The 10 Best English Psychedelic Rock Bands

Are you a fan of psychedelic rock? If so, then you’ll definitely want to check out our list of the 10 best English psychedelic rock bands! From the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, these bands have definitely made their mark on the genre.

The Beatles

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 in history. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. In 1963, their enormous popularity first manifested itself in Britain with the success of their single “Please Please Me”, quickly followed by the LP Please Please Me and hits like “From Me to You” and “She Loves You”.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London, England, in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of Brian Jones (lead guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (rhythm guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums). The band’s primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group’s manager.Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor’s departure, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and has been on guitar in tandem with Richards ever since. Since Wyman’s departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has served as touring bassist. The Stones have not had an official keyboardist since 1963; however, they have employed several musicians in that role, including Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981) and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).

The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964 and were identified with the youth rebellion of the 1960s. They were instrumental in making blues a part of rock and roll mainstream and managed to update their own image as they wrote songs dealing with issues such as fashion, women’s rights and recreational drug use. Many of their songs reflect social upheaval as well as considering hedonistic pursuits and partying; Keith Richards developed an interest in marihuana while studying at Dartford Grammar School and this continued through his time with Brian Jones in Cheltenham Ladies’ College during 1960–1963 and later with the Rolling Stones.[11][12] Jagger gained press notoriety for his affair with Marsha Hunt,[13] which ended shortly after she gave birth to their first child Karis in November 1970.[14] After a widely publicised fight between Jagger and Richards that spilled out into a London street,[15][16] Jones died at age 27 due largely to accidental drowning while under the influence of alcohol and drugs on 3 July 1969.[17][18][19]

The death of Jones caused guitarist Taylor to leave the band; he was replaced by Ron Wood who had previously been a member of The Faces. This began a long period over which drummer Watts was the only original member still performing regularly with Jagger, Richards and Wood.[20] In addition to jolting them emotionally, Jones’ death coincided with creative disagreements within the group about direction – particularly between Jagger and Richards – that had begun surfacing during 1968.[21][22] These tensions escalated into rifts during 1969[23] as well as open hostility between Jagger and Richards that culminated during 1974 when Jagger openly questioned whether or not he wanted to continue working together with his longtime partner.[24][25][26] These tensions subsided somewhat following an successful American tour which saw growing crowds responding energetically to new material such as “Brown Sugar” from Sticky Fingers (1971).[27][28 William Perry joined on percussion for two legs of this tour because Charlie Watts was suffering from hepatitis.[29]. David Bowie made a guest appearance at one Stone concert during this tour performing “Freedom”.[30].

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd was an English rock band formed in 1965. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. The band consisted of 5 members – Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, and Syd Barrett. Barrett left the band in 1968 due to mental health issues, and Wright died in 2008. The remaining members continued as a trio until Mason’s retirement in 2015. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially successful and influential bands of all time. They have sold over 250 million records worldwide, including 75 million units sold in the United States.

Led Zeppelin

One of the most influential rock bands of all time, Led Zeppelin were responsible for creating some of the most iconic and timeless songs in rock history. Formed in 1968, the band members were Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass) and John Bonham (drums). Over the course of their career, Led Zeppelin released nine studio albums, which have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. The band’s signature sound was a mix of blues, folk and hard rock, which they used to create some of the most memorable songs in rock history, such as “Stairway to Heaven,” ” Kashmir” and “Whole Lotta Love.” They are widely considered to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

The Who

The Who is a renowned Psychedelic Rock band from England that was formed in the 1960s. The group consisted of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon. They became well-known for their live performances, which often included destruction of their instruments. The Who released eight studio albums, with their best known being “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia”. The band disbanded in 1982 following the death of Keith Moon, but later reformed in 1989 for a tour.

Cream

Engineered by producer Felix Pappalardi,
Cream’s sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining erudite lyrics with improvised jazz passages and extended blues-style jamming. They also utilised various effects such as sustain created with Marshall Amplification’s new 100-watt amplifiers and Leslie speakers, which became increasingly popular as their career progressed.

The band’s three members all came from musical backgrounds. Clapton had been a professional musician since before his teens as part of the yardbirds before leaving to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and then striking out on his own with Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966). Bruce was already a well-established bass player who had worked with Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner, while Baker was an accomplished jazz drummer.

Jimi Hendrix

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. The Beatles
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Pink Floyd
5. King Crimson
6. The Who
7. Led Zeppelin
8. Yes
9. Cream
10.David Bowie

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. The band got its name from the Aldous Huxley book The Doors of Perception, which itself was a reference to a line from William Blake’s poem ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.” They were one of the most controversial and influential rock bands of the 1960s due to Morrison’s wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison’s death in 1971 at age 27, the remaining members continued as a threesome until disbanding in 1973. Signing with Elektra Records in 1966, The Doors released eight albums between 1967 and 1971. All of these albums placed within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and saw three singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: “Light My Fire”, “Hello, I Love You”, and “Touch Me”.

The band had moderate success with their early singles (“Break On Through (To the Other Side)”, “The End”, “Strange Days”), but it was not until 1967’s double platinum-certified album Strange Days that they gained international recognition with hits like “People Are Strange” and “Love Me Two Times”. The Doors’ politically charged lyrics (which often contained overt references to sex, drugs, and violence) coupled with Morrison’s stage antics (which included stripping off his shirt and simulating masturbation during live performances) made them one of the most controversial rock bands of their era. The band saw further success with their next two albums, 1968’s Waiting for the Sun (which contained their first US No. 1 single, “Hello, I Love You”) and 1969’s The Soft Parade (which includes their second US No. 1 single,”Touch Me”).

Following an extended absence from both recording and touring due to Morrison’s well-publicized personal problems (including bouts of alcoholism), the band returned to both with 1972’s Full Circle. However, this album was less successful than their previous releases; its single “Crystal Ship” peaked at number 76 on the Billboard chart. The group effectively disbanded following Morrison’s death on July 3, 1971; Densmore later explained that he felt too strongly about maintaining the group’s integrity after Morrison’s passing to continue without him.

The Kinks

The Kinks, who formed in Muswell Hill, North London in 1963, are widely regarded as one of the best English psychedelic rock bands. The group’s early hits included “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” and “Tired of Waiting for You.” The band’s 1967 album, Something Else by The Kinks, is considered one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums of all time.

The Animals

The Animals were an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s, which had a string of hits in Britain and the United States. They were known in the US as part of the British Invasion. The band originally consisted of lead vocalist Eric Burdon, keyboardist Alan Price, guitarist Hilton Valentine, bassist Chas Chandler and drummer John Steel. Steel was replaced by Barry Jenkins in 1965. Price left in mid-1966 and was replaced by Dave Rowberry. Burdon’s powerful lead vocals and Price’s sophisticated organ playing drove the band to international acclaim in 1964 with their hit single “House of the Rising Sun”.

The animals were at their peak from 1964 to 1966, when they had eight charting singles in the UK and nine charting singles in the US including “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”, which reached number two on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1967, they releasedlp, Animalism. Another album followed in 1968 titled Every One of Us; it included their final top ten single in both countries, “Sky Pilot”. After extensive touring throughout 1968–1969, Chandler quit to form Conorission; he was briefly replaced by Joel Soucie for one US tour before Alan Blakely joined as a full-time replacement.

In October 1969 Jenkins also quit to join Family; rowberry then took over keyboards until Dave Burnett joined in 1970. The group disbanded later that year after Eric Burdon declared he was leaving to focus on a solo career (although he would later reverse this decision). The original five members reunited briefly for a filming session for Brian Henderson’s Bandstand television show on 9 May 1968; they recorded an impromptu performance of “Paint it Black”, while Mike Vickers sat-in on saxophone.