California: The Hometown of Rock Music

Rock music is considered indigenous to California and the music reinforced the conceptions that people had about life in California. Majority of the rock artists in the state focused on the subjects of sexual liberation and romance. 1960s brought about new rock styles that significantly influenced popular music at both the national and international level. The aspect California sound and the tailoring of music to represent the life in California and beaches became the trend in early 1960s as the music was made representative of California outdoor living, and evidence this is evident through the analysis of the Beach Boys’ music in the 60s.

The California aspect of rock was challenged by introduction of sophisticated musical technique by English rock bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones. California was at the forefront in responding to this invasion especially through combining folk and rock music that led to the new Los Angeles sound. The mix by Byrds, one of the California group, revived the interest of Americans in the American artists especially since their compositions had an American aspect; hence held an advantage over the compositions from the English bands’ invasion.

Since these compositions were a mix between rock and folk music, they appealed to earlier devotees of these music categories.

The appearance of acid rock through an effort to reproduce effects of LSD effect through music advanced rock music to another level especially with the adoption of light shows to heighten the visual distortion reproduced. Acid rock was characterized by weird electronic effects, hyperamplification, and exotic imagery aimed at reproducing visual distortion associated with LSD (432).

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As a center of youth movement in 1960s, California introduced surf, folk and acid rock that resulted in growth in music as groups such as the Jefferson Airplane gained recognition countrywide.