The Times

This section is about the times that Rock was born. You can't understand the music without knowing about the times.

The Golden Age of Rock starts in the 50s. Dwight Eisenhower was president, segregation was firmly entrenched, dress was conservative, radios had tubes and were AM only, and the interstate highway system hadn't even been proposed.

By the time of Woodstock, we had been through the beginnings of desegregation starting with Eisenhower (and still in the works today), Camelot with President Kennedy, the Vietnam buildup with LBJ, and a near constitutional crisis with Tricky Dicky Nixon. The information age had begun, computers were beginning to be used by businesses.

Counterculture movements became prominent, first with the Beatniks and followed by the Hippies. Many elements of the countercultures were brought into everyday life. Psychedilia started with the drug culture and moved into everyday life. Dress became casual, T-shirts and jeans went mainstream, and Rock music took over the airwaves.