Applecorps Ltd. ) # In early 1968, media coverage in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive spurred increased protests in opposition to the Vietnam War, especially among university students. The protests were most prevalent in the US, but on 17 March several thousand demonstrators marched to the American embassy in London's Grosvenor Square and violently clashed with police.Major protests concerning other political issues made international news, such as the March 1968 protests in Poland against their communist government, and the campus uprisings of May 1968 in France."Revolution" was inspired by political protests in early 1968. Lennon's lyrics expressed doubt about some of the tactics. When the single version was released in August, the political left viewed it as betraying their cause. The release of the album version in November indicated Lennon's uncertainty about destructive change, with the phrase "count me out" modified to "count me out, in". |
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| 7 Waving a Union Jack, The Beatles, from front to back Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon leave a BEA aircraft at the airport in London, England, February 5, 1964, on their arrival from Paris, where they were appearing. The pop group was greeted as usual by screaming fans. (AP Photo) # The Vietnam antiwar movement in the United States began with the war, causing the country to polarize between those who advocated for continued involvement in Vietnam and those who wanted peace. Opposition groups sprang from the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-nuclear movement and contributed to Second-wave feminism, the environmental movement, and the New Left. The antiwar and peace movements were comprised largely of college and graduate students and mothers, as well as antiestablishment hippies. Their opposition events ranged from peaceful nonviolent demonstrations to radical displays of violence. | |
MEANWHILE THE NEWS AROUND THE WORLD IN THIS ERA
| John F. Kennedy speaks for the first time as President of the United States in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 1961, during the inaugural ceremonies. (AP Photo) |
| Singer Bobby Darin stands beside a hand-made automobile called the "Bobby Darin Dream Car," unveiled on March 31, 1961, in Hollywood, California. Owner Andrew Di Dia, who designed and built the $150,000 car, will take it on a nationwide tour. (AP Photo) # |
Canon John Collins of St. Paul's Cathedral, a leading figure in the campaign for nuclear disarmament which organized the two ban-the-bomb marches over the Easter holiday, addresses a mass protest rally in London's Trafalgar Square on April 3, 1961, after the marchers had converged on central London from Aldermaston and Wethersfield. (AP Photo/Staff/PRI) #
Kennith Gelpey wears protective clothing as he emerges from a fallout shelter in Medford, Massachusetts, on October 23, 1961, with a geiger counter in hand to "test for radiation". Gelpey and his family spent the weekend in the shelter to test their equipment. (AP Photo) #
A tightly clutched Madonna and eyes filled with tears tell the story as an African-American girl is whisked away from the University of Georgia campus in a state patrol car, on January 12, 1961. Charlayne Hunter, 18, who started classes at the school on Tuesday under federal order, was withdrawn last night for her own protection when students staged an uprising against the integration. (AP Photo/Horace Cort) #
Soviet cosmonaut Major Yuri Gagarin (right), shakes hand with Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, after the Soviet statesman awarded Gagarin the Order of Lenin and a Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his achievements in becoming the first man in history to travel in space. (AFP/Getty Images) #
Mike Hailwood, 21, of Oxford, is shown at speed on his Norton motorcycle in the 226-mile Senior International Tourist Trophy Race on the mountain course in the Isle of Man, United Kingdom, on June 16, 1961. He won the six-lap race at an average speed of 100.6 miles an hour, making T.T. history by winning three races in a week. (AP Photo) #
Police and secret service struggle in vain to free President elect John F. Kennedy (center) from a surging mass of Harvard students in Harvard yard in Cambridge, on January 9, 1961. Kennedy, normally a fast mover, was halted in his tracks when students broke through police barrier. He had to take refuge in a dormitory until police could bring a car to get him out. (AP Photo) #
| Not a car is visible on Malecon Drive in Havana, Cuba, a street well-known to American tourists in former days, as Fidel Castro's forces take over, using it for defense purposes. A single rifle-toting militiaman walks along the drive in Havana, on January 6, 1961, from which all normal traffic was diverted. (AP Photo) # | |
Fidel Castro sits in a tank during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April of 1961. Some 1,300 Cuban exiles, backed by the U.S. Government, invaded the island nation of Cuba, attempting to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The invasion failed disastrously, with 90 of the invaders killed, and the rest captured within 3 days. (OAH/AFP/Getty Images) #
Hangars which had been darkened during a strike by airline flight engineers are lighted at Chicago's Midway airport on February 23, 1961, as TWA planes are wheeled out to be prepared for resumption of service. The end of a wildcat walkout against seven airlines was announced in Washington, D.C. by President Kennedy. (AP Photo/EM) #
A giant electrified model of the human brain's control system is demonstrated by Dr. A.G. Macleod, at the meeting of the American Medical Association in New York, on June 26, 1961. The maze of twisting tubes and blinking lights traces the way the brain receives information and turns it into thought and then action. (AP Photo) #
An unidentified student demonstrator is choked by two policemen in Tokyo, Japan, on June 8, 1961, during a clash when police tried to disperse student demonstrators protesting against a controversial anti-political violence bill near the parliament building. Over 10,000 unionists and students took part in the massive demonstration marked by the screaming, rock-throwing and club-swinging clash between the students and policemen. (AP Photo) #
Jean Lloyd, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, lost control of her Stanguellini sports car and rolled over in first lap of a 20-lap formula junior race at the Sebring Airport on March 24, 1961 in Sebring. She was not hurt seriously and walked away from the accident. (AP Photo) #
Freedom riders stand at ticket counter of the bus station in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 24, 1961, as they purchase tickets to continue their ride through the south. At center is integration leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (AP Photo) #
| 8 The Beatles arrive at New York's Kennedy Airport Feb. 7, 1964 for their first U.S. appearance. From left are: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. (AP Photo) # May 12, 1964 twelve young men in New York publicly burn their draft cards to protest the war. August 1964: the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. In December 1964, Joan Baez led six hundred people in an antiwar demonstration in San Francisco. | |
| The four members of Britain's young singing group, the Beatles, stand in front of the microphones in the press room of Kennedy International Airport today during press conference following their arrival, February 7, 1964. From left: John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney. (AP Photo) # "And I Love Her" was recorded over three days, in Abbey Road Studio Two. The sessions were produced by George Martin and engineered by Norman Smith. The second engineer was Richard Langham. | |
| John Lennon and his wife, Cynthia, 24, walk toward their plane with the other members of The Beatles as fans look on at London Airport in London, England, on Feb. 7, 1964. (AP Photo/Victor Boyton) # | |
| Ed Sullivan, center, stands with The Beatles during a rehearsal for the British group's first American appearance, on the "Ed Sullivan Show," in New York on Feb. 9, 1964. From left: Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sullivan, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The rock 'n' roll band known as "The Fab Four" was seen by 70 million viewers. "Beatlemania" swept the charts with twenty No. 1 hits and more than 100 million records sold. The Beatles broke up in 1970. (AP Photo) # | |
| The Beatles are shown with Ed Sullivan on stage Feb. 10, 1964 before their TV performance on his show in New York. (AP Photo) # | |
| The Beatles are shown on the set of the "Ed Sullivan Show" in New York, Feb. 10, 1964. In back is John Lennon; the others, from left to right, are: George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (AP Photo) # Three of the four Beatles, from left, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney, walk in Central Park in New York City, Feb. 10, 1964 on their first U.S. tour. (AP Photo) # | |
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| The Beatles perform at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12, 1964, during their first American tour. The British band members are, in foreground, Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Ringo Starr on drums; and George Harrison on guitar, far right. (AP Photo) # |
The Beatles, from left, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, take a fake blow from Cassius Clay while visiting the heavyweight contender at his training camp in Miami Beach, Fla. on February 18, 1964. (AP Photo) #
The British rock and roll group The Beatles are seen during their first U.S. tour in this 1964 file photo. The band members, from left to right, are George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. (AP Photo) #
| The Beatles, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, have their hair combed by stylists on the set of their first movie production, "A Hard Day's Night," at Twickenham Film Studios in Middlesex, outside London, England, on March 12, 1964. The hair stylists, who have parts in the film, are, from left, Patti Boyd, 19, Tina Williams, 17, Pru Bury, 22, and Susan Whitman, 17. (AP Photo) # |
One of the Freedom Riders being arrested 1961. (AP Photo) #
A Freedom Rider bus goes up in flames after a firebomb was tossed through a window near Anniston, Alabama, in May of 1961. (AP Photo/File) #
A policeman orders his dog to attack an African-American who was too slow in obeying his order to move away from in front of police court, shortly before nine African-American college students went on trial for sitting-in at a white city library, on March 29, 1961, in Jackson, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Jackson Clarion-Ledger) #
George Lincoln Rockwell, center, self-styled leader of the American Nazi Party, and his "hate bus" with several young men wearing swastika arm bands, stops for gas in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 23, 1961, en route to Mobile, Alabama. (AP Photo) #
Moments before photographer Tommy Langston was attacked on May 14, 1961, he shot this single photo of Klansmen attacking a Freedom Rider at the Trailways Bus Station in Birmingham, Alabama. The photo helped identify Klansmen involved in the assault. (AP Photo/Birmingham Post-Herald, Tommy Langston) #
National Guard troops enforcing martial law work out with bayonets and gas masks as they go through training maneuvers at Fort Dixie Graves in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 3, 1961. (AP Photo/Horace Cort) # 
| A Jackson Police Department file booking photograph of Freedom Rider Joan Trumpauer provided by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, taken on June 8, 1961. 19-year-old Duke University student and part-time secretary in the Washington office of Senator Clair Engle of California, Trumpauer arrived in Jackson, Mississippi to take part in the June 4, 1961 Mississippi Freedom Ride. She and eight others were promptly arrested and refused bail. Trumpauer served three months in jail, later enrolling in traditionally black Tougaloo college, which had just started accepting white students. (AP Photo/Mississippi Department of Archives and History, City of Jackson, File) # |
New York Yankees' centerfielder Mickey Mantle completes his swing as he hits his 49th homer of the season in the first inning against the Detroit
John Lennon, member of Britain's pop group The Beatles, shakes hands with contestants in the Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant, Hong Kong, June 8, 1964. (AP Photo) #
| The Liverpool beat group The Beatles, with John Lennon facing the camera, are pictured at their arrival at the Liverpool Town Hall, Liverpool, England, Friday July 10, 1964, were given a civic reception, before attending the Northern Charity Premiere of their film "A Hard Day's Night". Returning home after an absence of seven months, they were welcomed by a crowd of some 150,000 fans lining the eight-mile route from the airport to the town hall. (AP Photo) # A good movie then at your right Von Ryan Express | |
| Despite a constant din of screaming teenagers, the Beatles successfully opened their U.S. tour in San Francisco on August 20, 1964. From left to right are Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon. Ringo Starr cannot be seen. (AP Photo) # | |
With some of their fans in the background, The Beatles board a plane for England at New York Airport, NY, Sept. 21, 1964. From bottom of ladder, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison. (AP Photo) #
Beatle John Lennon is shown in this 1965 photo at an unknown location. (AP Photo) #
Beatles John Lennon continues to play the guitar as he evades a young fan who wants Lennon's yachting-style cap as a souvenir during the Beatles concert in Rome, Italy, June 28, 1965. (AP Photo) #
| 26 British rock and roll singer John Lennon of the Beatles arrives in an armored car before a concert in Houston, Tex., on Aug. 19, 1965. Screaming fans surrounded the group from the moment their plane arrived in Houston for radio station KILT's "Back to School Show" at Sam Houston Coliseum. (AP Photo/Ferd Kaufman) # The Beatles pose together before their performance in a TV studio in London, England, in 1966. (AP Photo) # |
John Lennon, one of the members of the Beatles is shown as a state trooper aids him through a crowd of newsmen at Logan International Airport in Boston, Aug. 11, 1966 as he and other members transferred planes after a flight from London. The Beatles were en route to Chicago where they would start their third tour of American cities. It was Lennon who was quoted as saying the group is more popular than Jesus, setting off a ban by numerous U.S. radio stations on playing their records. (AP Photo) #
Rock and roll singers for the group The Beatles John Lennon, right, and Paul McCartney, holding the hand of Julian Lennon, walk with actress Jane Ashre across the tarmac following their arrival in Athens, Greece on July 22, 1967. The woman in the background is unidentified. (AP Photo) #
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, considered as the "spiritual father" of the Beatles sits amidst George Harrison, left and John Lennon, during the UNICEF gala at the Palais du Chaillot in Paris, December 15, 1967. (AP Photo) #
Beatles members John Lennon and Paul McCartney sing their harmonizing vocal lines in the Abbey Road Studios in London, England, February 11, 1968, during a recording session. (AP Photo) #
Beatles John Lennon, center, and Paul McCartney, arrive at the London Pavillion cinema on July 17, 1968 for the premiere of their new animation film "Yellow Submarine." At left is Japanese film producer Yoko Ono. (AP Photo) #
Linda McCartney's photo of John Lennon, left, and Paul McCartney taken during the photo session for the cover of the Abbey Road album in 1969. The photo was part of the Linda McCartney photography exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum which ran through Aug. 8, 1999 in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Linda McCartney) #
Beatle John Lennon, right, and Yoko Ono are shown circa 1969 at an unknown location. (AP Photo) #
Beatle John Lennon waves his marriage certificate as his bride, Japanese artist Yoko Ono, stands at his side after their wedding at the Rock of Gibraltar on March 20, 1969. They are about to board a chartered jet to Paris where they will honeymoon. (AP Photo) #
Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, right, hold a bed-in for peace in room 902, the presidential suite at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam on March 25, 1969. The newlyweds, holding solitary tulips, begin a seven-day Love-In to protest against war. (AP Photo) #
John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono share an Eskimo kiss (rubbing noses) during an interview in London, Feb. 9, 1970. Both had their hair shorn in Denmark to be auctioned off in London. The proceeds went go to the Black Power organization in Britain. (AP Photo/Bob Dear) #
| John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono speak to news media on their arrival at New York's Kennedy Airport, June 1, 1971. The trip to New York is part of a bid by the Lennons to gain custody of Yoko's seven year old daughter Kyoko. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm) # | |
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| John F. Kennedy Speech, April 27, 1961 American Newspaper Publishers Association. In a speech that should shock Americans. He warns the press and America to be on the lookout for the exact circumstances that have manifest themselves under the Bush Administration and the false flag of state sponsored terrorism. This speech should chill Americans. Kennedy died trying to warn us. He wanted to abolish the Federal Reserve and the C.I.A. On November 22, 1963, hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by mutiple assassin's bullets as his motorcade took and unscheduled turn in Dallas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; and youngest to die. The Secret Service was not by his side, they had been called off of his motorcade. Who would have the power to do this? This speech which has now transended time could be the key to saving America from the fate which looms over it like a dark spectre | |
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With a country in shambles, as a result of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men and women took their stand through rallies, protests, and concerts. A large number of young Americans opposed the war in Vietnam. With the common feeling of anti-war, thousands of youths united as one. This new culture of opposition spread like wild fire with alternate lifestyles blossoming, people coming together and reviving their communal efforts, demonstrated in the Woodstock Art and Music Festival.  |
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| I was here and experienced the free Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, where people were pure examples of the possibilities and limits of this mid 60’s countercultural movement. In their “free city,” of hippie origin, they set up a free housing network, a communication system, concerts, and store (for free clothes and household goods.) and held a regular food giveaway. The diggers were the theater geeks of these hippies, those claiming to be life actors, scripting their own stories and turning every day life into a theater of endless possibilities. The Photo depicts Anti-Vietnam war demonstrators fill Fulton Street in San Francisco. The five-mile march through the city would end with a peace rally at Kezar Stadium. In the background is San Francisco City Hall. |
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