Get Me Home for Tea: Rare Psychedelic Rock from the U.K

Get Me Home for Tea is a music blog dedicated to uncovering the best psychedelic rock from the U.K.

British Psychedelia

British psychedelia is a subgenre of rock music that began in the late 1960s and reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was characterised by a concern with making rock music more expressive and experimental, as well as a preoccupation with drug use, Eastern philosophy and the occult.

The Birth of Psychedelia

In the mid-1960s, British youth were looking for something new. They had embraced skiffle and rock & roll, but now they were ready for something with a little more edge. They found it in the form of psychedelia, a mind-bending combination of rock, pop, Eastern instrumentation, and mind-altering drugs. Psychedelic music was trippy and fun, but it also had an underlying darkness that reflected the social unrest of the times. It was the perfect soundtrack for a generation that was coming of age in a world that was on the brink of chaos.

The birth of psychedelia can be traced back to 1965, when the Beatles released their classic album Revolver. Revolver was filled with experimental sounds and cryptic lyrics that hinted at hidden meanings. It was unlike anything that had been heard before, and it inspired other artists to push the boundaries of pop music. The Beatles continued to explore psychedelic territory on their subsequent albums, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Beatles (aka The White Album). By 1968, the band had abandoned psychedelic music altogether, but by then other artists had picked up the torch and were carrying it forward.

The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Donovan were just a few of the American bands that embraced psychedelia. But it was in Britain where the genre truly blossomed. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Who, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Traffic, Procol Harum, and Fairport Convention were all creating groundbreaking music that expanded the possibilities of what rock could be. Psychedelia wasn’t just about making music; it was about creating an experience. And in Britain, there were few bands that did it better than The Moody Blues.

The Moody Blues’ 1967 album Days of Future Passed is often cited as one of the most important psychedelic albums ever made. Featuring an innovative blend of rock, pop, classical music, and electronic sounds, Days of Future Passed took listeners on a journey into the future that was both ominous and beautiful. It’s an album that still sounds fresh and new today, nearly 50 years after its release.

If you’re looking to explore the fascinating world of British psychedelia, Get Me Home for Tea is the perfect place to start

The British Invasion

In the 1960s, Britain underwent what was known as the “British Invasion.” This was a time when British rock bands invaded America and took the music world by storm. One of the most famous British bands of this era was The Beatles. But there were many other great British bands that made their mark on the American music scene during this time.

One genre of music that became popular during the British Invasion was psychedelic rock. Psychedelic rock is a type of rock music that is characterized by its use of distorted sounds, looping melodies, and mind-altering lyrics. This type of music was perfect for the counterculture movement that was sweeping America at the time.

There are many great British psychedelic rock bands from this era, but here are just a few that you should check out:

The Rolling Stones: One of the most famous British bands of all time, The Rolling Stones were pioneers of psychedelic rock. They released their first album in 1964 and quickly became one of the biggest bands in America. Their 1966 album “Aftermath” is considered to be one of the first psychedelic rock albums ever released.

The Kinks: Another hugely successful British band, The Kinks were known for their catchy pop songs and innovative guitar work. They released their first album in 1964 and had several hits in both Britain and America. Their 1968 album “The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society” is considered to be one of the best psychedelic rock albums ever made.

Pink Floyd: Pink Floyd is arguably the most famous psychedelic rock band of all time. They formed in 1965 and released their first album in 1967. Their 1973 album “Dark Side of the Moon” is one of the best-selling albums of all time and is considered to be a landmark achievement in psychedelic rock music.

The Summer of Love

In the late spring and early summer of 1967, a “Love-In” was held in Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. This multimedia happening was a kind of dress rehearsal for what would later be called the “Summer of Love.” The laid-back California vibe and burgeoning counterculture came to a head that summer as an estimated 100,000 young people from across the country descended on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, seeking flowers, peace, and love.

The media dubbed these young hippies “flower children,” but they were also known as “acid heads” for their widespread experimentation with LSD, the powerful hallucinogenic drug. The Summer of Love was also characterized by its musical soundtrack. Psychedelic rock — a mind-bending mix of electric guitars, feedback, sitars, and Eastern-influenced melodies — was the perfect music for dropping acid and expanding one’s consciousness.

Although the Summer of Love was centered in San Francisco, there were pockets of psychedelic activity all over the world. In England, a group of young musicians were influenced by what they heard coming out of America and began making their own brand of psychedelic music. This British psychedelia is the focus of Get Me Home for Tea: Rare Psychedelic Rock from the U.K., an expertly curated compilation from Vinyl Reissues/Gonzo Multimedia.

Rare Psychedelic Rock from the U.K

If you’re a fan of psychedelic rock, then you’ll want to check out this article. We’ll be taking a look at some of the rarest and most sought-after psychedelic rock from the U.K. You may not have heard of some of these bands, but trust us, they’re worth checking out.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. They became the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Their Members included John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr . The Beatles are one of the best-selling bands of all time, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and held the record for having most singles at number one for more weeks than any other artist.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are one of the most iconic rock bands of all time, and they have a well-deserved reputation as one of the best live bands in the world. They’ve also been incredibly prolific throughout their career, releasing 27 studio albums over the course of 52 years.

While The Stones are best known for their hits like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” “Paint It Black,” and “Start Me Up,” they actually started out as a blues band, and their early albums are filled with excellent covers of artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. As they developed as a band, they began to write more of their own material, and by 1968’s Beggars Banquet they were firmly established as one of the leading lights of the British psychedelic scene.

Their next two albums, 1969’s Let It Bleed and 1971’s Sticky Fingers, are both considered classics, and contain some of their most iconic songs, like “Gimme Shelter” and “Brown Sugar.” After taking a bit of a break in the mid-1970s, The Stones came back strong with some of their best work ever on 1978’s Some Girls.

Since then, they’ve continued to release new music and tour regularly, despite being well into their 60s and 70s. They show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, and their music is as popular as ever with new generations of fans.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was an English rock bandformed in London in 1965. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially successful and influential rock groups of all time. The band have sold over 250 million records worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States.

The group originally consisted of students Syd Barrett on lead guitar and lead vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Roger Waters on bass guitar and vocals, and Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals. All four members were educated at London Constituent college (now known as Goldsmiths). Barrett was ousted from the band infollowing his deteriorating mental health,and Wright left infollowing disagreements with Waters over their musical direction

The three remaining members continued as a trio until Wright’s return to the band infor their final album, The Endless River (2014). Pink Floyd were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame infor their contributions to music; they were earlier inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame infor their lifetime achievements.

The Legacy of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock first gained popularity in the 1960s with bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones experimenting with the new sound. In the U.K, a number of bands followed suit and created their own brand of psychedelic rock. These bands were influenced by the sounds of America and the West Coast. However, they also brought their own unique twist to the genre.

The End of an Era

In the late 1960s, psychedelic rock began to fall out of favor in the United Kingdom. By 1970, the British psychedelic movement was all but over. The few remaining bands that continued to play psychedelic rock did so without the same level of success or acclaim as they had in the past. Psychedelic rock would never again be as popular or influential in the United Kingdom as it had been during its peak in the late 1960s.

The Resurgence of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock, sometimes referred to as acid rock or simply psyrock, is a style of rock music that emerged in the mid-1960s. The sound is characterized by distorted guitars, psychedelic effects, and multitracked vocals.

Psychedelic rock developed as a reaction against the reigning musical genres of the time, such as the polished pop of the British Invasion and the rawer blues sounds coming out of America. Psychedelic rock bands sought to replicate the experience of mind-altering drugs, often using innovative studio techniques to achieve this goal.

The use of psychedelic drugs by some members of the counterculture movement in the 1960s also contributed to the development of psychedelic rock. Psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin mushrooms were used by some musicians to alter their consciousness and improve their creative output.