San Francisco Sound

The San Francisco Sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco during these years.

Related Topics:
San Francisco - Counterculture

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Prominent in this development were groups such as the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service ? and later Mother Earth, Santana, Blue Cheer, and the Loading Zone.

Related Topics:
Jefferson Airplane - Grateful Dead - Big Brother & the Holding Company - Quicksilver Messenger Service - Santana - Blue Cheer

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Many bands formed, and each band had its characteristic sound, but enough commonalities existed that there was a regional identity, too. Fresh and adventurous improvisation during live performance (which many heard as being epitomized by the Grateful Dead) was one characteristic of the San Francisco Sound. A louder, more prominent role for the electric bass ? typically with a melodic or semi-melodic approach, and using a plush, pervasive tone - was another feature. Exploration of chordal progressions previously uncommon in rock & roll, and a freer and more resourceful use of all instruments (drums and other percussion, electric guitars, keyboards, as well as the bass) went along with this "psychedelic-era" music. Unlike contemporary R&B and soul bands, and some of the white bands from the U.S. East Coast (e.g., Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago), trumpets and saxophones were rarely used.

Related Topics:
Psychedelic - R&B - Soul - Blood, Sweat & Tears - Chicago

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This was the period when "rock" was differentiating itself from "rock & roll," partly due to the upshot of the British Invasion. In San Francisco, musical influences came in from not only London and Liverpool, but also the American bi-coastal folk-music revival scene of the 1950s and 1960s, the Chicago electric blues scene, the soul music scenes in Detroit, Memphis, and Muscle Shoals, jazz styles of various eras and regions, and more.

Related Topics:
British Invasion - London - Liverpool - Folk-music revival - Chicago - Electric blues - Soul music - Detroit - Memphis - Muscle Shoals - Jazz

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The lyrical content of the San Francisco Sound was both emotional (which carried over from early rock & roll) and intelligent, reflecting the influence of such pioneering contemporary lyricists as Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Lyrics were deliberately, and often skillfully, poetic. In this, the San-Francisco-Sound writers were no doubt also influenced by the Beat Generation poets of the San Francisco Renaissance of a decade before. The quest for peaceful good times, for love, empathy, brotherhood, and solidarity, for increased wisdom, for harmony with nature, and for personal and collective fulfillment were all represented in lyrics.

Related Topics:
Rock & roll - Bob Dylan - John Lennon - Beat Generation - San Francisco Renaissance

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The San Francisco bands' music was everything that AM-radio pop music wasn't. Their performances contrasted with the "standard three-minute track" that had become a cliché of the pop-music industry, due to to the requirements of AM radio (and to the limited potentials of many pop songs and song treatments). The San Francisco bands would often show their improvisatory zest by playing a given song or instrumental for, say, five to thirty minutes (and sometimes for longer). The music was loud and community-connected: bands sometimes presented free concerts in Golden Gate Park and "happenings" at the city's several psychedelic clubs and ballrooms.

Related Topics:
Golden Gate Park - Happening

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The San Francisco Sound was widely influential during its heyday and since.

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