Psychedelia
**musical mood preference: 13th Floor Elevators - Thru the Rhythm**
I was sitting here waiting for work so I figured I would make a post about what I've been thinking about and reading about lately. I moved my interest in the Beat Generation into the next transitional period, that of Psychedelia.
The Psychedelic Age came into being in 1965, but didn't hit mainstream until the release of the Byrds album Eight Miles High in late 1966. Assimilations of folk, blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll shot groups like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane into sub-culture fame. Anthem of the Sun and "White Rabbit" perfectly encapsulate the LSD and drug-related feelings of the time.
One of my favorite, though one of the more obscure bands of this era was the 13th Floor Elevators, a heavily drugged band from Texas. Their bizarre use of the electric jug made for some even stranger music than had been heard to that point. "Thru the Rhythm" and "You're Gonna Miss Me" are two of my favorite tracks by this group. If you have seen High Fidelity, you have heard the latter track, as it's in that film.
Bands who are much more well known, such as Pink Floyd and the Doors, explored different aspects of psychedelic rock. Fronted by Syd Barrett, Floyd went on to put out two of the most psychedelic albums in history. The Doors, with Jim Morrison as the driving force, probed a deeper and darker side of psychedelia and its involvement with society.
In the beginning of American Psychedelia, the music was located mostly on the West Coast, with the big names being Vanilla Fudge, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, as well as the previously mentioned Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead.
When British Psychedelic music began to be released in 1967 and thereafter, established artists such as the Who and the Beatles as well as Eric Burdon and the Rolling Stones, began to release psychedelic songs.
***more later.
I was sitting here waiting for work so I figured I would make a post about what I've been thinking about and reading about lately. I moved my interest in the Beat Generation into the next transitional period, that of Psychedelia.
The Psychedelic Age came into being in 1965, but didn't hit mainstream until the release of the Byrds album Eight Miles High in late 1966. Assimilations of folk, blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll shot groups like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane into sub-culture fame. Anthem of the Sun and "White Rabbit" perfectly encapsulate the LSD and drug-related feelings of the time.
One of my favorite, though one of the more obscure bands of this era was the 13th Floor Elevators, a heavily drugged band from Texas. Their bizarre use of the electric jug made for some even stranger music than had been heard to that point. "Thru the Rhythm" and "You're Gonna Miss Me" are two of my favorite tracks by this group. If you have seen High Fidelity, you have heard the latter track, as it's in that film.
Bands who are much more well known, such as Pink Floyd and the Doors, explored different aspects of psychedelic rock. Fronted by Syd Barrett, Floyd went on to put out two of the most psychedelic albums in history. The Doors, with Jim Morrison as the driving force, probed a deeper and darker side of psychedelia and its involvement with society.
In the beginning of American Psychedelia, the music was located mostly on the West Coast, with the big names being Vanilla Fudge, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, as well as the previously mentioned Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead.
When British Psychedelic music began to be released in 1967 and thereafter, established artists such as the Who and the Beatles as well as Eric Burdon and the Rolling Stones, began to release psychedelic songs.
***more later.
posted by Brian at 9:19 p.m.
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