What Effect Does No Vietnam War Have On the Music Industry?

[eltf177]

Something that's been running through my mind lately...

Gary Lewis (of Gary Lewis and the Playboys) got drafted, when he returned he found his style of music no longer relevant. I'm sure there were other artists in the same boat.

OTOH without the war songs like Barry McGwire's EVE OF DESTRUCTION and Dylan's BLOWIN' IN THE WIND wouldn't exist, along with many other songs. The entire Folk Era might not even exist so no Peter, Paul and Mary and possibly The Kingston Trio.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tjakari]

I won't think of Jimi Hendrix when I see a bridge, that's for sure.

But yeah, the loss of a generation defining era of political strife would definitely put a damper on the more protest-oriented music. The idea that music in general should be anti-establishment may not come into the wider culture.

Of course it would still exist, but the thought of some of the biggest musicians of your day protesting the government might be a novel one in an alternate 60s and 70s where the public isn't concerned with a drafted war.

 

[Son of Sphinks]

John Fogerty of CCR did a hitch in Vietnam and that shaped some of the songs of the group, (Run Through the Jungle, Have you Ever Seen the Rain, Out my Back Door). You may also have the effect of having more talent who had been sent off to Vietnam and lost their lives emerging as singer/songwriters during the 70's/early 80's.

 

[MatthewB]

Not to worry, if not Vietnam, the US will militarily intervene somewhere in the 1970s. The military industrial complex demands it. We’ll still get our “Fortunate Son”.

 

[marathag]

OTOH without the war songs like Barry McGwire's EVE OF DESTRUCTION and Dylan's BLOWIN' IN THE WIND wouldn't exist, along with many other songs. The entire Folk Era might not even exist so no Peter, Paul and Mary and possibly The Kingston Trio.

_Puff the Magic Dragon_ P,P&M 1963
_Tom Dooley_, 1958_Where have all the Flowers gone_ Kingston Trio 1962

Well before Vietnam.

But if I would have had a Hammer back then, there would have been no more Folk Singers.
It was a true mercy when the British Invasion knocked them down the Charts.

 

[Mark E.]

Not to worry, if not Vietnam, the US will militarily intervene somewhere in the 1970s. The military industrial complex demands it. We’ll still get our “Fortunate Son”.

Not really. By 1970, the sentiment was overwhelmingly against the war; Vietnam was of, by and for the late sixties. 1970 brought not only "Fortunate Son," but "War" and "Ohio." Taking these songs out of the mix isn't going to change the direction of popular music. Besides, "Ohio" was banned from the radio in many places.

 

[neopeius]

Blowin' in the Wind came out in early '63. Vietnam was not its primary impetus.

 

[Hrvatskiwi]

Not really. By 1970, the sentiment was overwhelmingly against the war; Vietnam was of, by and for the late sixties. 1970 brought not only "Fortunate Son," but "War" and "Ohio." Taking these songs out of the mix isn't going to change the direction of popular music. Besides, "Ohio" was banned from the radio in many places.

This is a good point. In so many ways, the 60s was the height of the Cold War.

Obviously on the early 60s you had the Cuban missile crisis, but also the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Sion-Soviet split, the decolonisation of Africa...
By 68 you had the massive protests throughout the world and the Cultural Revolution in China, by 69 you had the Sino-Soviet border clashes. Not to mention around this time France sorta left NATO...

Obviously there were later flare ups in the 80s during the so-called "second Cold War", but really the 70s was probably the most relaxed period of the whole Cold War.