Final Seminar Paper

7/27/2019 Final Seminar Paper

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Jamie Bryan

Final Copy; Research Paper

Counterculture and Rock and Roll:

The Birth of Music Journalism in the 1960's

The 1960's were a tumultuous decade, known for the rise of the counter-culture, civil rights

activism and a dramatic shift in the paradigm of popular culture. While these characteristics and

connotations that of revolution and the re-examination of America's cultural identity are what

stereotypically define the decade of the 1960's, they are not what define the ideologies that came

out of this time period. The sixties brought about several radical changes in American society

outside of the counter-culture and civil rights. The revolutionary spirit which the decade embodied

also played its role in other more subtle ways, including the birth of what is known today as music

journalism. While theRolling Stone Magazine is the most famous example of this genre it is not

the first nor the only exemplification of this trend. Comparison of two similar periodicals from this

time, Crawdaddy! Magazine and The Rolling Stone Magazine, will the on the basis of four key

themes of the counter culture: the desire to create and express an unique individuality as a member

of a larger group, the notion that musicians then had chosen to tackle important political and social

issues in their music, the notion of an individual personal connection to musical artists, as well as

the ability to connect with like minded individuals through music. Analysis will also be done on

how, through the differences in these two highlighted periodicals, The Rolling Stone Magazine was

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able to flourish while Crawdaddy! Magazine was not. In this analysis, special attention will be paid

to Rolling Stone's ability to capture viewers through letters to the editor in a section called

Correspondence, Love Letters and Advice as a personification of the bridge in the gap between

readers and their music, as well as their ability to maintain a balance of selling out to the

corporate world via advertisements for well known record companies such as Columbia or Sony, as

well as sub-culture themed items such as head shops and water beds while still appealing to the

counter-culture youth. Research on this topic will also include an examination of how the transition

from underground counter-culture periodical to well-known rock and roll publication was made via

a transition to more mainstream subject matter - specifically the inclusion of political subject

matter as well as artist biopics compared to the earlier editions of said periodicals wherein there

was strictly a focus on music reviews - and the inclusion of advertisement with big-name investors

such as popular record labels of the period.

There are many books written on the broad topic of 1960's counter-culture, with most of

them making a statement about how this movement as it was known today was founded on the

principle of 1960's youth being separated from previous decades in cultural identity due to a

dissatisfaction with society, specifically on issues regarding the Vietnam war, drug culture, and

civil rights issues including feminism and the fight for African American equality. In Dawning of

the Counter Culture the 1960's, historian William O'Neill begins his analysis of the counter-culture

movement with an introduction to the ideologies of the counter-culture as a tangible expression of

explosive ideas related to what was termed as the youth culture in the the late 1950's. O'Neill

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goes on to define this movement as an ideological struggle1 on the part of the sixties youth, going

so far as to describe a 'them versus us' mentality with younger generations being pitted against

elders in a battle for a voice in the restructuring of American society. There is a fantastic quote

from The Wild One which encapsulates this concept: Mildred: Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling

against? Johnny: Whadda you got?2 If this statement is to be taken as the basic definition or

explanation of American counter-cultural ideologies, then readers of O'Neill's work would

conclude that sixties counter-culture can be wrapped up as a basic conflict between the youth of the

period and the social norms which they saw as outdated however, this is not the case. In fact the

counter-culture was much more heavily based on an impulse to reinvent the societal flaws which

they believed to be hindering the progress of society, and had a much larger role in how we view

society today.

Imagine yourself as a teenager, sitting on your college campus in the early years of the

sixties. Your family had encouraged you to seek a higher education in the hopes that it would

propel you toward a new life centered around a steady though perhaps menial job with long term

goals of settling down with a family of your own one day in a small little house with the clich

white picket fence; this was the American dream of the 1950's after all3. However, on your first

days on campus you find yourself surrounded by new faces and radical ideas you had never been

exposed to; the ability to get involved with a new peer group found in the urban city allows you to

1 O'Neill, William L.Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960s 1971. eBook. (12 of 813)2 Columbia Pictures "The Wild Ones: What are You Rebelling Against" 28 February 2010. Online video clip. YouTube.

Accessed on 08April 2013. 3 Raymond, Emilie. "Introduction to the Era." Senior Seminar, the 1960's. History Department, Richmond. 1/28/13.

Seminar Lecture.

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get involved in issues you feel connected to for the first time4 such as your dissatisfaction with

government involvement in Vietnam or your frustration with the way black citizens were being

treated in your local neighborhood. It is here that you and your fellow students establish a new

picture of what society should look like as well as a model for how to achieve it; you had found a

new voice and you cannot wait to use it. You had become a part of the new collective whole; a

whole in which society could be different, where it wassupposedto be to different. A large part of

the youth of the 1960's had finally found a way to express itself and its discontent with the

direction of American society. Like minded individuals had come together across the country and

across demographics to become the change which they wished to enforce in society because they

as individuals were to quote Robert Anson in his bookGone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise

and Fall of the Rolling Stone Generation - more open, more loving, and more in touch with

themselves5 and they sought a unifying voice through which to inspire and enforce these changes.

One of the most predominate issues that served as a catalyst for the counter-culture was the

Vietnam War. Though it began in 1955, American involvement in the war started as early as the

Eisenhower administration, with his implementation of American troops working under the guise

of advisors for the Vietnamese.6 American involvement then escalated with President John F.

Kennedy's election, and subsequent intervention of the part of America to deter what he believed

(and it is worth noting that this is a popular mindset) was the spread of communism on a global

4 Ibid5 Anson, Robert Sam. Gone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise and Fall of the Rolling Stone generation. Garden City, New

York: Doubleday & Company, INC., 1981. xvii. Print.6 Raymond, Emilie. "Vietnam; How the U.S. Got Involved" Senior Seminar, the 1960's. History Department, Richmond.

2/4/13. Seminar Lecture

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level7. While there will not be extensive discussion of the Vietnam War and its lack of popularity

with the American youth outlined as the identifying members of the counter-culture within this

paper, it is worth noting that the discontent within the 1960's youth directed towards the lack of

American success in Vietnam was a core concept in the establishment of the counter-culture and

especially a resentment of the draft. The American military mission, the sense of an unjustified

military incursion on the part of the American military, as well as the tension between the

seemingly innocent villagers, the Vietcong, and the US Army were all themes that carried over into

the larger picture of American counter-culture8 and these themes were also translated into the pages

of more underground periodicals such as The Ragin Austin, Texas.

Concurrent to the foundation of musical journalism there was an underground periodical

movement known as the Underground Press Syndicate which focused its efforts predominately on

more political issues such as the Vietnam War, the agenda of the New Left, and Civil Rights.

Newspapers such as The Raghad humble beginnings in the basements and garages of the beatniks

of the 1960s and aligned themselves more closely with the student organizations such as SDS

Students for a Democratic Society and the new political left that had also emerged in the 1960s

and by doing so had a specific audience in the more active members of the counterculture.

Started in October 1966, The Rag was an Austin based political paper that sought to be the voice of

these active individuals, with their self-professed goal being to respond to the one-sided mass

media interpretation of the Vietnam War while at the same time aiming themselves at the political

7 Ibid8 Raymond, Emilie. "Vietnam; The Johnson Years" Senior Seminar, the 1960's. History Department, Richmond. 2/11/13.

Seminar Lecture

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and countercultural movements that were prevalent in Austin at the time9. The difference between

The Ragand Crawdaddy! Magazine and The Rolling Stone then is that the former centers itself

around making a statement and taking a stance on important issues, whole the latter two periodicals

attempt to tackle the musical aspects of the counterculture. It is important to mention that these

political publications had their own unique impact on the counterculture as a movement parallel to

the impact that Crawdaddy! Magazine and The Rolling Stone had on the music scene specifically.

Simultaneous to the continual fight against the Vietnam War was the emergence of a new

genre of music known as Rock and Roll. While popular music prior to the 1960's had been more

centered around the distraction from the banality of everyday life and was more associated with

popular dance trends and having a good time10, the radicalization of the 1960's also brought about a

radicalization of music and media, and along with it the idea that music can be used as a tool for

change and a platform on which to talk about key issues. For example, in one section from

Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960's, O'Neill describes a then incredibly popular dance

craze, the twist, including a brief history of what had been popular before the introduction of the

Twist: It used to be that dance fads were here today and gone tomorrow, while the two-step went

on forever11; That is to say, up until this turning point in music and dance, there had been an

established tradition about what was societally acceptable. Then he goes on to describe its

popularity: ..But though alone, the dancer was surrounded by others doing their own thing in

9 Pogue, Alan, Alice Embree, and Glen Scott. "What was The Rag?."Rag Reunion . (2005): n. page. Web. 5 May. 2013..

10 O'Neill, William L.Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960s. Now and Then, 1971. eBook. (85 of 813)11 O'Neill, William L.Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960s. Now and Then, 1971. eBook. (68 of 813)

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much the same manner, the twist celebrated both individuality and communality.12 Then he

implicates how this trend was a larger part of the counter culture: ..This was to become a hallmark

of the counter-culture, the right of everyone to be different in much the same way.13 The

ideologies he describes in this section go on to become major themes within the counter-culture as

a whole, specifically the idea that an individual can be both radically unique, and yet do express

that uniqueness in the same way as other like-minded individuals. It was pivitol to the

counterculture to be seen as setting oneself apart from the crowd and being radically different than

other individuals, and be rebelling against society's status quo at the same time. More specifically,

in the emerging world of Rock and Roll, there was a push to make music that expressed the

revolutionary ideas being concocted on college campuses across the nation with songs showcasing

the we're not going to take this anymore attitude.

Also coming out of this era was the concept of Rock and Roll artists having the power and

the responsibility to back prominent issues. In an article written by John Sinclair entitled Rock

and Roll is a Weapon of Cultural Revolution, Sinclair argues ..Music is a revolution, because it is

immediate, total, fast-changing and on-going. Rock and roll not only is a weapon of cultural

revolution, it is the model of the revolutionary future.14 That is to say, artists now have the

responsibility to take a stance on the social issues plaguing the 1960's youth because of their ability

to reach a large audience and make a strong impression on said individuals. If one examines this

notion, the idea that music can be used as a weapon against social injustice while simultaneously

12 Ibid13 O'Neill, William L.Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960s. Now and Then, 1971. eBook. (85 of 813)14 Sinclair, John Rock and Roll is a Weapon of Cultural Revolution. In Takin' it to the Streets: a Sixties Reader, edited by

Alexander Bloom, Winnie Breines. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

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becoming a model for what changes can be made to better society, it is clear to see that music will

have a dramatic role in the newly formed sixties culture.

Beginning in the mid-1960s, as pop music was evolving into rock, only a handful of

journalistic publications attempted to reach a youth audience who sought more than just news

concerning the latest endeavors of Bob Dylan or the Beach Boys, among other popular groups. It

was in this niche that writer Paul Williams found himself in January of 1966 on Swarthmore

College's campus in Pennsylvania armed with the intent to create a magazine that put readers more

in touch with the musical world15, Williams was ready to change journalism forever. In his first

issue of only ten mimeographed pages stapled together16, Williams wrote You are looking at

the first issue of a magazine of rock and roll criticism. Crawdaddy! will feature neither pin-ups nor

news-briefs; the specialty of this magazine is intelligent writing about pop music,17 he had no idea

how large of an impact he would have on music journalism in the future. But here Williams also

alludes to the aforementioned themes of the counterculture such as the individuality as part of a

larger whole as his periodical is self described as radically different from those which came before

him. This was specifically essential to having a reputation as standing out from the other

publications of the time as magazines dedicated to the softer side of Rock and Roll with a heavier

emphasis on commercialization of music and the favorite color of your favorite rock star routine

were what dominated the scene prior to Williams' endeavors with Crawdaddy! This speaks to the

dissatisfaction of the part of many musical consumers of the era that they were not getting enough

15 Perrone, Pierre. "Paul Williams: Founder of the hugely influential Crawdaddy! magazine." The Independent15 April2013. The Independent; News, Obituaries. Web. 16 April 2013 Accessed.

16 Ibid17 Ibid

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from the pop periodicals to truly solidify a legitimate voice within the music scene and that there

was a calling for a voice of discontent within the sea of the status quo. Williams also alludes to the

new found role of a consumer in the era of rock and roll, the role of a critic who has a form of

control over the future of the genre and of the popularity of artists via a voice of appreciation or

rejection. Though Williams himself, and subsequent writers under Williams, are the self elected

critics in Crawdaddy!, they still have an individual voice as to their thoughts, opinions, wishes and

feelings about music and that is essential to its identification as a counterculture periodical. While

Crawdaddy! Is groundbreaking in its approach to listener-centered musical discussion and critique,

theRolling Stone Magazine goes a step further by incorporating the section Correspondence, Love

Letters & Advice in that the readers of the magazine can also take on greater involvement in the

scene and participate in the evolution of the music and the way people view the music. Specifically,

everyone has a chance to write in and have their voice heard by like-minded individuals who could

identify, sympathize and speak in chorus with them a more broad concept of what drew

participants into the scene with the ability to be heard on social and ethical issues without rejection

or disapproval from their parents and teachers. While some submissions into the Rolling Stone

retain the idea of music criticism such as ..They're lucky to see their names in print; They should

shut up and stop complaining18, others idealizing the cultural revolution such as ..maybe, just

maybe America was being reborn out of being able to recognize across the barriers of age19

and

even more whimsical entries such as Quality is never appreciated by all.20

18 Rolling Stone Magazine Issue 77, in Rolling Stone #75 (Feb. 4, 1971) - #90 (Sept. 2, 1971) Box 1, Special Collections &Archives, James Cabbell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

19 Ibid20 Ibid

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From his first issue, Williams launched a foray into music and the investigation of both its

quality as well as other issues involved in the world of rock and roll as a whole. Going from a base

of only 500 copies its first few issues to having a circulation of 25,000 in a mere eighteen months21

Williams seemingly found success in his endeavor.22 He even went on to inspire the more well-

knownRolling Stone Magazine published by Jann Wenner only a year and a half later in

November, 196723, as well as the subsequent publication of the Detroit-based periodical CREEM

eighteen months after that24. It is this probing into the different aspects of the music industry that

become trademarks to periodicals such as CREEMand The Rolling Stone

Prior to his creation ofCrawdaddy! Williams was an avid aficionado of folk music,

originally more focused on the artists and art coming out Greenwich Village and Boston as well as

their respective folk scenes than the Beatles and the newly found obsession with their style known

as Beatlemani. as folk music had its own role to play in the newly formed counterculture scene in

that it too provided a message that really connected individuals on issues such as draft dodging and

unprovoked violence on the part of the American military towards peaceful protestors; This is

exemplified with the song Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Young and Nash which describes the Kent

State shooting on May 4th 1970 during the Anti-War protest when the military shot four protestors

dead seemingly unprovoked. However, Williams eventually became more enchanted with rock and

roll after hearing the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the like. He named Crawdaddy! after the club

21 Perrone, Pierre. "Paul Williams: Founder of the hugely influential Crawdaddy! magazine." The Independent15 April2013. The Independent; News, Obituaries. Web. 16 April 2013 Accessed.

22 Ibid23 Ibid24 Ibid

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in Richmond, Surrey, where the Stones and Yardbirds made their respective debuts.25 With a new

established focus on Rock and Roll as a genre, the first issue ofCrawdaddy! included a review of

Simon & Garfunkels then popular Sounds of Silence and exemplified the connection Williams

intended to create between the listeners and creators of this new music. Earlier editions of

Crawdaddy! Were simply raw album and song reviews written predominately by Williams himself

on a handful of stapled together pieces of paper. After dropping out of college, Williams went on to

work on the magazine and added additional dimensions to the publication with more critical

substance. While the first edition simply had Crawdaddy! typed across the top, the evolution of

the piece can be exemplified by the artistic interpretations on the cover; He put Dylan on the cover

of the fourth issue published in July, a year after hed gone electric at the Newport Folk

Festival26, which was considered the turning point of Dylan's career as a folk musician to a true

rock and roll artist.

Williams was also the pioneer of involving well-known journalists of the period in the

foundation of his periodical27, a trend which would be carried over to the Rolling Stone Magazine

in particular. He commissioned such individuals as Jon Landau, Sandy Pearlman and Richard

Meltzer, writers who went on to transcend their identity of rock critics and participate in the

recordings made by artists to which they were connected such as Bruce Springsteen, Blue yster

Cult or The Clash and found new roles as producers and lyricists28

. Eventually, though the

publication was still thriving, Williams became disenchanted with the periodical, and sold the

25 Ibid26 Ibid27 Ibid28 Ibid

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rights to others. When asked to explain his decision he stated They paid me a little money for the

trademark. I needed to get on with my life,29

. The publication went downhill from there and

eventually went out of publication, though multiple attempts to keep it going occurred on the part

of both Peter Knobler, who worked under Williams in its first issues and Williams himself in a

modern interpretation prior to his recent death.

Crawdaddy! Magazine was a radical publication of its time with a reputation for both its

inclusion of then-famous journalists such as Abbie Hoffman and its independent attitude towards

album review. Also playing a key role in its identity as a cornerstone of music journalism is its

ability to connect to the counterculture both via the use of drug culture references as well as the

rebellious and individual attitude that was true to the character of the 60's rebellious attitude.

However, despite its early commercial success and interest on the part of readers, the publication

failed to make the same reputation for itself that theRolling Stone was able to achieve. While this

could perhaps be due to William's departure, it is also perhaps due in part to its departure from a

magazine dedicated simply to the critique of rock music in Williams' era, to the incorporation of

material involving issues outside of the world of Rock and Roll, though it should be noted that the

Rolling Stone Magazine had continued success after the inclusion of similar material, and shifted

focus in order to regain success as a mass market magazine; Specifically, under Peter Knobler's

leadership starting in 1972 to its rebranding as Feature in 1979, Crawdaddy's focus expanded to

cover more general aspects of popular culture, particularly politics, sports and movies, and

included biopics of famous athletes such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon as well

29 Ibid

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as Texas Governor Ann Richards. This shift marked the most dramatic departure from the music

critique based periodical to the more mainstream style of journalism of the time.

In November 1967, Jann Wenner founded iconic Rock and Roll publication The Rolling

Stone. Starting with only $7,500 in borrowed capital30 Wenner founded the publication naming it

after the Muddy Waters song Rollin' Stone31, and sought to start a periodical similar in style to

Crawdaddy! Magazine in its goals and ambitions but perhaps with more success in mind seeing as

how today's version the periodical is worth a whopping 16 million. Compared to its predecessor

Crawdaddy!,Rolling Stone seemingly has a different approach to the idea of music journalism;

Wenner saw himself and his staff as writing from a unique perspective, not as attached observers,

attempting to estimate the events they were witnessing, but as the people who were living them.

They were young, as the times were young, and they wrote as the young will with enthusiasm

and hope, anger and passion, feeling and heart.32 This is also an exemplification of the emotional

connection individuals now saw forming with their musical icon; there was much more to music

that what kind of clothes the latest pop legend was wearing and the Rolling Stone was going to

report on it. With this trend in mind, articles with such titles as The High Cost of Music and Love:

Wheres the Money from Monterey?33 and New Thing for Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour34 are

30 Anson, Robert Sam. Gone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise and Fall of the Rolling Stone generation. Garden City, NewYork: Doubleday & Company, INC., 1981. xvi. Print.

31 Palmer, Robert (1981).Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 104.32 Ibid33 Lydon, Michael "The High Cost of Music and Love: Wheres the Money From Monterey?Rolling Stone [San

Francisco] 9 November 1967. 1. Print. Found in: George-Warren, Holly.ROLLING STONE: THE COMPLETECOVERS. NEW YORK: HARRY N. ABRAMS, INCORPORATED, 1998. Print. , Special Collections & Archives,James Cabbell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond Virginia

34 Wenner, Jann New Thing for Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour,Rolling Stone [San Francisco] 14 December 1967. 1.Print; Found in: George-Warren, Holly.ROLLING STONE: THE COMPLETE COVERS. NEW YORK: HARRY N.ABRAMS, INCORPORATED, 1998. Print. , Special Collections & Archives, James Cabbell Library, Virginia

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obviously focused on the Rock and Roll genre, and gives readers insight into the inner workings of

the music industry which was a revolutionary concept for this style of journalism; This idea

seemingly played a role in The Rolling Stone's success, though it should be noted that Crawdaddy!

Magazine may have had a similar concept its execution of said concept, it obviously did not have

the same popularity.

Also assisting in the popularity and overall positive reputation of The Rolling Stone, was

that it set itself apart from other exemplifications of the same ideas in that it was a magazine that

never answered questions; like the generation, It only posed them.35 Compared to Crawdaddy!

Magazine, the precursor to The Rolling Stone in so many other ways, The Rolling Stone also had a

way of connecting to its viewers that Crawdaddy! Magazine did not; It had what is known as the

Correspondence, Love Letters and Advice section, an alternative take on the well-established

practice of Letters to the Editor. In this section, readers who were impressed with, and in some

cases not as impressed with, the material within The Rolling Stone could express their views and

be heard; the interest in having one's voice as an individual being heard is a common theme

expressed in the counter-culture. Opinions expressed in this section range in topic, but include

notes such as that by Gregg Scott in Issue 83 of The Rolling Stone: I just want to thank you

people for making your magazine so thick, because when I was hitchhiking over Easter I had to

sleep overnight in a tow truck in Lickdale, Pennsylvania (nowhere), I was freezing so I crammed

the mag inside my shirt and warmed up. Good Vibes. I have an imprint of Joe Dallesandro on my

Commonwealth University, Richmond Virginia35 Anson, Robert Sam. Gone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise and Fall of the Rolling Stone generation. Garden City, New

York: Doubleday & Company, INC., 1981. xx. Print.

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stomach now, but that don't matter.36 While in the context of the Rolling Stone this letter seems

right at home, the idea that an individual can write into a periodical with a letter or response that is

more based on emotional attachment or random statement than a complaint or intelligent response,

that is to say that compared to other more journalistically and news oriented publications prior to

theRolling Stone had a more stern take on letters to the editor, where as in the age of Rock and

Roll and the counterculture, everyone has a voice worth sharing. Another example of the variety of

subject matter present in this section is a note sent in by Jim Williams: God also appeared to me in

a vision and said, 'You can ask me one question.' 'Who are you?' I asked. 'The Velvet Underground,'

he answered. I guess that settles it.37 this statement not only embodies the radical types of subject

matter that regularly occurred in theRolling Stone's pages, it also exemplifies a strong connection

on the part of the reader to the musical group with whom he identifies which was fundamental to

the counterculture spirit; Everyone could be in touch with the rock icons who voiced the same

issues the listener identified with.

Initially, theRolling Stone seemed to have a format similar to that ofCrawdaddy! In that it

was focused solely on the music world of the era however while Crawdaddy! Consisted

exclusively of music reviews in the beginning and went on to include new material, theRolling

Stone took off as a periodical that with the self-imposed goal of educating the masses of the total

sphere of rock and roll from the music, to the drugs, and the social movement thats spurred them

on. Exemplifying this is the incorporation of stories such as Hey you, smokin' the funny money,

36 Rolling Stone Magazine Issue 83, in Rolling Stone #75 (Feb. 4, 1971) - #90 (Sept. 2, 1971) Box 1, Special Collections &Archives, James Cabbell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

37 Ibid

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an article detailing an investigation of a head shop run by president of Patriotic Paul Ropp due to

their marketing of rolling papers stylized as draft cards and hundred dollar bills. In the article it

describes how the hundred dollar bill papers were of particular interest to the FBI as reports made

against the store complained that the papers defacing American currency. The author goes on to

point out that the owner of the store was quite calm about the procedure and was not angry with the

FBI for they were simply doing their jobs, but points out that the papers in question stated this

note is not legal tender, its true value is not yet recognized by this country.38 This is a particularly

poignant piece as it gives readers a view into the difficulties faced by shops and boutiques which

identify with the counterculture in their battles against the man while specifically highlighting

the issue of the draft for the Vietnam War as the marketing of draft card rolling papers coincides

with the counterculture trend of burning draft cards as a statement of disapproval.

Also worth analysis in terms of the Rolling Stone and Crawdaddy! Magazine's role in the

counterculture scene is the fact Rolling Stone included advertisements for upcoming albums, drug

paraphernalia and hippie culture related stores and boutiques even its earliest editions. As an

example, in issue No. 75 published in 1971, there was an ad for a counterculture fashion boutique

called Truth and Soul whose ad reads Most Americans wouldn't be caught dead in our clothes,

we wouldn't be caught dead in theirs and We really feel sorry for all the stamped out people.. see

we have something they lost a long time ago: an identity.39 This, and similar advertisements for

alternate clothing stores, lifestyle accessories and heads hops, serve as excellent examples of

38 Ibid39 Ibid

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multiple overlapping counter-cultural themes such as the idea of being able to express the

rebelliousness of having a unique sense of identity that makes one stand out from the crowd, as

well as the ability to draw boundaries between oneself and the greater pictures of society. Also

exemplified in this ad is the ability of the Rolling Stone to push the envelope with their commercial

incorporation while still maintaining an identity as a counterculture periodical. Where as

Crawdaddy! Magazine only advertised in their second edition for another musically-oriented

periodical called Sing Out40 and subsequent editions featured predominately album ads in order

to keep a peripheral culture reputation , theRolling Stone was able to incorporate larger names in

their advertisement and yet at the same time retain a rock and roll persona. It is unclear whether

this phenomenon on the part of theRolling Stone Magazine was a coincidence in an otherwise

successful entrepreneurial exercise, or one of the differences betweenRolling Stone and previous

periodicals that was ultimately more responsible for their success as not much analysis on the

specifically musically oriented publications Crawdaddy! Magazine especially has been done

thus far.

While in its earlier years, The Rolling Stone's pages were dominated by itineraries of concert dates,

album reviews and biographical stories of the current events of the lives of musicians, the paper

evolved in the 1970's to incorporate a wider snapshot of American society in all of its forms. As an

iconic example of the change in focus, article titles in Issues No. 83, published on May 27 th, 1971

and Issue No. 77 published on March 18 th, 1971 include Report From White House Youth

40 Williams, Paul. Crawdaddy! Magazine. 1966. Second Edition. Web. 27 April. 2013.

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Conference41 and Rules for Success 1. Repetition 2. Repetition 3. Repetition 4. Repetition 5.

Repetition 6. Repetition 7. Repetition 8. Repetition 9. Repetition 10. Repetition42

which

highlighted the continuing tension between youth of the period and the ongoing conflict in Vietnam

show that there was a bigger world view outside of Rock and Roll music, and Extra! Weird-

Looking Freak Saves Apollo 1443 Somehow, while Crawdaddy! Magazine was unable to make

this transition with any noted commercial success with its inclusion of non-musical critique

materials, The Rolling Stone made a seamless transition from an underground rock periodical to

legitimate source of information regarding the world outside of the sheltered American teen's

bedroom perhaps due to its inclusion of said material from the beginning.

While early on the rock periodical had seemed to attain moderate popularity with high

circulation numbers forCrawdaddy! Magazine andRolling Stone Magazine throughout the late

1960's -Rolling Stone Magazine retaining these high numbers up through present day their peak

seemed to coincide with the fall of Rock and Roll as a counter-culture ideology and plummeted in

popularity for the same reasons the counter-culture did through the over commercialization of the

once radical ideologies. To quote Anson: But for all its mythic power, rock, like the generation

that believed in and worshiped it, proved vulnerable to exploitation, commercialization, overdose

and ultimately the lure of its own success. What happened in the end was something the

counterculture never counted on: Dad came into the bedroom, not as one commentator put it, to

turn off the music, but to dance along with it. For a culture that took its meaning from opposition,

41 Ibid42 Ibid43 Rolling Stone Magazine Issue 77, in Rolling Stone #75 (Feb. 4, 1971) - #90 (Sept. 2, 1971) Box 1, Special Collections &

Archives, James Cabbell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

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acceptance was a death44. Living on the outskirts of society and being cast as a rebel and a free

spirit was the essential model for the counterculture, and making the transition from the fringe of

what was considered hip to accepted popular culture was a death sentence for artists and

periodicals whose allure rested in their challenge of the norm; Such was the case with Crawdaddy!

Its short lived glory was only facilitated by the rebel audience who connected with a revolution in

the way they interacted with music, and they seemingly met their end when the shadow of the

commercial counterculture magazine i.e. theRolling Stone was cast upon them.

Bibliography

44 Anson, Robert Sam. Gone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise and Fall of the Rolling Stone generation. Garden City, NewYork: Doubleday & Company, INC., 1981. xxi. Print.

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Primary Sources

Bloom , Alexander, and Wini Breines. Takin' it to the Streets: A Sixties Reader . 3rd. New York :

Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.

Wenner, Jann.Rolling Stone Magazine. Rolling Stone #75 (Feb. 4, 1971) - #90 (Sept. 2, 1971) Box

1, Special Collections & Archives, James Cabbell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University,

Richmond, VA.

Williams, Paul. Crawdaddy! Magazine. 1966-1968. Web. 27 April. 2013.

.

Secondary Sources

Anson, Robert Sam. Gone Crazy and Back Again: The Rise and Fall of the Rolling Stone

generation. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, INC., 1981. Print.

Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin.America Divded: The Civil War of the 1960's. 4th ed. New

York City : Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.

O'Neill, William L.Dawning of the Counterculture of the 1960s. Now and Then, 1971. eBook.

Perrone, Pierre. "Paul Williams: Founder of the hugely influential Crawdaddy! magazine." The

Independent15 April 2013. The Independent; News, Obituaries. Web. 16 April 2013 Accessed.

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Palmer, Robert (1981).Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 104.

Pogue, Alan, Alice Embree, and Glen Scott. "What was The Rag?."Rag Reunion . (2005): n. page.

Web. 25 April. 2013. .

Raymond, Emilie. "Introduction to the Era." Senior Seminar, the 1960's. History Department,

Richmond. 1/28/13. Seminar Lecture.

Additional Sources Consulted

Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. Bantam, Revised Edition, 1993. Print.

Peck, Abe. Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press. Pantheon, 1985.

Print.

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