The Space Between Planets: Psychedelic Rock

The Space Between Planets: Psychedelic Rock is a new blog that explores the intersection of music and mental health.

The Psychedelic Movement

The Psychedelic Movement started in the mid 60’s as a counterculture to the mainstream. Psychedelic music was created to challenge the status quo and inspire change. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and The Grateful Dead are some of the most famous Psychedelic Rock bands. Psychedelic music is still popular today, and many modern bands have been influenced by the Psychedelic Movement.

The Birth of Psychedelic Rock

Despite being known as the “acid rock” movement, many drugs besides LSD were commonly used during the 1960s and 1970s by people who identified with the psychedelic experience. The use of cannabis, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, and other psychoactive substances was an integral part of the lives of many influential psychedelic musicians. The Beatles’ song “Got to Get You into My Life”, for example, is a clear ode to the band’s love of cannabis.

Psychedelic drugs were also thought to have spiritual and therapeutic benefits. In 1966, Timothy Leary famously said, “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” This statement encapsulated the pro-drug, anti-establishment sentiments of the psychedelic movement. Many young people turned to psychedelics in search of spiritual enlightenment or simply as a way to rebel against their parents’ generation.

The infamous Woodstock music festival was a defining moment for the psychedelic movement. More than half a million people gathered in upstate New York to listen to some of the most famous names in rock music, including Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane. The sense of community and peace that characterized Woodstock was seen as a victory for the counterculture.

Psychedelic rock began to lose its popularity in the early 1970s as many of its key figures died or stopped making music. Nevertheless, the impact of psychedelic rock can still be heard in many genres today.

The British Invasion

The British Invasion was a pivotal moment in the history of rock music, when a wave of British bands and solo artists invaded the American charts in the mid-1960s. The Beatles were the most famous and successful band of the bunch, but they were far from the only ones to make their mark. Other groups like the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and Herman’s Hermits also found success, as did a host of British solo artists like Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, and Tom Jones.

The British Invasion had a profound effect on American culture, helping to spur on the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Psychedelic rock, a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the wake of the British Invasion, was heavily influenced by this new wave of British bands. Psychedelic rock incorporated elements of traditional rock music with elements of Eastern music, folk music, and even classical music. This fusion of styles helped to create a new sound that was both uniquely American and distinctly different from anything that had come before.

While the Beatles may have been the most famous band of the British Invasion, it was actually the Rolling Stones who were responsible for introducing psychedelic rock to America. The Stones’ 1966 album Aftermath featured several songs with psychedelic elements, including “Paint It Black” and “Lady Jane.” The Stones’ 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request took things even further, with an even more experimental sound that incorporated elements of acid rock, Indian music, and avant-garde jazz. The Beatles followed suit with their own foray into psychedelia with 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This album is often cited as one of the most important and influential albums in rock history, and its impact can still be felt today.

The American Psychedelic Scene

Psychedelic rock, also called psychedelic pop or acid rock, is a type of rock music that was inspired by psychedelic culture and attempted to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. The music often uses new recording techniques and effects, and is intended to replicate the experience of a psychedelic drug.

The San Francisco Sound

The San Francisco Sound was a style of psychedelic music which emerged in the mid-1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area. The sound was marked by extended instrumentals, experimental structures, and a fusion of folk, rock, and jazz.

This new style of music was developed primarily by bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. These bands were influenced by earlier psychedelic groups such as the Beatles and the Byrds, as well as contemporary jazz artists such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

The San Francisco Sound quickly gained popularity beyond the Bay Area, with many of its defining bands achieving national success. The Sound would eventually spread to other parts of the country, particularly the east coast, where it would help to shape the development of what would come to be known as “jam bands.”

The New York Scene

In the early days of the American psychedelic scene, New York City was the epicenter. Bands like The Velvet Underground, The Fugs, and The Holy Modal Rounders were all creating mind-bending music in New York in the 1960s.

The city was also home to several important nightclubs where psychedelic bands could perform, such as The Fillmore East and The Whiskey a Go Go. And of course, New York was also the site of one of the most famous psychedelic concerts of all time: The Electric Circus.

The Electric Circus was a nightclub that featured live music and light shows. It was a popular hangout for young people in the 1960s, and many famous musicians performed there, including Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding.

In 1967, The Electric Circus began hosting weekly “psychedelic nights” with live music and light shows. These nights quickly became popular, and soon the club was known as one of the premier destinations for psychedelic music in America.

The Psychedelic Legacy

Rock and roll has always been about pushing boundaries. In the 1960s, young people were looking for a way to rebel against the establishment and express their individuality. Psychedelic rock was the perfect answer. This new style of music was wild, experimental, and totally mind-bending. It was the perfect soundtrack for the counterculture movement.

The End of an Era

The end of the 1960s saw the beginning of the end for psychedelic rock. Psychedelic music had been associated with the drug culture, and as public attitudes began to change in the 1970s, so did the image of psychedelic music. Psychedelic rock began to fall out of favor, and by the early 1970s, it was largely forgotten. Though it would make a brief comeback in the late 1970s and early 1980s, psychedelic rock would never again achieve the same level of popularity it had in the late 1960s.

The Continuing Influence of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock, also sometimes called psychedelia, is a style of rock music that became popular in the mid-1960s and experienced a resurgence in the late 1990s and 2000s. Psychedelic rock bridges the gap between traditional rock and roll and acid rock, incorporating electronic and experimental elements; it often employs modal melodies, drones, and distorted guitars, as well as drawing on Eastern instrumentation and textures.

Psychedelic music emerged during a time of great social change, particularly in the wake of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The genre was also influenced by the Vietnam War and the sexual revolution. Psychedelic musicians sought to transcend conventional boundaries, both musically and lyrically, often inspired by drugs such as LSD, peyote, mushrooms, and cannabis.

The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in 1977. The band’s name was inspired by a fake advertisement in Melody Maker for “psychedelic fur coats.” The Psychedelic Furs are one of the many bands that were considered part of the “Second British Invasion” of America in the early 1980s—other bands included Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Dexys Midnight Runners, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club…and many more!

The Psychedelic Furs had several hits including “Pretty in Pink,” “Love My Way,” “Heaven,” “Heartbeat,” and “The Ghost in You.” The band’s sound has been described as a cross between The Doors and The Velvet Underground. Frontman Richard Butler’s deep baritone vocals are reminiscent of Lou Reed’s deadpan delivery.