From The Beatles to Pink Floyd: The birth of psychedelia in 10 songs
During the 1960s, rock was becoming more than just fun party music. In the wake of the British Invasion and folk-rock rising to prominence thanks to Bob Dylan, newer artists were just starting to experiment with what they could do with an electric guitar and a healthy respect for noise.
As the Summer of Love began, music became more than just a three-minute single. Being informed by a good amount of acid, these songs signalled a change into psychedelia for rock and rollers, letting the music carry you to some other place when you were in the practice room.
Although these songs may have been great by themselves, the enhancements still hold up today, from the experimentation with different loops to putting echo on everything to song lyrics that talk about walking through a cosmic wonderland.
It might not be easy to keep track of what any of these songs mean, but once you take a hit of acid, there’s a good chance these songs contain the meaning of life.
The birth of psychedelia in 10 songs:
‘Two Headed Dog’ – 13th Floor Elevators
Right before psychedelia arrived, rock and roll was going through its garage rock phase. In the wake of the British Invasion, bands were popping up out of America with a loud and aggressive take on typical rock and roll. Then here comes 13th Floor Elevators with their own brand of hazy rock.
While Roky Erickson’s voice is closer to punk, the Elevators were the prototype for psychedelic rock, relying a lot on echo and songs that might sound a lot better if you were under the influence. Before the Flower Power era kicked in, the Elevators were all about attitude and making some of the most chaotic noise possible. Even though they might not get as anyone’s favourite psychedelic band, every band after the Elevators was copying them whether they knew it or not.
‘Eight Miles High’ – The Byrds
On the other side of psychedelia, there was folk rock. While Bob Dylan was becoming the next voice of a generation, the Byrds took his material to a different level through the jangle of Roger McGuinn’s guitar. A funny thing happened once they started writing their own material.
Looking to create the sound of being airborne in a plane, the echo of McGuinn’s guitar on this song was unlike anything in the world of rock. Though there was a healthy respect for acts like Dylan, this is where things started to branch out into different areas, as the Byrds talked about more cerebral images in their lyrics. With the swinging ‘60s right around the corner, it was only going to get more cerebral from here.
‘Rain’ – The Beatles
For a brief moment in psychedelia, it looked like the Beatles were going to get left in the dust. After trying their hand at folk rock with Rubber Soul, ‘Rain’ was the single where everything changed. Being influenced by acid, John Lennon accidentally turned his tape machine backwards, which led to them incorporating backwards singing into their next track.
While Lennon admits that the lyrics don’t have much to do with anything, the lines of “I can show you” tell you all you need to know about this next phase of the Beatles. The Fab Four weren’t bound for the road for much longer, but this was only the beginning of what they could do.
‘White Rabbit’ – Jefferson Airplane
And now we arrive at the centre of psychedelic civilisation – San Francisco. While the Haight Ashbury scene might not have started yet, Jefferson Airplane wrote the unofficial anthem of the psychedelic movement. Being inspired by Alice in Wonderland, White Rabbit is the perfect example of how it feels to be on an acid trip as the guitars weave their way through the song.
Grace Slick’s vocal delivery is one of the most important instruments of the psychedelic movement, wailing about how you must feed your head until the song’s end. Despite the production seeming fuzzy these days, hippies were convinced that this song gave us the meaning of life.
‘The End’ – The Doors
The Doors marked the moment where psychedelia and hard rock collided. While Jim Morrison always downplayed his musical ability, the aura that he generated when playing live was unlike any frontman in rock and roll. Morrison might not have been the best musician, but he had you in the palm of his hand on ‘The End’.
Originally written as a break-up song, the song ballooned into an 11-minute monster in the studio, with Morrison rambling off the cuff about everything from killers to Oedipus Rex. Then again, it’s impossible to think of this song now and not see the destruction in Vietnam (thanks, Apocalypse Now). The California scene may have been fun while it lasted, but this was our first glimpse at the dark side of Flower Power.
‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ – The Beatles
After the Beatles left the road for good, Abbey Road Studios became their official playground. Once John Lennon brought in a song about growing up in Liverpool, the band’s approach to recording changed completely. After splicing together two takes of the song,
‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ became the benchmark for the Summer of Love. It’s almost as if Lennon is transporting you into some surreal daydream in your headphones. The psychedelic scene was already underway, but the Fab Four weren’t looking to just play along with the changing trends. This was the lyricism of Bob Dylan combined with the psychedelic landscape of LSD.
‘Purple Haze’ – Jimi Hendrix
Of all the icons from the ‘60s, the jury’s still out as to whether Jimi Hendrix was actually an alien. Despite his tasteful bends and soulful side in his later work, the rock world was changed the minute ‘Purple Haze’ was released as a single. The opening guitar stabs are practically breaking down the doors of your mind before throwing you into a haze of psychedelia, as Hendrix talks about being in a haze whenever he’s around his object of desire.
While the images are surreal, there was nothing subtle about Hendrix’s guitar chops, bridging the gap between the blues and some strange communion with the cosmos. Hendrix might be talking about a girl or the side effects of whatever trip he’s on, but chances are the results would be exactly the same.
‘In A Gadda Da Vida’ – Iron Butterfly
One of the biggest trends to come out of the psychedelic movement was the jam band. Once the Grateful Dead became popular, every band started to extend their traditional pop songs into long jams that lasted for an eternity. Then again, not every one of those jams actually makes it on the radio.
While the ‘In A Gadda Da Vida’ most people know is tight and punchy, the full experience is hearing the 17-minute version, complete with drum solos and keyboard solos. Though the song was heavy for its time, the lyrics are the epitome of the psychedelic movement, as Doug Ingle asks us to join him in the drug-addled Garden of Eden. There have been countless ’60s compilation playlists made, but for all intents and purposes, the music behind this track is the ’60s.
‘Sunshine of Your Love’ – Cream
Around the time psychedelia was shaking the world in The United States, England was still knee-deep in the blues. After falling out with the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton’s supergroup was already on the tip of something great, bringing together jazz and blues under one roof. There was one missing link, though, and that was a healthy dose of fuzz.
After coming up with the simple blues lick, Jack Bruce had come up with a love song that any hippy could get lost in, talking about a girl whose love shines brighter than the sun. Clapton is the real star here, making his guitar sound like a vocalist during the solo before getting crunchy as hell on the verses. The blues might be about being down and out, but these are the psychedelic visions that Jimi Hendrix warned us about.
‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ – Pink Floyd
Towards the end of the ’60s, the psychedelic movement finally started to fizzle out. After the lush weekend of music at Woodstock, it was curtains for most of the Flower Children. Psychedelia never stops though, it just evolves. While Pink Floyd started life as a psychedelic rock band on Piper At The Gates of Dawn, ‘Set the Controls’ is the sound of psychedelia morphing into progressive rock.
Without Syd Barrett to anchor them, Roger Water’s voice is ominous on this song, setting his sights on something greater than what’s on Earth. Flower Power may have died an abrupt death, but this rock odyssey was an indicator of what psychedelia’s teenage years were going to look like.