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"Greatest" pre-1970 psychedelic songs
- Thread starter dougjwray
- Start date
You are right about this. Hendrix's "Are You Experienced" opened everyone's eyes. I don't think I was aware of it when it first came out. What I do remember, though, was being floored by Disraeli Gears, which came out a few months later. I was young and in a very young band. We were buying our first PA system -- a Bogner 25 watt? amp with a pair of custom-made speakers. We had gone to a well-known regional band's rehearsal space, as it was their PA that we were buying. After conducting the transaction, they wanted us to hear the new Cream Disraeli Gears album. Maybe it was because I was hanging with older musicians and we just bought a new PA, and that felt good, but I was totally blown away by the music. It really made me pause. I had never heard anything like it; it was so good. Even today, that music remains stellar in my book. When the mood hits us, my band (same guys I play with since 1967, plus a sax player we picked up about 20 years ago - and, yeah, he's still the 'new guy') will play a few of those tunes and finish smiling.
To me, the psychedelic music was a huge change from the 1950s and even from the early Beatles, which we all dearly loved. But this music was different. It drew a dramatic line in the sand and announced change is coming, like it or not. The culture was clearly already shifting, but the psychedelic music seemed to solidify and accelerate the shift, so much so that the change became the norm, at least for a little while. At that time, music was leading and changing culture across the globe. It was pretty cool to experience music having that kind of impact on the world.
Funny enough, it was actually producer Carl Reiner who suggested that video should be done.
The Cowsills were a big influence on Vicki and Debbie Peterson of the Bangles, who saw the group on Ed Sullivan and were very taken with the harmonies, and with young Susan Cowsill on that big stage and in their age bracket. The Petersons began to follow the group around. (Both lived in LA).
They all became fast friends over time, and Vicki eventually married Johnny Cowsill (who's been the drummer and a vocalist for the Beach Boys for a number of years!) And she and Susan have been in bands together, including the Continental Drifters - who achieved substantial critical acclaim. Talented bunch!
Yeah, they were a legit band, Waddy Wachtel was with them for a bit. I've always dug Continental Drifters.Funny enough, it was actually producer Carl Reiner who suggested that video should be done.
The Cowsills were a big influence on Vicki and Debbie Peterson of the Bangles, who saw the group on Ed Sullivan and were very taken with the harmonies, and with young Susan Cowsill on that big stage and in their age bracket. The Petersons began to follow the group around. (Both lived in LA).
They all became fast friends over time, and Vicki eventually married Johnny Cowsill (who's been the drummer and a vocalist for the Beach Boys for a number of years!) And she and Susan have been in bands together, including the Continental Drifters - who achieved substantial critical acclaim. Talented bunch!
Funny enough, it was actually producer Carl Reiner who suggested that video should be done.
The Cowsills were a big influence on Vicki and Debbie Peterson of the Bangles, who saw the group on Ed Sullivan and were very taken with the harmonies, and with young Susan Cowsill on that big stage and in their age bracket. The Petersons began to follow the group around. (Both lived in LA).
They all became fast friends over time, and Vicki eventually married Johnny Cowsill (who's been the drummer and a vocalist for the Beach Boys for a number of years!) And she and Susan have been in bands together, including the Continental Drifters - who achieved substantial critical acclaim. Talented bunch!
Wow! These are connections I had no inkling of. A shame what happened to that family, though; I think only two of the brothers are still alive. The story I got regarding the song getting released for airplay was that there were demo copies but the label was against releasing the record. A couple of the brothers were on a radio interview (in Chicago, I think) and brought one of the demos with them, mentioning to the DJ that it would likely never reach the public. DJ says, why don't we give it a spin? So they gave it a spin and the station switchboard got buried by requests from listeners to play the song again. And again. And
I don't recall seeing Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band mentioned, but how can you omit a band whose guitar players are named Zoot Horn Rollo and Winged Eel Fingerling?
They were often dismissed as lightweights, but these guys were really talented. Interesting backstory on them; they've been through a lot.
