Review

Explosion of Deferred Dreams in Midwest Book Review

The Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965–1975

By Willis M. Buhle
Midwest Book Review
March 2017

Synopsis: As the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love floods the media with debates over morals, music, and political movements; celebrations of “flower power”, “acid rock”, and “hippies”; “The Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965 – 1975” offers a critical re-examination of the interwoven political and musical happenings in San Francisco in the Sixties.

In “The Explosion of Deferred Dreams”, author, musician, and native San Franciscan Mat Callahan deftly explores the dynamic links between the Black Panthers and Sly and the Family Stone, the United Farmworkers and Santana, the Indian Occupation of Alcatraz and the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and the New Left and the counterculture. Callahan’s meticulous, impassioned arguments both expose and reframe the political and social context for the San Francisco Sound and the vibrant subcultural uprisings with which it is associated.

Using dozens of original interviews, primary sources, and personal experiences, Callahan shows how the intense interplay of artistic and political movements put San Francisco, briefly, in the forefront of a worldwide revolutionary upsurge.

Simply a ‘must-read’ for any musician, historian, or person who “was there” (or longed to have been), “The Explosion of Deferred Dreams” is substantive and provocative, inviting the reader to reinvigorate our historical sense-making of an era that assumes a mythic role in the contemporary American zeitgeist.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, “The Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965 – 1975” is a unique, comprehensive, informative, and thought-provoking read from cover to cover and unreservedly recommended for community and academic library 20th Century American Music History collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that “The Explosion of Deferred Dreams” is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).

Back to Mat Callahan’s Author Page