Rockin’ at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock

Rockin’ at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock is a new book that chronicles the early days of the psychedelic rock music scene in San Francisco.

The Birth of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as “acid rock”, rose to prominence in the 1960s. This new genre was a response to the increasingly conservative and conformist culture of the time. Psychedelic rock sought to break down boundaries and challenge the status quo. With its distorted guitars, mind-altering lyrics, and trippy sound effects, psychedelic rock was the perfect soundtrack for the counterculture movement.

The Red Dog Saloon

The Red Dog Saloon was a tavern located in the South of Market area of San Francisco, and it was here that the first stirrings of what would become known as psychedelic rock were heard.

In 1965, a group called The Charlatans began playing at the Red Dog, and they were soon joined by other bands such as The Great Society (featuring Grace Slick) and The Warlocks (who would later change their name to The Grateful Dead). These bands began to experiment with extended improvisational jams and use of feedback and other sonic effects, creating a new style of music that quickly caught on with the burgeoning counterculture scene in San Francisco.

The Red Dog Saloon became ground zero for this new musical movement, and it wasn’t long before the rest of the world took notice. In 1966, Rolling Stone magazine ran an article about the Red Dog scene entitled “Psychedelic Rock Comes to Frisco”, helping to spread the word about this exciting new sound. Psychedelic rock would go on to dominate the musical landscape in the late 1960s, and it all started at the Red Dog Saloon.

The House Band

One of the most important bands to play at the Red Dog Saloon during the Summer of Love was a house band called The Charlatans. The Charlatans were not your typical rock band. The band’s sound was a unique blend of country, folk, and psychedelic rock that was ahead of its time.

The Charlatans were formed in San Francisco in 1965 by George Hunter and Richard Olsen. The two had met while attending college in Wisconsin and bonded over their love of country music and folk rock. When they moved to San Francisco, they recruited keyboardist Michael Gibbons and drummer Dan Hicks to complete the lineup.

The Charlatans quickly became one of the most popular bands in the San Francisco music scene. They were known for their wild parties and their eclectic style of music. The Charlatans’ sound was unlike anything that had been heard before and they quickly gained a following among the city’s hippies and counterculture types.

In 1966, the Charlatans were invited to play at the Red Dog Saloon in Tahoe City, California. The Red Dog Saloon was a popular hangout for hippies and motorcycle gangs, and it was here that the band really began to develop their unique sound. The Charlatans’ performances at the Red Dog were long, improvised jams that featured extended solos from each member of the band. These jams would often last for hours, and they frequently incorporated elements of country, folk, blues, jazz, and experimental music.

The Charlatans’ performances at the Red Dog Saloon attracted attention from psychedelic pioneers such as Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia. Kesey was so impressed with the band that he invited them to play at his Acid Tests, which were famous parties where attendees took LSD under controlled conditions. Garcia was also a fan of the band, and he invite them to play at his ranch in Marin County on several occasions.

The Charlatans’ trips to Marin County exposed them to a wider audience of music lovers, and they soon began playing shows with other psychedelic bands such as The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. These gigs helped to spread their reputation beyond Tahoe City, and by 1967 they were one of the most popular bands in California.

The Charlatans only released one album during their brief career, but their influence can still be heard in many modern bands. Their unique blend of country, folk, blues, jazz, and experimental psychedelia helped to create a new style of music that would come to be known as “psychedelic rock.”

The Crowd

The first thing that strikes you about the crowd at the Red Dog Saloon is how young everyone looks. It’s hard to believe that these clean-cut kids are here to listen to music that will, in just a few short years, be known as “psychedelic.” But that’s exactly what’s happening at the Red Dog in 1965.

The crowd is a mix of locals and out-of-towners, all of them drawn to the “vibrations” of this new sound. There’s a sense of excitement in the air, as if anything could happen. And for these young music fans, anything does seem possible.

The energy at the Red Dog is electric, and it’s not long before the music starts to reflect this. The band plays harder and faster, pushing themselves to new levels of intensity. The result is a sound that is raw and primal, yet somehow also psychedelic. It’s a sound that will soon take the world by storm.

The Music

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as “acid rock”, is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the mid-1960s. The music is intended to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD. Psychedelic rock often used distorted electric guitars,prepared piano, and feedback effects.

The Sound

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as acid rock or simply psychedelic music, is a style of rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1960s and reached its peak popularity in the mid to late 1970s. The genre is characterized by extended electric guitar solos, complex song structures, and lyrics that often express counterculture ideals such as peace, love, and freedom.

Psychedelic rock began with early bands such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, who experimented with new sounds and technologies in their music. These experiments included new effects such as feedback and distorted guitars, new recording techniques such as multitracking, and new musical genres such as Indian ragas and electronic music. Psychedelic rock quickly spread around the world, spawning a number of regional subgenres including British psychedelic pop, Japanese psychedelic folk-rock, and West Coast psychedelic funk.

The Songs

Born under the shadows of World War II, The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock first came to light in 1965, at a club called the Red Dog Saloon, in Virginia City, Nevada. Bands like The Charlatans, Grateful Dead, and Big Brother and the Holding Company played long sets of music that was improvised and heavily influenced by blues and jazz. This new sound soon spread to cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. By 1967, the Summer of Love had arrived, and Psychedelic Rock was here to stay.

The following is a list of songs that exemplify this genre of music:

-The Charlatans – “The Only One”
-Grateful Dead – “Dark Star”
-Big Brother and the Holding Company – “Ball and Chain”
-Jefferson Airplane – “Somebody to Love”
-The Doors – “Light My Fire”
-The Beatles – “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”

The Improvisation

Psychedelic music is often based on extended improvisation, and is characterized by distorted, “fuzzy” sounds, feedback and altered states of consciousness. The style was developed in the early and mid-1960s by artists such as the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd.

The Legacy

It is impossible to talk about the history of rock and roll without mentioning the Red Dog Saloon. Located in San Francisco, the Red Dog was one of the first places to feature psychedelic rock. Bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company all played there. The Red Dog was a pivotal part of the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

The Impact

The impact of the Red Dog experience on American music was both immediate and long lasting. Bands who had never before played outside of their local bars and clubs were now performing to packed houses full of adoring fans from all over the country. The sense of community and camaraderie that developed among the performers and fans alike was unlike anything that had been seen before in the music world.

The music that was created at the Red Dog has often been referred to as “psychedelic” or “acid rock.” While there is no single defining characteristic of this style of music, it is generally characterized by extended improvisational jams, mind-expanding lyrics, and a heavy focus on creating a “trippy” or “cosmic” sound. The use of electronic effects such as feedback, reverb, and delay became commonplace in psychedelic rock, giving the music its signature “spacey” sound.

Psychedelic rock would go on to have a major influence on the development of subsequent genres such as progressive rock, hard rock, and even heavy metal. Many of the bands who got their start at the Red Dog would go on to achieve massive success in the years to come, including The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Country Joe and the Fish, and many others.

The Influence

The sound of the Haight-Ashbury soon spread outward, with bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane touring across America, playing psychedelic rock for ever-expanding audiences of young people. The Grateful Dead would go on to have a lasting impact on American music, playing an important role in the development of genres like country rock and jam band music. Meanwhile, the Airplane would help to popularize San Francisco as a countercultural destination, thanks to hits like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”

The psychedelic sound would also make its way across the Atlantic, where it would blend with existing British rock trends to create a new genre known as “acid rock.” Bands like Pink Floyd and Cream were at the forefront of this movement, which would go on to exert a significant influence on hard rock and heavy metal in the years to come. Thanks in part to the popularity of acid rock, the Haight-Ashbury scene would have a lasting impact on popular music worldwide.