Counterculture kaleidoscope: musical and cultural perspectives on late sixties San Francisco

Abstract

This book offers a bold reconsideration of the meaning of 1960s San Francisco counterculture.Counterculture Kaleidoscope explores the traditions represented in the cultural and musical practices of the late Sixties San Francisco counterculture. Dismantling the notion that the movement was all about rebellion and opposition, the book dislodges two myths: first, that the counterculture was an organized socio political movement consisting of progressive people (dubbed hippies) with a shared agenda who opposed the mainstream, and second, that the counterculture was a pure and innocent entity co-opted by commercialism and transformed over time into an agent of so-called hip consumerism.As several recent books on the concept of hipness illustrate, counterculture has become synonymous with rebellion and opposition. Movement-based Sixties histories, nostalgic accounts of the great sex, drugs, and rock n' roll era, and conservative polemics stigmatizing counter cultural radicalism have reinforced this equation. As an alternative, this book examines primary source material (including music, artwork, popular literature, personal narratives, and first-hand historical accounts) to demonstrate that the San Francisco counterculture in 1966-67 displayed no interest in commitment to a cause and made no association with divisive issues - embracing everything in general, but nothing in particular.