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.

Prominent in this development were groups such as the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Many bands formed, and each band had its characteristic sound, but there were enough commonalities that there was a regional identity, too. Fresh and adventurous improvisation during live performance (often cited as being epitomized by the Grateful Dead) is often noted as one characteristic. 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. But 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 out East in the U.S. (e.g., Blood, Sweat & Tears), brass and woodwind instruments were rarely used. An exploration of chordal progressions previously uncommon in rock & roll was another facet.

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 Detroit and Memphis soul-music scene, jazz styles of various eras and regions, and more.

The lyrical content of the San Francisco Sound was both emotional (which carried over from early rock & roll) and intellectual, refelecting the influence of such pioneering contemporary lyricists as Bob Dylanand 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.

The San Francisco Sound was widely influential.