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"Greatest" pre-1970 psychedelic songs
- Thread starter dougjwray
- Start date
While Beefheart had a psychedelic influence, there is a distinct lack of Flower Power and far more hard edged dada influence as well as African groove in Beefheart (which was also dada-ized or reconstructed). Beefheart was still under construction in the 60s, TMR is 1969, but his masterpiece is from 72, and on into the 80s. I think that Beefheart is far more artistically important than the sweet, commercially packaged vision of high (contact buzz) mindedness that was Psychedelic music. Beefheart was a primitivist (both in music and painting) you don't find traditional instrumental aspects in his music. He even had his hand in the articulation of the guitar notes, the exploding note concept. He deconstructed drumming (helps his drummers were genius, like "Drumbo" John French) while maintaining relentless precision and groove, closer to Africa than the Blues.
here's a comparison: trad psychedelic, a classic to collectors, The Freeborne (I've played with the vocalist in the band, he's a keybord player who started as a classical cellist, not someone who would join a cult and be starved and told how to play (as Beefheart's early band was)
...look to The Fall (with less swing) for a continuation of some of his ideas...
and Language, I forgot that part, Beefheart has a language association thing going on that was psychedelic for sure. "Up wand hand broom star was an obie-man, revered throughout the bone knob land." an obie man is someone adapt in Out of Body Experience.
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The Beatles:
FWIW I think psychedelic rock needs to incorporate more than just psychedelic effects. It should also include psychedelic themes in the lyrics. There were many bands in that era that started throwing heavily fuzzed guitars and reverse tape effects on some of their songs in hopes of hitching a ride on the trend. But I don’t consider those real psychedelic rock tunes.
- Tomorrow Never Knows - 1968
- Only a Northern Song - 1969
- It’s All Too Much - 1969
- Strawberry Fields Forever - 1967
- Lucy in the Sky - 1967
FWIW I think psychedelic rock needs to incorporate more than just psychedelic effects. It should also include psychedelic themes in the lyrics. There were many bands in that era that started throwing heavily fuzzed guitars and reverse tape effects on some of their songs in hopes of hitching a ride on the trend. But I don’t consider those real psychedelic rock tunes.
(Is that a real poncho . . . I mean
Is that a Mexican poncho or is that
a Sears poncho? Hmmm . . .) - Frank Zappa
Is that a Mexican poncho or is that
a Sears poncho? Hmmm . . .) - Frank Zappa
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Yeah, because we all know that all genres of music are defined hard and fast by what we've read about them, never by what our ears tell us how one thing might be associated with another.
As we've already learned in this thread, psychedelic music is a style made exclusively by hippies living in and around San Francisco starting in nineteen rickety doo, the movement lasted for exactly 22 months and then abruptly died. Timothy Leary, famous for his dabbling in psychedelia didn't start his experiments until 1982.
The Velvets and their hangers-on never, ever experimented with mind altering substances, this is well documented. They utilized a mirror ball during live performances, therefor they are known as the "godfathers of disco".
It is widely said that "The Velvet Underground didn't sell a lot of records, but EVERYBODY that bought one, went out and formed their own band." This isn't completely accurate, my college roommate had a copy of VU and Nico and to my knowledge, he has still not formed a band.
Not only would the songs "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Holiday in Cambodia" not have existed without the Velvets first record, they set precedent in copyright infringement laws after years long legal battles as they are virtually indistinguishable from the songs on the first VU record.
1960
I remember it from my past, because like a lot of us here, I'm old.
In fact, I know all of these song.
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You are hearing Jack play a Jazz bass here. He used it on the first three albums.
You're doing parody, right? Very psychedelic. Leary and Alpert (Ram Das) were fired by Harvard in 1963. from wiki: "In August 1960,[42] Leary traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, and consumed psilocybin mushrooms for the first time, an experience that drastically altered the course of his life. In 1965, Leary said that he had "learned more about ... [his] brain and its possibilities ... [and] more about psychology in the five hours after taking these mushrooms than ... in the preceding 15 years of studying and doing research".
Man, don't I know it, I bought a lot of these albums when they were released.I remember it from my past, because like a lot of us here, I'm old.
In fact, I know all of these song.
YupMan, don't I know it, I bought a lot of these albums when they were released.
One of the first albums I bought with my little kid lawn mowing money when it was first released was this...
- Jan 1, 2014
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- Decendant from the Clovis culture. "Emitting that wonderful bass effect since 1970".
Thread originator, here.
Stepping in to offer my personal criteria for determining what is and isn't psychedelic. Your mileage (definitions) may vary!
For *me*, it must have:
1) Lyrics explicitly celebrating or advocating the use of hallucinogens. "Journey to the Center of the Mind", "White Rabbit."
OR
2) The tripping experience evoked by sounds (backward tracks, disorienting EQ or mixing) *or* lyrics which sound like the singer is tripping. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever."
OR
3) Both 1 & 2. "Are You Experienced."
Hippie music from the late '60s isn't necessarily psychedelic. I think of Hendrix songs like "Voodoo Chile" and "Third Stone from the Sun" as less psychedelic than sci-fi crossbred with blues and jazz, respectively.
I think someone mentioned Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth", which is a folk-rock protest song documenting a real police/hippie confrontation. I wouldn't consider it psychedelic in any way.
The Mothers' "Flower Punk" is a fantastic parody of "Hey Joe" and a put-down of flower child conformity. But not psychedelic.
Ok... Continue!
And feel free to argue with me!
Stepping in to offer my personal criteria for determining what is and isn't psychedelic. Your mileage (definitions) may vary!
For *me*, it must have:
1) Lyrics explicitly celebrating or advocating the use of hallucinogens. "Journey to the Center of the Mind", "White Rabbit."
OR
2) The tripping experience evoked by sounds (backward tracks, disorienting EQ or mixing) *or* lyrics which sound like the singer is tripping. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever."
OR
3) Both 1 & 2. "Are You Experienced."
Hippie music from the late '60s isn't necessarily psychedelic. I think of Hendrix songs like "Voodoo Chile" and "Third Stone from the Sun" as less psychedelic than sci-fi crossbred with blues and jazz, respectively.
I think someone mentioned Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth", which is a folk-rock protest song documenting a real police/hippie confrontation. I wouldn't consider it psychedelic in any way.
The Mothers' "Flower Punk" is a fantastic parody of "Hey Joe" and a put-down of flower child conformity. But not psychedelic.
Ok... Continue!
And feel free to argue with me!
That was my reason for posting itThe Mothers' "Flower Punk" is a fantastic parody of "Hey Joe" and a put-down of flower child conformity.
