Psychedelic Rock’s Literary Influences

Psychedelic rock’s literary influences are often overlooked. This blog post will explore some of the most important works that have inspired psychedelic musicians.

Psychedelic Rock’s Beginnings

Psychedelic rock is a type of rock music that arose in the mid-1960s and was heavily influenced bypsychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin. Psychedelic rock often employs sonic techniques such as extended solos, unusual sound effects, and modal progressions.

The Beatles and Bob Dylan

Psychedelic rock’s beginnings are often traced back to the release of the Beatles’ album Revolver in 1966, which was credited with introducing the use of backward tapes, sitars, and distorted guitars into pop music. The Beatles’ use of feedback and other techniques on their later albums Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and Abbey Road (1969) also influenced psychedelic rock. Other important early influences on the genre were the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds (1966), which used innovative studio techniques to create a “psychedelic” sound, and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde (1966), which featured feedback-laden electric guitars.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Psychedelic rock’s beginnings are often traced back to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and their use of LSD during the “acid tests” of the early 1960s. However, many scholars believe that the literary influences of psychedelic rock can be found much earlier, in the work of Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. These writers were interested in exploring altered states of consciousness long before LSD was ever synthesized, and their work often included themes of drug use and mind-expansion that would later prove to be influential on the psychedelic rock movement.

Psychedelic Rock’s Lyrical Influences

Psychedelic rock is a genre of rock music that is inspired by or attempts to replicate the experience of psychedelic drugs. The music is intended to replicate the experience of altered states of consciousness, often produced by drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and DMT. Psychedelic rock often uses distorted guitars, throbbing bass lines, and mind-altering sound effects to create a sense of euphoria or paranoia. The lyrics of psychedelic rock songs often explore themes of awareness, love, and expanded consciousness.

The Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in 1977. The mainstay of the band since its formation has been vocalist Richard Butler and bassist Tim Butler. The Psychedelic Furs grew out of the ashes of the London punk rock scene and were one of the first bands to sign to CBS Records after the label stopped signing punk bands.

The Psychedelic Furs began as an art school punk band. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1980 and was followed by a string of successful singles, including “Love My Way” and “Pretty in Pink.” The band’s sound is a mix of post-punk and new wave, with elements of gothic rock and synth-pop.

The lyrics of the Psychedelic Furs are often dark and existential, dealing with topics such as love, loss, death, betrayal, and depression. In recent years, the band has been credited with influencing a number of modern rock bands, including Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.

The Doors

The Doors were one of the most influential bands of the psychedelic rock era, and their lyrics were heavily influenced by literature. Singer Jim Morrison was an avid reader, and he drew inspiration from a wide range of authors, including William Blake, Jack Kerouac, and Aldous Huxley. Morrison was also fascinated by the work of French symbolist poets like Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire, and many of his lyrics reflect these influences. The Doors’ lyricism was often dark and cryptic, but it also had a visionary quality that felt in step with the band’s experimental sound.

Pink Floyd

Psychedelic rock, or “psychedelia,” is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the mid-1960s. The genre is generally characterized by distorted guitars, ethereal vocals, extended instrumental solos, and complex studio production. Psychedelic music often seek to replicate or enhance the experience of altered states of consciousness, such as those induced by LSD or mushroom hallucinations.

The Pink Floyd Sound was one of the first and most influential psychedelic rock bands. The group’s 1967 debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is widely regarded as a psychedelic masterpiece. The album’s standout track, “Interstellar Overdrive,” was an early example of the band’s use of extended guitar solos and studio effects to create an otherworldly soundscape.

Pink Floyd continued to explore psychedelic themes on their subsequent albums, including 1968’s A Saucerful of Secrets and 1969’s Ummagumma. The band’s 1971 classic, Meddle, featured the ethereal 23-minute track “Echoes,” which helped cement Pink Floyd’s reputation as masters of sonic experimentation.

Psychedelic Rock’s Visual Influences

Psychedelic Rock’s musical assault on the mainstream culture of the late 1960’s was, in many ways, a continuation of a literary tradition that had been developing throughout the century. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Ambrose Bierce were creating a new type of horror story, one that emphasized the psychological effects of fear and the often grotesque and surreal aspects of the imagination. These stories had a strong influence on the visual style of Psychedelic Rock.

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band is known for its long improvisational jams, which could last for minutes or hours. They are also known for their iconic song, “Touch of Grey.” The Grateful Dead’s music had a profound influence on the psychedelic rock genre.

Psychedelic rock is a genre of rock music that brought elements of psychedelia into the mainstream of rock music. Psychedelic rock music is characterized by distorted guitars, experimentations with sound effects and studio techniques, acid trips, and often lyrics about peace, love, and mind expansion. The Grateful Dead was one of the most influential bands in the genre.

The Who

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. The style often uses new recording techniques and effects, atypical instrumentation, and unusual lyrics. Songs typically include elements such as experimentalism, eccentricity, fantasy, proclamation, the use of emerging technologies, and new approaches to composition.

Psychedelic rock developed in the mid-1960s with bands such as The Beatles, The Byrds, and The Grateful Dead experimenting with new sounds created by LSD. The Who’s 1966 album A Quick One is often cited as one of the first psychedelic rock records. The album used new recording techniques such as close miking, sound effects such as reverb and feedback, and extended instrumental passages focused on rhythm rather than melody or chords.

Jimi Hendrix

Psychedelic rock, sometimes referred to as garage rock, is a style of rock and roll that developed in the mid-1960s. The genre is characterized by distorted guitars, trippy lyrics, and mind-bending visuals.

The visual elements of psychedelic rock are often inspired by hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms. The artwork is often brightly colored and feature swirls or other patterns that evoke feelings of euphoria or paranoia.

The literary influences of psychedelic rock are often equally outsized. Many of the genre’s pioneers were avid readers of science fiction and fantasy, and they drew heavily from those genres when creating their own work. JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was a particularly important touchstone for many artists in the psychedelic rock scene.

Jimi Hendrix is one of the most iconic figures in psychedelic rock. A virtuoso guitarist with a unique style, Hendrix pushed the boundaries of what was possible on the instrument. He was also a master of showmanship, often setting his guitar on fire or playing with his teeth. Hendrix’s influence on subsequent generations of musicians is immeasurable.