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Psychedelic

 
 

Description of Psychedelic

 
At the peak of the British Invasion of the early 1960s, American folk music was working its way into youth culture; the revolution was at hand. Bands began to shift their focus from traditional rock 'n' roll subject matter -- girls, cars, and sex -- toward both the social issues and the drugs of the day. Guitarists added fuzz to the British sound, creating dreamy, spacious textures. The influences of Free Jazz were felt as well, as musicians explored improvisation and Eastern music. Hear Roger McGuinn's Indian-influenced opening guitar notes in the Byrds' "Eight Miles High," or George Harrison's sitar. Vocal choruses were loaded with echo, the lyrics tackling social protest and surrealist imagery. Today, acts from all over the world play music directly descended from psychedelia, from the Athens, Ga.-based the Apples In Stereo to the British Bevis Frond, to the creative Noise Pop group the Flaming Lips.
 

Psychedelic Key Tracks

 
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1. Let There Be More Light Pink Floyd
2. Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You Bee Gees
3. White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane
4. Ferris Wheel Donovan
5. No Good Trying Syd Barrett
6. Flim, Flam Pharisee John Kongos
7. Everybody's Been Burned The Byrds
 

Filed Under

 
Oldies  >  Psychedelic
 

Psychedelic Key Artists

 
13th Floor Elevators

The Elevators are among the
most important bands to
ever come out of Texas,
merging psychedelia,
garage rock and pre-pun...

Count Five

This San Jose, Calif. group
had only one hit, "Psychotic
Reaction," but earned high
praises from rock critic
Lester Bangs.

Donovan

Donovan was one of the
key artists of the
revolutionary 1960s. He
started his career as
Britain's answer to Bob Dy...

Love

They were the true
progenitors of West Coast
psychedelia. The Doors'
said their goal was to be "as
big as Love." The band liv...

Pink Floyd

The premier psychedelic
band of the 1970s, Pink
Floyd formed in 1965,
incorporating jazz and
insanity into their music....

Spirit

Often overlooked
Psychedelic Prog Rock
band primarily active in the
'60s. Their biggest hit was "I
Got A Line On You." Spirit...

Strawberry Alarm Clock

Strawberry Alarm Clock
were a psych-pop outfit
whose greatest hit was the
Summer of Love anthem
"Incense and Peppermints...

Syd Barrett

Roger Keith Barrett (a.k.a.
Syd) is the founder of Pink
Floyd and one of the
psychedelic era's most
innovative musicians. Syd...

The Beatles

The Beatles gained
enormous popularity with
genius songwriting,
beautiful harmonies and
non-stop experimentation...

The Blues Magoos

Gritty garage-psych band
that launched out of the
Bronx, NY in 1967 with their
Top Ten hit, "(We Ain't Got)
Nothin' Yet."

The Byrds

The Byrds applied ringing
guitars to Dylan songs,
explored the outer reaches
of psychedelia and
kick-started Country Roc...

The Chocolate Watchband

The Cryan Shames

The Doors

With Jim Morrison's poetry
and Robby Krieger's rock
'n' roll, the Doors conjured
the gods of sex and drugs
and '60s freakout. Jimbo,...

The Electric Prunes

The Grateful Dead

Rumbling, woozy guitars,
woozier vocals and
evocative lyrics are the
hallmarks of this American
institution. The purely Am...

The Nazz

The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

Thunderclap Newman

Vanilla Fudge

In the '60s, Vanilla Fudge
took pop songs off the radio
and added massive amounts
of psychedelia and metal to
them. Bassist Tim Bogert a...

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