Featured Songs
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- Blowing In The Wind
- I Want To Hold Your Hand
- Satisfaction
- Dancing In The Streets
- Fun Fun Fun
- We Can Work It Out
- Light My Fire
- Respect
- Star-Spangled Banner (Hendrix)
- American Pie
Preview
Study Guide
The Sixties: Decade of Turmoil and Triumph
Young people take action to change the world.
Available formats
- Full band for in-school assembly
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Keywords
American History Science Space Program Vietnam War Black History Beatles Martin Luther King Woodstock
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About The Show
This program is a 50-minute trip through a pivotal decade of recent history, skillfully mixing live musical performance with still photos, sound clips and video.
The events of the 1960s continue to resonate with young people today.
Through political protest and other forms of social activism, young Americans asserted a new set of values. Conformity was out; personal freedom was in. Music, fashion and other forms of artistic expression reflected these new attitudes.
The program opens with the inspiring words of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, signaling that a new generation was ready to lead America. The band performs the iconic Bob Dylan songs “The Times They Are A-Changin”” and “Blowing In the Wind.”
After the shock of the Kennedy assassination, the events of each year are recounted in a mock newscast. The program closely follows the progress of the Vietnam War, the space program and the Civil Rights movement. Significant moments in popular culture are also highlighted, such as the Beatles coming to America.
Our show places the memorable music of the 1960s in its proper historical context.
Motown music became popular in the midst of urban unrest. The Beatles said “We Can Work It Out” even as generational divisions were dividing families. Aretha Franklin demanded “Respect” as African-Americans and women of all races refused to be treated like second-class citizens. The gentle folk music of the early 1960s was replaced by the challenging sounds of the Doors and Jimi Hendrix.
We show how political action by young people directly influenced world events.
The March on Washington led to the passage of Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation. Antiwar protests led to President Johnson’s decision to not seek another term. Riots in major American cities were addressed by the War on Poverty and the Model Cities program.
Jimi Hendrix’s performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair made it deafeningly clear that America had been forever transformed by the youth of the 1960s. Don McLean’s “American Pie” looks back on all these changes and gives the audience the opportunity to raise their voices in song, much as young people did all those years ago.
