Monday, May 16, 1966: 'Pet Sounds'

Departing from the Beach Boys' surf-music roots, "Pet Sounds" was an emotive and carefully planned recording that attempted to present an album as a unified work and not merely a collection of singles. The album is notable for Brian Wilson's lead vocals* and the harmonizing support from the other band members. Equally compelling are the melodies and the arrangements, the latter featuring, among other instruments, horns, strings, theremin, accordion and a glockenspiel. The album has proven to be the most complete statement of Wilson's musical and lyrical aesthetic.

-- From National Recording Registry, Library of Congress

-- * Other group members also sang lead vocals, most notably Carl Wilson on "God Only Knows"

* Listen to the album (archive.org): @

* Album review (AllMusic): @

* Album reviews (Rolling Stone): @ and @

* "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: 'Pet Sounds' " (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @

* "The Making (and Remaking) of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' Arguably the Greatest Rock Album of All Time" (Open Culture): @

* "The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, On Stage and in the Studio" (Keith Badman, 2004): @

* "The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' " (Jim Fusilli, 2005): @ 

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1966: Cultural Revolution in China

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a decade-long period of political and social chaos caused by Mao Zedong's bid to use the Chinese masses to reassert his control over the country's Communist Party. (From "The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion," linked below.)

     Daily summaries are from "Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution" and "The New Cambridge History of Contemporary China" (linked below) unless otherwise noted.

     Texts from www.marxists.org and www.bannedthought.net unless otherwise noted.

February 12

The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (CCPCC) issues the Outline Report within the party nationwide as a guiding document.

April 18: "Hold High the Great Red Banner of Mao Tse-Tung's Thought and Actively Participate in the Great Socialist Cultural Revolution"

* Text: @
* Image: "Hold high the great red banner of Mao Zedong to wage the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the end -- Revolution is no crime, to rebel is justified" (Image from chineseposters.net)

May 7 directive
* Summary (from en.people.cn): @
* Text (from "Turbulent Decade," linked below): @

May 16: "Circular of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, May 16, 1966: A Great Historic Document"
The Politburo announces its decision to set up the Cultural Revolution Group, and calls for attacks on "all representatives of the bourgeoisie who have infiltrated the Party, government, army and cultural world."
* Text: @

May 25: Dazibao
Dazibao, big character posters, were an object of political struggle that proliferated during the Cultural Revolution. They usually contained quotations of Mao, the name of the person being discussed in the poster, tangential evidence of him or her being counter-revolutionary, a call for action against the person, and more praises of Mao. ... The posters were usually pasted on walls or boards for the public to see and to discuss. ... On May 25, 1966, a big character poster written by Nie Yuanzi targeting the chancellor and officials of Peking University rekindled the flame of poster. Nie's was lauded by Mao as "China's first Marxist-Leninist big character poster." ... Big character posters soon spread beyond the campus. (from "The Cultural Revolution and Overacting: Dynamics between Politics and Performance," Tuo Wang, 2014: @)
* chineseposters.net: @
* "Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (Lincoln Cushing and Ann Tompkins, 2007): @

May 29: Red Guards
A group of students at Tsinghua University Middle School -- mostly children of ranking officials -- forms in secrecy a paramilitary organization named “Red Guards” to help carry out Mao's campaign against the bourgeoisie.

June 1: "Sweeping away all the monsters and demons"
* Summary (from "Rhetoric of the Chinese Revolution," linked below): @

July 16: Yangtze River
Mao swims in the Yangzi River, demonstrating his good health and determination to carry out the Cultural Revolution. 
* "The Great Helmsman Goes Swimming" (www.historytoday.com): @

* From "100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World" (Nick Yapp, 2007): @

August 8: "Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (aka the Sixteen Points)

The Eleventh Plenum of the Eighth CCPCC adopts its Sixteen Points, a decision in favor of the Cultural Revolution.
* Text: @

August 18: Tiananmen Square

In army uniform and wearing a Red Guard armband, Mao receives a million students (many of them Red Guards and teachers) at Tiananmen Square.
* "Song Binbin's Cultural Revolution apology sparks national remorse call" (South China Morning Post, 2016): @

1981: "Resolution on CPC History"
* Text: @

Other resources

* "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China" (www.bannedthought.net): @
* "Chinese Communism" (www.marxists.org): @
* Timeline (www.asianews.it): @
* Photos: @
* Photos: @
* "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (www.islandnet.com; archived): @
* "Morning Sun: A film and website about Cultural Revolution": @
* Coverage from South China Morning Post: @
* "The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion" (The Guardian, 2016): @
* "China's Cultural Revolution, Explained" (New York Times, 2016): @
* "Readings in the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution: A Manual for Students of the Chinese Language" (Wen Shun-Chi, 1971): @

* "Historic Lessons of China's Cultural Revolution" (Cynthia Lai, 1981-82): @

* "China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party" (Michael Schoenhauls, 1996): @
* "Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution" (Jiaqi Yan and Gao Gao, 1996): @
* "China: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary" (Michael Dillon, 1998): @

* "China During the Cultural Revolution: A Selected Bibliography of English Language Works" (Tony H. Chang, 1999): @
* "The New Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China" (Colin McKerras, 2001): @
* "China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: Master Narratives and Post-Mao Narratives" (Woei Lien Chong, 2002): @
* "Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture, and Communication" (Xing Lu, 2004): @
* "Mao's Last Revolution" (Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, 2009): @

* "The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction" (Richard Curt Kraus, 2012): @

* "Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution" (Guo Jian, Yongyi Song and Yuan Zhou, 2015): @

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