What was it like in the 60's and 70's?

Insanity.  Never experienced anything like this in the SF Bay Area...I got into Sabbath in '74 as I began high school and I remember being their only fan at my Catholic high school...everyone else was absolutely Led Zep crazy and thought they were 'heavy' and couldn't figure out why I loved Sabbath.  I couldn't figure out how they could consider Zep 'heavy' as compared to Sabbath I considered Zep just hard rock.  Of course, both had the 'dark magic' aura, but I never remember anyone hassled because of being a Sabbath or Zep fan...even in a Catholic school!  Then I stumbled onto Crimso in '77...for me USA & Red were the perfect combination of Sabbath style metal and doom and prog rock.  

 

 

 As the stadium rock progressed into the 70's, it was evident that senseless motives overshadowed the original intention of what the original rock artists were hoping to still produce to an audience. In Humble Pie's version of Dr. John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" there are repeated times when individual band members are featured improvising on their instruments. It was then...an attempt for superb musicianship in Rock music. That meant musicians were more progressive sounding JUST in Rock Music alone. That concept died slowly and was no longer relevant to enough people and it didn't often exist in Stadium Rock. With Stadium Rock, I felt cheated from that complete freedom people like Brian Jones had. Record executives had no interest in your multi-talented instrumentation for Rock music and set rules to follow. Suddenly...musicians/artists were placed on huge stages where there was no more "down to earth" connection with the audience. The musician was now 40 or 50 feet away from the first row and gave off a vibe of being a untouchable icon..and that's what made more profit. Rock stars were more worshipped as icons and the seperation created the jackpot for the industry. It was all just a money game for promoters..MORE SO...than the ideas for audience participation , pretty boys, and showboat gimmicks of flamboyant nature having some kind of grand originality from the artists themselves. Claiming that the "times had Changed" because people were ready for something different and the executive who was once a hippie , knew music and forced all or most musicians to concentrate on the "3 minute Rock song" and to forget the rest of creativity in straight foward Rock music.  As an end result....Bad Company became the son of Free. Free was a much more diverse and creative type of band. They DID in fact play straight Rock music that was simplistic...but added creative ideas. Bad Company could not compare to the level musically of Free. This pattern began to circulate amongst several of the Rock bands and it just grew progressively worse. While this was occuring, bands like Deep Purple who had power and authority to make Rock music a little more interesting , took a different direction into "Funk" and "Soul" music prevalent on Stormbringer and Come Taste the Band.

 

 

In the 70's when a musician auditioned for a working band, they were asked to play a variety of styles on their instrument. This unfortunately transformed into a musician only be required to play 1 style . A style that unfortunately didn't aquire eminence talent for the musician. End result in the 80's was that you were pressured into cutting solos short and so when you had a following...and you squeezed in a Weather Report instrumental...even though the audience supported it, you were being chewed up and spit out by agents and managers in the dressing room. Everything developed into less playing, less requirement for musicianship...and more emphasis placed on the dress code, your smile, and your stage presence. Musicians who were still performing Progressive music in places like the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia had already profited the industry and were given some short leadway. Like Eddie Jobson who had worked with Frank Zappa and Roxy Music was a member of U.K along with the other members who had payed their dues and were not given a licence to kill, but were booked and had a following. The new prog bands hadn't a chance in hell unless they had established a reputation prior to the decline of Prog in the music business. That was when commercialization placed unfortunate barriers revolving around what a musician could not do.

"Far worse things, await men, than death!" Count Dracula in the original film with Bela Lugosi

 

I'm also thinking that the discussion on the __________ and the __________ does not belong here. There were a lot of great things in terms of the arts that were far more valuable, in my estimation.

 

It also left behind a much greater history and story is in the arts ... and I always thought that this title and discussion is far more interesting in that area. I will never deny, or think that bad things, or different things didn't happen at all, btw!

 

But I find that getting beat up by some cops in Chicago, was far worse than some of these sad stories. Or being frisked during Kent State by the National Guard in Madison, on your way to work, when you are a sensible teenager and affected by your environment!