The Best 60s Psychedelic Rock Spotify Playlist

If you’re looking for the best 60s psychedelic rock Spotify playlist, you’ve come to the right place. This playlist is packed with classics from the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Doors. Get ready to trip out and take a journey back in time.

The Beatles – “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is a psychedelic rock song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The song was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. It was inspired by a drawing his son Julian made of Lucy O’Donnell, a school classmate of Julian’s who had recently been diagnosed with leukemia.

The Beatles recorded “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” in Abbey Road Studios on 29 March 1967. The song is in triple metre and consists of verses, each with an identical chord progression, and a bridge section without any chord changes. The chorus features an ascending scale pre-recorded backwards. As with many of the other tracks on Sgt. Pepper, sound effects were added to produce a psychedelic tone. These include reverse tapes, close miking of instruments, automatic double tracking (ADT), Leslie speakers, tape delay and echo chambers.

The song was released as a single in the UK on 1 July 1967, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on 15 October 1967. It also topped Australia’s Go-Set chart for two weeks in September 1967 and peaked at number two on Billboard’s Easy Listening chartthat month. In 2004, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was voted 404th on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list; in 2010 it was ranked 46th on Pitchfork Media’s top 500 songs of the 1960s list; and it was ranked fifth on NME’s greatest psychedelic songs of all time list in 2014.

The Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations”

The Beach Boys perfectly capture the youthful excitement and sexual angst of the 60s with “Good Vibrations.” The track is propelled by a relentless, driving bassline courtesy of Brian Wilson and features one of the most iconic chord progressions in pop music history. The verses are sung in harmony by Mike Love and Al Jardine, with some help from Bruce Johnston, while the bridge features one of the most famous falsetto vocal performances of all time by Carl Wilson.

Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze”

Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” is one of the most iconic songs of the 60s Psychedelic Rock era. The song was released in 1967 on the album Are You Experienced and quickly rose to the top of the charts. The song is known for its unique sound and catchy lyrics.

The Doors – “Light My Fire”

The Doors’ second single and signature song, “Light My Fire” was released in 1967 and quickly shot to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for seven weeks. The song was written by Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger, and was a product of the band’s jam sessions at their Hollywood Hills home. Featuring a searing guitar solo from Krieger and a powerful vocal performance from Morrison, “Light My Fire” is considered one of the most influential songs of the psychedelic rock era.

Jefferson Airplane – “Somebody to Love”

Written by Darby Slick as a protest against the treatment of inmates at the San Francisco Presidio stockade, “Somebody to Love” became one of the most popular songs of the Summer of Love. Grace Slick’s powerful vocal performance and the band’s furious arrangement helped propel Jefferson Airplane to the top of the charts and cement their status as one of the defining bands of the psychedelic era.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed our Spotify playlist of the best psychedelic rock from the 60s! This was a great decade for music, and psychedelia was definitely one of the most popular genres. We hope you enjoy exploring all the different sounds and styles that this genre has to offer.

The Best 60s Psychedelic Rock Spotify Playlist

Introduction