During the 1960s, protest music was expressed primarily through the folk tradition; it was the most important medium of the counter culture. The folk music tradition of the 1960s found its roots in the music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. In their music, commercial success and professional standards were militantly opposed. Folk music raised the consciousness of people, forcing them to examine their basic values and to think about social and political problems. Bob Dylan's music epitomized the generation gap. His songs expressed that blacks had waited long enough for freedom and dignity, that the counter culture was a force to be reckoned with, and that a peaceful yet dramatic revolution was going to occur. Joan Baez also had an enormous influence on sixties activists, as did Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs. Groups such as Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, and Simon and Garfunkel had a less threatening way of protesting. A number of San Francisco groups lived the counter culture as well as sang about it. By the end of the decade, however, protest music had declined along with student activism. Rock music, such as that performed by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones continued to register protest, but it was a protest "of form rather than substance." (Author/KC)