Who Founded Psychedelic Rock?

Psychedelic rock is a genre of rock music that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The genre is characterized by its use of psychedelic and mind-altering drugs, such as LSD, as well as its experimental and often psychedelic sound. The genre was founded by bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, and the Doors.

The Beginnings of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic Rock is a type of rock music that came about in the mid 1960s. The music is characterized by its use of feedback, distorted guitars, and extreme volume levels. The first band to successfully fuse psychedelic and rock music together was The Grateful Dead. The band’s sound was heavily influenced by the Acid Tests, which were a series of public events held by author Ken Kesey.

The First Psychedelic Song

The first psychedelic song is generally considered to be “I Hear a New World” written and recorded by British musician Joe Meek in 1960. The song is based on the sounds of outer space, with Meek applying various audio effects to create an otherworldly soundscape. The track was not commercially successful at the time, but it did inspire other artists to experiment with similar sound collages and production techniques.

In the years that followed, Meek would go on to produce a number of other songs that would be considered psychedelic, including the 1962 hit “Telstar” by The Tornados. He would also produce records for acts like The Honeycombs and Jeff Beck, helping to pioneer the use of studio effects in pop music.

The First Psychedelic Album

The first psychedelic album is believed to be The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, released in 1966. The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Texas who were influenced by British Invasion and garage rock. They were one of the first bands to use the term “psychedelic” to describe their sound.

The album’s experimental and LSD-inspired sound was unlike anything that had been heard before, and it is considered to be a pioneering work in the genre of psychedelic rock. The album features distorted guitars, ethereal vocals, and a heavy use of reverb and echo, which create a mind-altering sonic experience.

While The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators was not a commercial success at the time of its release, it has since been lauded by critics and music historians as one of the most important and influential albums of all time.

The San Francisco Scene

Psychedelic rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the mid-1960s. Musicians began to experiment with mind-altering drugs, such as LSD, and the genre took off in San Francisco, where the music scene was vibrant and experimental. The first psychedelic rock band was The Grateful Dead, who were followed by other influential bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Byrds.

The Fillmore

In the late 1960s, the Fillmore was the epicenter of the San Francisco music scene. Bands like the Grateful Dead, Santana, and Jefferson Airplane played there nightly, and the venue helped to define and popularize the psychedelic rock sound that came to define a generation. The Fillmore ultimately closed its doors in 1971, but its legacy continues to this day.

The Avalon Ballroom

The Avalon Ballroom was a music venue in the Polk Gulch neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 1268 Sutter Street, on the corner of Sutter and Van Ness. The building originally opened in 1913 as a dance hall called the Manila Tea Gardens and later became the Avalon Ballroom in 1966.

The ballroom was founded by Robert E. Cohen and Chet Helms (who later started the Fillmore West), and was managed by Bill Graham from 1966 to 1968. The Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Country Joe and the Fish, Santana, Ace of Cups and many other San Francisco-based bands played there between 1966 and 1969.

In 1967-1968 the Avalon Ballroom was run by rock promoter Chet Helms and his company Family Dog Productions. The ballroom was used for music as well as important political and social events such as anti-war rallies. In April 1967 Bill Graham took over management of the Avalon from Family Dog Productions after becoming frustrated with helms’ business practices. Between 1967-1969 Graham also owned and operated at least three other music venues in San Francisco: the Fillmore Auditorium, Fillmore West (later the Carousel Ballroom),and Winterland Arena).

In 1968 Big Brother & The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin recorded their live album Cheaper Thrills at The Avalon Ballroom along with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s Live at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East which also included Jerry Garcia as a guest musician.

The British Invasion

Psychedelic rock, also called garage rock, garage band rock, or simply garage rock, is a subgenre of rock music that flourished between 1964 and 1966, principally in the United States and Canada. It was characterized by a raw, primal sound that was simple yet effective, often featuring distorted guitars and basic drumming.

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are regarded as the most influential band of all time. With a sound rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the group were integral to the development of pop music into an art form and to the growth of the counterculture of the 1960s.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones were one of the first British bands to find commercial success in the United States with their brand of blues-influenced rock & roll. The Stones’ beginnings go back to July 12, 1962, when childhood friends Mick Jagger (vocals) and Keith Richards (guitar) met up with Brian Jones (guitar), Ian Stewart (piano),Dick Taylor (bass) and Tony Chapman (drums) at the former’s house in London’s wealthy Chelsea district. That day, they christened themselves the Rollin’ Stones, taking their name from a Muddy Waters tune, “Rollin’ Stone,” which Jagger and Richards had been jamming on.

The Summer of Love

Psychedelic rock, also sometimes called acid rock, is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the mid-1960s. The style is influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate the experience of altered states of consciousness. The earliest examples of psychedelic rock music include the songs “I Can See for Miles” by The Who and “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum.

The Monterey Pop Festival

The Monterey Pop Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in the history of rock music and helped to launch the careers of several artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding. It also marked the beginning of the “Summer of Love.”

The Psychedelic Experience

On August 3rd, 1966, a defining moment in music history took place at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. Bill Graham, the venue’s promoter, had invited The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company to play at a “Love-In” concert. The success of this event gave birth to the Summer of Love and cemented San Francisco’s reputation as the epicenter of the counterculture movement.

This concert was also a watershed moment for psychedelic rock, a genre that would come to define an entire generation. Psychedelic rock is characterized by extended instrumentation, unusual time signatures, repetitive structures and lyrics that deal with themes of mind alteration and expanded consciousness. The genre is often seen as a reaction against the conservatism of 1950s rock music.

The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company were all innovators in psychedelic rock, but they were not the only ones. Other influential bands included The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and The Doors. These bands popularized the use of psychedelic drugs like LSD and helped to make psychedelic rock one of the mostpopular genres of the 1960s.

The Legacy of Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock, also referred to as “psychedelia”, is a style of rock music that was popularized in the 1960s. The genre is characterized by its use of psychedelic elements, such as extended solos, unusual time signatures, and distorted guitars. The style has its roots in the earlier genre of rock music known as “garage rock”.

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. The band is known for its long association with the counterculture of the 1960s, for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of country, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, gospel, rock, psychedelia, and space Rock, and for live performances of long musical improvisation. The band was ranked 57th by Rolling Stone magazine in its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. They have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.

Jimi Hendrix

Psychedelic rock, sometimes called acid rock or simply psy rock, is a style of rock music that emerged in the mid-1960s with the goal of expanding the sonic possibilities of rock. Psychedelic bands sought to emulate the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs, often achieved through extended chord progressions and elaborate studio effects. The genre’s best-known exponents included the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead.

Psychedelic rock reached its commercial peak in 1967 with landmark albums such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Doors’ Strange Days. At its height, the psychedelic rock movement encompassed fashion and lifestyle aspects in addition to music, giving birth to famed subcultures like flower power and hippies. The style began to decline in popularity following the 1968 Altamont Free Concert, at which fan violence tarnished the image of peace and love that many psychedelic bands had worked to promote.