Psychedelic Rock (The Beginning)
Psychedelic Rock On Music 101
A number of factors came into play to form the hallucinatory yet highly polished sound of psychedelic rock, including the beginning of an offshoot of rock and roll, namely garage rock.
Garage and psychedelia crossed paths about 1966 – you can hear the melding of the styles on the song that begins this week’s episode. The 13th Floor Elevators’ “You’re Gonna Miss Me” combined the experimental spirit of the 60s with a kaleidoscopic sound synonymous with psychedelia.
The Byrds took the sound to a wider audience on “Eight Miles High”, combining the Eastern ethos of Ravi Shankar and John Coltrane into a jangly-folk miasma.
San Fransisco was inarguably the epicenter of this movement; in fact the “San Francisco sound” embodied counterculture for more than a decade. Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” is a haunting and yet highly musical testament to the music coming out of psychedelia.
The “sound of psychedelics” soon crossed the Atlantic, giving us some of the most challenging yet rewarding songs from the catalogues of Pink Floyd and The Beatles.
You can hear these songs on the playlist below, including the psychedelic stylings of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys and many more.
Fair or unfair, psychedelia has been coupled with terms like “The Summer Of Love” and “Flower Power”. As you listen back to this week’s playlist, it’s worth noting how many bands this sound would spawn over the decades; from The Flaming Lips, The Elephant 6 band’s, to name just a few.
So, what exactly is psychedelic rock? Flower power? Perhaps. Staying power? Absolutely.
The song’s from this week’s episode:
13th Floor Elevators | “You’re Gonna Miss Me”
The Byrds | “Eight Miles High”
Jefferson Airplane | “White Rabbit”
Moby Grape | “Omaha”
Pink Floyd | “Lucifer Sam”
Jimi Hendrix Experience | “Hey Joe”
The Doors | “Crystal Ship”
The Beatles | “Strawberry Fields Forever”
Beach Boys | “Wonderful”
Electric Prunes | “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night”
Max Frost & The Troopers | “The Shape Of Things To Come”
Ultimate Spinach | “Mind Flowers”
