There's a Riot Going On: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars, and the Rise and Fall of the '60s

by Peter Doggett

Between 1965 and 1972, political activists around the globe prepared to mount a revolution. While the Vietnam War raged, calls for black power grew louder and liberation movements erupted everywhere from Berkeley, Detroit, and Newark, to Paris, Berlin, Ghana, and Peking.
Rock and soul music fueled the revolutionary movement with anthems and iconic imagery. Soon the musicians themselves, from John Lennon and Bob Dylan to James Brown and Fela Kuti, were being dragged into the fray. From Mick Jagger’s legendary appearance in Grosvenor Square standing on the sidelines and snapping pictures, to the infamous incident during the Woodstock Festival when Pete Townshend kicked yippie Abbie Hoffman off the stage while he tried to make a speech about an imprisoned comrade, Doggett unravels the truth about how these were not the “Street Fighting Men” they liked to see themselves as and how the increasing corporatization of the music industry played an integral role in derailing the cultural dream. There’s a Riot Going On is a fresh, definitive, and exceedingly well-researched behind-the-scenes account of this uniquely turbulent period when pop culture and politics shared the world stage with mixed results.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, Pop Culture, Counter Culture

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Peter Doggett has been writing about popular music, the entertainment industry and social and cultural history since 1980. A regular contributor to Mojo, Q and GQ, his books include The Art and Music of John Lennon, a volume detailing the creation of the Beatles’ Let It Be and Abbey Road albums; the pioneering study of the collision between rock and country music, Are You Ready for the Country? and, most recently, There’s a Riot Going On: Revolutionaries, Rock Stars and the Rise and Fall of 60s Counter-culture.

Reviews

[Karrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was a waste of time. a discredit to the movments of the 60s. very poor research on the Black Panthers. paints musicians in a terrible light. really a terrible read as well.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent year-by-year social history of the 60s, with special focus on the intersections of politics and music. Each chapter/year covers the student/anti-Vietnam movement, civil rights & black power and women's lib in the U.S., as well as uprisings and protests around the world. Doggett is a very engaging writer, and his sober judgment and myth-deflating of events and personalities make for a fascinating read. (You'll never think of John Lennon or Mick Jagger and their cronies as icons of dissent after reading Doggett's analysis of their political naivete and/or overwhelming disinterest.) Overall, I think his task is to answer the question of what happened to all that revolutionary energy? Why did these social upheavals fail to bring about the revolution that seemed so close, and how did they disappear virtually without a trace? There are no easy answers--in-fighting and ego trips, harassment and brutality by the police and feds, but mostly I think it has to do with capitalism's ability to absorb and commoditize "revolution"--to take genuine rage at the injustice of the system and sell it back to the kids in the form of Che t-shirts and "revolutionary" rock & roll records. That answer is truly depressing, as it means that true revolution can never become a reality in this country, and that we will likely never see a time when it was as close as in the 1960s.

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. Doggett falls victim to exactly the problem he identifies as the downfall of Sixties rock "revolutionaries": confusing their insular universe with the larger political landscape. There's a ton of fascinating detail about the relationship between rock musicians and the more radical wings of the movement. But Doggett's roughly as deluded about the importance of fringe elements of various Marxist groups as the musicians he criticizes. If you accept his take, A.J. Weberman (wackdoodle head of the "Dylan Liberation Front" which made Bob's life miserable for years after the singer backed off from explicitly political music) is as important as John Lennon or the MC5. I got tired of the leftist "inside baseball" even when I was learning a bit of detail. Add to that the fact that Doggett--clearly a British leftie--screws up all kinds of details about the response of the African American community to soul artists like Stevie Wonder (he'd decided that the black community rejected Stevie's cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" which is just idiotic) and I can't recommend the book. Way too many factual errors undercut the useful elements of the book. If you know the general tale of music and politics in the 60s well, you'll get something from the book. But you fundamentally can't trust it.

[Russ Bertetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review because I found it hard book to read even though I grew up (16-23). Doggett pounds the reader with a lot information about a lot of people, a lot of radical groups spread out all over the world. That is what I think is his biggest problem-he tries to cover too much. The story of "the revolution" goes from the US, to England, Ireland, France, Czechoslovakia, Mexico, Africa.
I found the stories of Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and Eldridge Cleaver pretty sad. For different reasons I thought that Bob Dylan and John Lennon (and Yoko Ono) were also sad. John and Yoko never seemed to know what or who they wanted to be and were easily led by others. Maybe Dylan knew who he was but he certainly wouldn't let anybody else know esp. AJ Weberman undoubtedly the saddest most pathetic figure in the book.
I gave it a 3 mainly because I learned a lot of things about things I had some knowledge of prior to reading; I also learned things about a lot of things and people I had no knowledge of then and after reading it felt I had no need to learn about it/them now.
It took me about 6-8 weeks to read this. It was a real slog but I did finish it.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good, but not great, survey of the ongoing dialog (for lack of a better term) between the music community and the peace/civil rights movement between the mid-60s through 1972. Doggett carefully avoids lionizing his subjects - Rubin, Hoffman, Dylan, Lennon, etc. - and is extremely critical (for good reason) of the lack of attention gave to the feminist and gay rights movements by the rock community. Kudos also are due for not restricting to the traditional rock cannon, but also touching on such key jazz figures as Charlie Haden and Archie Shepp. That said, although clearly a lot of effort went into writing this book, it wasn't overly revelatory. There are lots of interesting anecdotes, but the big takeaway is the counter-culture erred in counting on the support of musicians. I'm not sure this required a 500+ page book to explain.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

The challenge reading something like this is not having a stand-alone knowledge base to work off of that matches the scope that the book covers. That being said: I learned a lot.

I would love to see something like this written post-2016; the parallels seem too clear to ignore.

[JW · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read collection of anecdotes documenting the intersection of music and leftist politics from the late ‘60s to 1972. Brief, but fascinating information on Brazilian Tropicalismo, and how Fela Kuti was influenced by Black American nationalism. The book’s thesis is best summed up by the author’s description of the relationship between John Sinclair’s White Panthers and the MC5:
“ While the White Panthers envisioned themselves as a vanguard force of Marxist revolt, the MC5 defined revolution as a rock’n’roll stance – a defiantly raised middle finger to Top 40 radio, a declaration of outlaw independence. Sinclair’s ultimate aim was the overthrow of the American cultural, legal and political systems. The MC5 dreamed of being uncompromising rock’n’roll stars.”
Some artists, such as Phil Ochs, Country Joe & the Fish and Joan Baez were more committed to leftist causes. John Lennon had his radical phase, which he later disavowed. And some activists, like Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, went showbiz. Huey Newton had a brief career as a concert promoter.

[Darcia Helle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the counter-culture's various political movements from 1965 to 1972. Most of the information focuses on the happenings in the U.S., though Peter Doggett does touch upon other countries and how the turmoil connected. Doggett covers the Weathermen, the Black Power groups, Yippies, the start of the Women's Movement, the political activists such as Abbie Hoffman, and the musicians who got involved.

Doggett gives us insight into why the underground movements took off the way they did, as well as why many fizzled into nothing in the end. While the book is divided by year, at times Doggett jumps around in his attempt to cover a person or movement's activities. For the most part, I didn't have a problem with the format. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the period of history that sparked an incredible amount of change in our lives.

[Tosh]

We just got this in the bookstore. The American edition is now released, and it looks very interesting. Right now reading Richard Brody's crit-bio on Jean-Luc Godard and even though I was a little tot, I remember the late 60's being such an interesting era in radical politics of all sorts and stripes. Godard was one of the main figures in that era, as well as a cast of thousands.

I think what's so sad right now is the mass population (at least in America) is so conservative in its thinking and actions. There was a spirit of 'let's try it' in the 60's that is totally lacking in today's culture and world. i miss the taste of adventure and debate.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Power to the People!

A very ambitious chronicle, and despite some erroneous claims early on that a good editor could have easily fact-checked -- claiming Malcolm X was murdered in Detroit, that "hundreds of thousands" of Americans died in Vitenam, & that Jimi Hendrix played with an "all black band"at Woodstock -- I found it enjoyable as well as informative. I've been obsessed with the 60's since I was a kid and first discovered the Beatles. Some eye openers about Lennon, The Rolling Stones & Dylan. The black power movement was the most fascinating for me. I must admit however, that by the time I got to 1972, I was feeling a bit burned-out.

[Liz Wollman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a lot of promise but ended up being something of a scrambled mess. I gave up.

[Philip Craggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting record of the 60s counter-culture which isn't afraid to be critical of major figures, whether members of the Black Panthers or John Lennon.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, I’m tempted to lower my rating (if Goodreads had a half star, that would be perfect). This is because at some points this was a very slow, plodding read. Unfortunately, most of that is the beginning of this book, but if you can plod through it will get better. There are plenty of books about the sixties, and plenty of others about that period’s music. But Doggett creates a unique juxtaposition of both distinct contributions to this memorable period and how one played off the other.

For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of attention paid to several specific people. In the case of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, their stars started to sink after the Chicago Convention trial. And I couldn’t at all figure out why AJ Weberman whose 15 minutes of fame occurred when he searched through Bob Dylan’s garbage and David Peel, a street singer who had the good fortune to hook up with John Lennon got so much coverage in this book.

[Phil Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable look at the high point of sixties rebellion and its relationship with the counter culture and musicians of varying sincerity. The story is a complex brew of brave rebellion, of the oppressed and exploited fighting back alongside confused politics, often surreal, sometimes tragic events - set to a thumping musical soundtrack.

(As an aside, folks might be interested in this humble effort by me:

http://culturematters.org.uk/index.ph... )

[Babs M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to be a little to tedious and too much concentration on some people that really didn't deserve it. Guess I have read too many books about all this so didn't really learn much new. Mostly that aside from maybe helping end the Viet Nam war most of what went on ended up in futility. A lot of wasted time, talent and money that didn't accomplish that much at all.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my "Long 1960s" class; it sometimes got a bit into the weeds with details that weren't super relevant or necessary, but on the whole an interesting and well-researched look at the time.

[Alexandria Perone]

DNF at page 53… it is incredibly dense

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Doggettin erinomainen "There's a Riot Going On" käsittelee vuosien 1966-1972 vallankumouksellista ilmapiiriä, yhteiskunnallis-poliittisia ja kulttuurillisia aatesuuntauksia ja kaiken taustalla soivaa populaarimusiikkia.

Teoksessa käsitellään aihetta laajasti: palstatilaa saavat niin mustien kansalaisoikeustaistelu, Vietnamin sotaa vastustanut liikehdintä kuin feministien ja homoseksuaalien käymä kamppailu omien oikeuksiensa puolesta. Vähän yli viidensadan sivun aikana lukijalle tulevat tutuksi niin Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Huey Newton, A.J. Weberman, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Jerry Rubin, Phil Ochs, John Sinclair kuin Abbie Hoffmankin, unohtamatta kymmeniä muita aikakauden enemmän tai vähemmän mieleenpainuneita vaikuttajia tai Weather Undergroundin ja Mustien pantterien kaltaisia radikaaleja liikkeitä.

"There's a Riot Going Onin" parissa ei pääse pitkästymään, sen verran mielenkiintoisesti kirjailija johdattaa lukijaansa läpi vuosien, joiden piiriin voi mahduttaa niin Montereyn hippiunelman kuin mitalin varjoisammankin puolen, johon kuuluivat Charles Manson, Kent State University kuin Altamontkin.

Doggett ei välttämättä tuo esille mitään sellaista mistä jo aikaisemmin ei olisi kirjoitettu, mutta yhdistää erilaisia teemoja kiinnostavasti samojen kansien väliin ja tuo esille monia mielenkiintoisia näkökulmia mm. hippiliikkeen suhtautumisesta naispuolisiin jäseniinsä.

Vaikka kirjan pääpaino onkin USA:ssa ja osin myös Englannissa, se tekee kirja mielenkiintoisia syrjähyppyjä muun muassa Tsekkoslovakiaan, Brasiliaan, Irlantiin, Chileen ja Meksikoon. Kotoista Vanhan valtausta ei sentään mainita.

Ehdotonta luettavaa kaikille aikakaudesta ja sen musiikista kiinnostuneille!

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author came of age in the early 1970s, during the beginning of the perceived decline of the hippie subculture which I guess kinda informs his perspective in many ways. In a way, the book does almost as much to de-romanticize that era as Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice". Many of the people involved in the countercultural movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s come across as either incredibly naïve, downright hypocritical or just giving up very quickly... if not some combination of all three.

It's really long and insanely well-researched, apparently having interviewed almost everyone who was historically important to that era in the US/UK... yet it still comes across as way too short. Part of the problem is that the author's conclusions in the end are rather confused, and I'm not sure exact lessons he meant to draw from it all in the end. Another major issue is how intensely he again concentrates on the US/UK and occasionally also France. It would have been really interesting to see that kind of in-depth coverage of what was going on in for example Germany. There the equivalent subcultures were much more radical both politically (e. g. the Baader-Meinhof Group) and artistically (e. g. krautrock), for rather obvious reasons, and I'm not even sure if either got as much as a mention.

I guess I have to judge this book a noble failure, just like its subject matter!

[Vince · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll give the author credit for trying to wrap together so many different concepts and actions that could loosely be labeled "youth rebellion" and try to create a coherent whole. That being said he misses the mark wildly. He bounces back and forth with no rhyme or reason and spends more time examining Prague, 1968 which really affected the left in the USA very little than he does paris 68 which did. Outside of rock music he touched very little on other US trends of the period, art, fashion etc. This is also probably the worst fact checked book i have ever seen released by a major publisher. David Peel played Washington Square not Washington State Park. Malcom X was in the Audobon Ballroom in NYC not Detroit and I'm fairly certain the United Nations is located on the East River, not Riverside Drive which is along the Hudson River. Maybe everyone fired up a doob in celebration of the 60's and just guessed.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling and detailed history of politics and music of the sixties and there relationship.

What I found limited was its over all emphasis on failure, as if "the revolution" should have been achieved - and sustained. I want to hear about how ongoing all those innovations have also been: the way it has changed many aspects of global culture indelibly How positive many of those changes have been.

To use an analogy: just because we brought the flowers and the songs to the wedding didn't mean we guaranteed there would be no divorce! Let's start over!

[Michael D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Functional chronological roll-call of most of the revolutionary protest groups and their actions from 1965 to 1972 that is grim to read but interesting enough. Nixon's massive landslide election win in 72 is presented as the endgame - the moment 'the man' shafted the 60's spirit conclusively and rendered so-called revolutionary figures as Hoffman, Rubin et al meaningless.

Allen Ginsberg's quote sums up the author's view nicely it seems - "More and more, by hindsight, I think all of our activity in the late sixties may have prolonged the Vietnam war."

[Sum Doood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, five stars. Unputdownable, close to fascinating if this period of history interests you, and it should, or if you simply wonder why the revolutions didn't produce many, if any, of the good changes we still need. Astonishingly well written.

[Sherah]

Another Goodreads win!

[Tracey Wilde · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book assumes a level of knowledge about the subject that I just didn't have. Its very, very detailed and I soon lost track of who was who and what group they belonged to.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever thought that '60s were a shagadelic fashion party, check this book. You may not like it.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Doggett's 'There's A Riot Going On' is hefty tome at 525 pages. It carries the reader through the beginnings of the 60s' political counter-culture circa 1965 through the 1972 Presidential election and the abrupt fallout of the counter-culture. While I am well-versed in this period and the author's chosen subject, I was still quite amazed by the accuracy and depth of his research and in how he revealed small details within a fast-paced and exciting narrative. Doggett is a good writer and the book is well researched and edited.

John Lennon (and of course Yoko Ono) feature prominently; the author says in the Forward that the 'Sometime In New York City' album was his teenaged introduction to the revolutionary spirit. The finer details of Lennon's donations to progressive (often corr

upt or fanciful) social and politial movements in the UK and in the USA around 1969--1972 are detailed herein, and the stories told are very interesting and from a fairly unique perspective. In general, and although Doggett is at times highly critical of Lennon's (and others') misguided aims during this dynamic period, the author seems sympathetic to Lennon's sincerity -- he quotes John's cynical comments like, "We kept all the royalties of course" (referring to the "Power To The People" single), but then points out that Lennon's later cynicism about the early 70s had prevented him from pointing out to interviewers how much time and money he had actually donated to causes during that period.

My criticism of this book is that its overall story is too obvious -- that revolutionaries and rock stars have nothing substantial in common, and that rock and student-led revolution were never going to tear down the walls of the Kingdom. That is, we already knew that, and t

he book simply points it out. But what's enjoyable is the style of writing and the detail (and passion) that goes into the highly engaging text. It was also very good that Doggett focused on the downfall of the counter-culture, something that writers haven't focused on enough. Coming away from the book, however, one is left a bit confused by the author's perspective on the loose aims of the period -- is he ultimately sympathetic or scornful? It's really hard to tell. But at least you can say he's objective.

So, I'd recommend this (highly readable) book for Lennon fans and for people interested in the topic and the period, but it's not overly insightful and would not be greatly useful for any academic purpose except perhaps as a reference book.

[Patrick McGarry]

Great book!