A Trip Down Memory Lane: Sixties Psychedelic Rock
What was once considered the music of a generation of rebels has become the sound of a nostalgia-inducing trip down memory lane. Sixties psychedelic rock was the perfect soundtrack for a time of change and experimentation, and it still has the power to transport us back to those heady days.
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are regarded as the most influential band of all time. The group were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music’s recognition as an art form.
The Beatles’ influence on psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a genre of music that was inspired by the use of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD. The Beatles were one of the first and most influential bands to embrace this new style of music, helping to shape the sound of the genre and spreading its popularity around the world.
The band’s experimentation with drugs began in the early 1960s, when they started taking LSD. This had a profound effect on their music, as they began to explore new sounds and experiment with different song structures. Their early work in this style, such as “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “I Am the Walrus”, is widely considered to be some of the best examples of psychedelic rock.
The Beatles’ influence on psychedelic rock cannot be understated. They were one of the first and most important bands in the genre, helping to shape its sound and popularize it around the world. If you’re a fan of psychedelic rock, then you owe a debt of gratitude to The Beatles.
The Beatles’ psychedelic songs
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band of the 20th century. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band later explored music styles ranging from ballads and Indian music to psychedelia andHard rock. They are also credited with ushering in the status of the “album” as a dominant force within popular music.
During their years of active recording (1960–70), the Beatles released twelve studio albums which have come to be recognized as some of the greatest works of popular music ever recorded. These include Please Please Me (1963), With The Beatles (1963), A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Beatles for Sale (1964), Help! (1965), Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (“White Album”, 1968) , Abbey Road (1969) and Let It Be (1970). Most of these albums were released in both mono and stereo versions; The Beatles’ early albums were also issued on 8-track cartridge tape format in North America only. In 1967, they produced their first album in stereo only: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band—considered by many critics to be one of the finest records ever made.
The group’s enormous popularity first emerged as “Beatlemania”; as their success grew increasingly vast throughout 1963–1964, this fervor came to be known more simply as “Mania”. Their concerts have been described by both contemporary and retrospective commentators as groundbreaking, with extensive use of amplification providing previously unprecedented levels of sonic loudness and clarity at large concert venues.
The band established many new musical precedents, ranging from their widespread use of innovative studio technologies to their songwriting craftsmanship to their performances at live venues across the globe—most notably during what has been referred to as their world tour during 1964–1966, which set numerous attendance records wherever they performed.
The Rolling Stones
It was a time when The Beatles were breaking up, and The Rolling Stones were at their peak. The Sixties were a time of great change, and the music reflected that. Psychedelic rock was a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s. The music was characterized by distorted guitars, mind-bending lyrics, and extended improvisation.
The Rolling Stones’ influence on psychedelic rock
The Rolling Stones were one of the bands that led the British Invasion of the early 1960’s. They started out playing rhythm and blues covers, but soon developed their own style that was influenced by blues, rock and roll, and country music. The Stones became well known for their live performances, which often featured long improvisations. Despite Jagger and Richards’ obvious talent for songwriting, the Stones were initially dismissed by critics as a crude and unsophisticated brutish band.
The Rolling Stones’ 1964 album The Rolling Stones, Now! featured their first psychedelic song, “She’s a Rainbow”, which was written by keyboardist Brian Jones and recorded in early 1967. The song made use of studio effects such as phasing and automatic double-tracking, which gave it a “swirling” sound. “She’s a Rainbow” was not released as a single in the UK, but it was in the US, where it reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song “Paint It Black” from the 1966 album Aftermath is another example of the Stones’ early foray into psychedelic territory. The dark subject matter of the lyrics (about death and mourning) combined with the sitar-like drones played by Brian Jones creates a disorienting and unsettling atmosphere. Despite its dark theme, “Paint It Black” became a massive hit for the band, reaching number one in both the US and UK.
The Rolling Stones’ psychedelic songs
The Rolling Stones became caught up in the psychedelia of the late 1960s and released a string of psychedelic songs, including “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968), “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968), “Child of the Moon” (1968), and “Street Fighting Man” (1968). The Stones also experimented with Indian music on their 1967 album, Their Satanic Majesties Request.
Jimi Hendrix
One of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of rock music, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942, in Seattle, Washington. Hendrix’s innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback, and controlled distortion created a new musical form that came to be known as “psychedelic rock.” His best-known songs include “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and “The Wind Cries Mary.” Hendrix, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, died of a drug overdose in London on September 18, 1970.
Jimi Hendrix’s influence on psychedelic rock
It’s impossible to overstate Jimi Hendrix’s influence on psychedelic rock. Hendrix began his recording career in 1966, and his group the Jimi Hendrix Experience released its debut album, Are You Experienced, in 1967. The record contained a number of psychedelic-influenced tracks, including “Purple Haze,” “Wind Cries Mary,” and “May This Be Love.” These songs would help define the psychedelic sound and would inspire countless other artists to explore similar musical territory.
Hendrix was a master of incorporating feedback and other sonic effects into his guitar playing, and he often utilized these techniques to create mind-bending soundscapes. His use of feedback particularly influenced subsequent psychedelic rock guitarists like Robin Trower and Carlos Santana. Hendrix’s pioneering work with electronic effects also paved the way for artists like Pink Floyd, who would experiment extensively with sound on their groundbreaking album The Dark Side of the Moon.
In addition to his work as a solo artist and bandleader, Hendrix also made a significant impact as a sideman. He played on a number of records by other artists during the 1960s, including Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow and Cream’s Disraeli Gears. His contributions helped to shape the sound of these records and cement his reputation as one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation.
Jimi Hendrix’s psychedelic songs
Psychedelic rock, often shortened to psyrock or psych rock, is a style of rock music that became popular in the mid-1960s. Psychedelic rock is inspired by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. Psychedelic rock songs typically contain distorted guitars, repetitive rhythms, and sitar-like tones.
Some of the most popular psychedelic rock songs are:
“Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix
“Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones
“Grooving with a Pict” by The Pretty Things
“See Emily Play” by Pink Floyd
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were one of the most controversial and influential rock bands of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrison’s wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona.
The Doors’ influence on psychedelic rock
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. The band got its name from the title of Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception (1954), which itself was a reference to a line in William Blake’s poem “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” (1790). They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s because of Morrison’s wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. They were unique in their blending of many different musical styles, including blues-rock, hard rock, jazz-rock, and psychedelic rock.
Although they only released six studio albums before Morrison’s death in 1971 at the age of 27, the Doors have had a lasting impact on popular music. They are one of the best-selling bands of all time, with sales estimated at over 100 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2002, Manzarek and Krieger started a new band called the Doors of the 21st Century (later renamed Riders on the Storm), with Ian Astbury of The Cult on vocals.
The Doors’ psychedelic songs
The Doors are one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of all time. They were one of the first bands to truly embrace the psychedelic sound and style of the late 1960s, and their songs continue to be some of the most popular and well-known examples of that era. Here are just a few of their most iconic psychedelic tunes.
“Light My Fire” is perhaps The Doors’ best-known song, and it is definitely one of their most psychedelic. The extended jam at the end of the song is a perfect example of the band’s ability to take their music to new and unexplored places.
“The End” is another classic Doors tune that features some very psychedelic moments. The part where Jim Morrison chants “Father, I want to kill you / Mother, I want to…” is particularly chilling and effective.
“When the Music’s Over” is another lengthy Doors song that features some very trippy moments. The section where Jim Morrison repeats “We want the world and we want it now!” is particularly memorable.
Conclusion
Despite the plethora of great music that came out of the psychedelic era, it is remembered more for its style and fashion than for its substance. Psychedelic music was generally anti-establishment and anti-conformist, and many of the bands that were popular during this time period were political activists. Psychedelic music was also often used as a tool for social commentary, and many of the lyrics from this era reflected the turmoil and upheaval of the time period.
