MuleSkinner Book Recommendation #11

Shaky Ground – the Sixties and It's Aftershocks

(By Alice Echols, 2002)

In our perhaps somewhat fragmented series of book recommendations, we for change, now take under lens rather a collection of texts than complete full-length volume. The book in question, Alice Echols Shaky Ground – The Sixties and its Aftershocks (2002), is basically extraordinary example (from such); it doesn't succeed any better in the difficult task of joining together a variety of loosely related texts, but makes far more complete and interesting collection than most. Our main reason for recommendation this time (not to mention the funny coincidence that this book too, in addition to our previous non-fiction selection uses 'shock'-term in its naming...) – is that these articles present valuable supplementary reading for Echols better known Janis Joplin biography Scars of Sweet Paradise (1999). The latter also a rarer example in (popular) 'academic rock writing', less conventional in contents and also less boring than most popular music biographies.¹

As a sexuality and gender research, the book also is a pretty interesting read for anyone with some preceeding knowledge from the 60ies movements in general. Echols conclusions are perhaps not always shaking the basis of common interpretations from the decade, but anyway it presents a lot questioning of the most typical clichees from 'naive hippies, sexual liberation and the reasons for failure of both'. And, anyone familiar with Abbie Hoffman's textual declarations on behalf of cultural and sexual revolutions, cannot help but to wonder whether the first or latter was of greater importance and merely in close range interest of the (mostly) male-dominated leadership in 60ies radicalism. Echols don't waste time on answering that question, the feminist writing probably already sufficiently having presented that the boys surely weren't too much interested on women's rights or liberations. Instead, she tries to dig deeper on the other common claims and finds out (fx) that perhaps the popular music didn't after all serve as the principal tool in commercial sedation of early hippie radicalism, but that the one-sided sexual revolution may afterall served even better.

Having sometimes occasionally wondered a similar questions - like why it is so that decade (1960) most influensive in the formation(s) of the later youth and consumer culture is also most absent in cultural historics, fx concerning the popular music memoirs or the histories of counter-culture in general - I find these viewpoints refreshing but also challenging. Having virtually not at all any beforehand knowledge from radical feminisms pasts, it is here most delicate histories when read in parallel with the story of early creations of the most "institutionalised" and "male" forms of modern cultural comsumption, that being the rock music (actually the early progressive rock and the later formation of the genre, by critics, etc). Although, articles are from various topics and Echols actually writes more from Women's liberation movements early beginning in the 60ies, than fx from the early 'hippie-cradle' at Haight (but there's one article devoted for that, too).

When discussing the beginning of the early feminism in the 60ies, Echols notices the white feminists having considered themselves as opponents of racism but when similarly neglegted the race-questions, and at the same time not understood why the black women avoided movement – though, basically the same trick had been used against them itself. Also, in her discussions from the later formation of the feminist movement during 1970s and 80s, she finds (simplifying these conclusions here by me, perhaps...) that the continuation of (those) attitudes may have helped to shift the movement away from its early goals and principles of equality, that originated in the 60ies radicalism. She also holds the women's liberation movement among the most understated of radicalist groups of the 60ies, view that I don't as much share, since I think this book also shows that it, at least later on, has secured a place in general conciousness fx on the basis of the amount of research devoted to it. Also, as many of the articles originally written during the 1990s, they also sometimes touch popular themes in those times. She fx notices – perhaps obvious at the time too, but more than interesting when reminded in this connection – that in Oliver Stone's renown Hollywood films 'civil courage, principal resistance and rock'n'roll-genious are presented as male dominated qualities' (in JFK, Born 4^th of July and The Doors, and in that order, she states.) Echols seems also to have no difficulties in finding connections to the sixties 'legacy' from recent pop/rock 'genderbreeding' as well. Actually she states in the forewords as wishing to take under examination, not just 60ies but the overwhelming struggles in the periods since second world war until the recent times; that is (ao)how the questions concerning race, sexuality, gender and the generations divide have in time changed society as a whole - from that the name, Aftershocks, I suppose. Quite unavoidably many of the articles discuss also other areas of importance related to those.

All in all Shaky Ground is less coherent combination than the Joplin biography, like one could expect remembering that the articles originate from time period of three decades. Since we are (again) quite late-comers in our reviews, and the books been published several years ago, we for now leave more detailed interpretations aside and just mention contents being divided in three main chapters. The articles (we just suppose) could also be outlined under these 'categories' as well: Sixties counter-movements in America and their (gender) inheritance, The formation and later outcomes of the radicalism movements (especially the early women's liberation movement), and development of rock and disco in in related to these. That being our own divide, the most interesting (to us) are; Writings mostly devoted to popular music such as 'Hope and Hype in Sixties Haight-Ashbury'; 'Thousands of men and few hundred women:' Janis Joplin, Sexual Ambiguity and Bohemia; 'Shaky ground': Popular Music in the Disco Years. Concerning the radical feminisms early histories most useful for culturally curious(like us) are the renown polemic early 1980s article 'The Taming of the Id': Feminist Sexual Politics. 1968-1983 as well as the 'Totally Ready to Go': Shulamith Firestone and The Dialectic of Sex, but also 'Nothing Distant about It': Women's Liberation and the Sixties Radicalism (the sixties womens movement/Early feminism in related to other radical movements of the time). Also, not to forget, merely a general presentation from literature on homo- and lesbian history, but somehow appears to discuss similar topics, 'Queer like Us?'. Other articles are also worth reading, though some are merely lenghty book listings from certain themes (last three being interviews of some pop musicians/stars).

Conclusively, and reminding ourselves from our limited knowledge from most recent research on these fields, we just recommend the book fx for those who found Janis Joplin biography interesting. Basically widens understanding from some of the 60ies struggles and fights. And, we might add; Echols writings also assert that the renown struggles and the 'failures' of the 60ies 'cultural-' and the 'sex- revolutions' hasn't prevented their diverse and meaningful continuations today (though its not often generally acknowledged them having anything in common). Perhaps the decade appears a bit more distant nowadays, but still remains to be the most apparent transition period of the recent past. Not so much has culturally changed since, say...1967.

Our recommendations having slipped now mostly to the North-american non-fiction books, we (supposedly) are to include next some classics of american (realistic) prose. Later on (in the name of our equality principle...) might as well for change review some writers/books, non-english language in origin...

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Notes:

1. Probably rock writing isn't nowadays as rare and limited phenomenom in academic researches. Only, I suppose, that many such researches aren't much widely published, rarer even to be found by average public. From other more interesting parallel histories for the 'most typical' (like all these stardom memoirs, and the occasional business histories, etc), we ourselves are only familiar with, and can therefore recommend just Simon Friths classic Sound Effects and Clinton Heylin's Bootleg – the Secret History of the other Recording Industry (1996).