California's Mystic and Mindblowing
HIPPIE COUNTER-CULTURE
Music
Hippies participated in alternative arts and street theater and listened to folk music and psychedelic rock as part of their anti-establishment lifestyle.
Songwriter Eden Ahbez wrote a hit song called Nature Boy that was inspired by the Wandervogel follower, Robert Bootzin. The song helped popularized health consciousness, yoga, and organic food throughout the United States.
In October of 1965, participants of a group called Red Dog, returned to their native San Francisco where they created a new name: “The Family Dog”. On October 16, 1965, The Family Dog hosted “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” at the Longshoreman’s Hall in San Francisco. The event was the first psychedelic rock performance in San Francisco. Over 1,000 “hippies” attended to watch Jefferson Airplane perform alongside a rudimentary dance and light show.
Additional psychedelic rock shows followed, including the infamous January 22, 1966 Grateful Dead performance where 6,000 people were given punch spiked with LSD and treated to the first fully-developed, elaborate light show.
Scott McKenzie’s rendition of the John Phillips’ song, San Francisco, became a huge hit in the United States and Europe. One lyric, “If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair” inspired thousands to travel to San Francisco, many wearing flowers in their hair and distributing flowers to passerby at intersections and on the street. The name “Flower Children” stuck.
In August 1969, 500,000 people attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York. Bands at the event included Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, and so many more.
This song quickly became the anthem of the antiwar movement as many Americans felt the country should not be fighting in Vietnam. On October 15, 1969, a multi-city demonstration called The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, took place, with protesters singing this song in mass (songfacts.com).
December 1969, 300,000 people attended the Altamont Free Concert where the Rolling Stones, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and Jefferson Airplane played. The Hells Angels provided security for the event. 18 year old African American Meredith Hunter was stabbed and killed during the Rolling Stones performance.