PSYCHEDELIC PEAKS
- Pioneers Of The First Wave
By Nick Bensen
Original and unexpected, the psychedelic sound changed how we think about music. Many bands passed through a psychedelic phase during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The majority of these groups had roots in rhythm & blues, folk, Merseybeat, rock & roll, jug band bluegrass or skiffle. The psychedelic style grew out of the perfectly aligned timing of mass rebellion against the power structure, new developments in recording equipment and an emphasis on the virtues of creative individuality. During the height of the fresh social and aesthetic sensibilities of the mid-sixties, breakthroughs in technology made it possible for artists to redefine the conventions of popular music. A new palette of sounds included distortion, feedback, tape reverse, eastern instrumentation, sound effects, classical references, multi-track layering and, the most inspiring advance of all, stereo. These strange soundscapes accompanied songs that were really about something, following in the footsteps of modern societal chroniclers like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
The Beatles, The Byrds and The Jimi Hendrix Experience can be credited with popularizing the style. John Lennon's revolutionary "Tomorrow Never Knows" (from Revolver), Roger McGuinn's mystical "Eight Miles High" (from 5th Dimension) and Hendrix's anthemic "Purple Haze" (from Are You Experienced?) stand out among the many great songs of the first psychedelic wave as the boldest declarations of the movement. By late 1966, even such blustering macho rock bands as The Rolling Stones and The Who were ready to investigate the limits of this complex new paradigm.
A short, euphoric period (like the roaring twenties with acid instead of gin) gained momentum in cities, college towns and rural communes around the western world. At EMI's Abbey Road studios in London in 1967, George Martin worked with The Beatles to set a new level of production standards on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. At the same time in the same building, Martin's protégé Norman Smith produced the less world-famous but equally groundbreaking albums The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn by Pink Floyd and S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things. Across town, minds were being altered by the likes of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Soft Machine. Meanwhile, in California, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Santana, Sly And The Family Stone and Steppenwolf (along with many others) were all at the top of their abilities. Acting as the house band at Andy Warhol's Factory in New York, The Velvet Underground answered the righteous California enthusiasm with a gritty, decadent East Coast take on acid rock. In Detroit, MC5 and The Stooges embodied the militant, confrontational side of the revolution.
Due to the powerful negative energy of the on-going Vietnam War, drug overdoses, political violence and assassinations, Altamont and Charles Manson, the dream died for most of society by around the turn of the decade. Disillusioned bands went back to playing country, folk, funk and/or plain no-tricks rock & roll. Others just broke up, spawning a generation of depressed confessional singer/songwriters. Bands like King Crimson and Yes developed the psychedelic basis into a more formal, extended art rock style. Deep Purple and Status Quo turned to heavy metal. A small number of bands kept the freak flag flying well after the initial acid rock explosion. The Allman Brothers Band still recombines blues, country and jazz through a psychedelic lens to this day. Hawkwind (and side projects involving the band's members) have kept the fires burning in England since 1969, playing a distinctive style of space rock incorporating blues, Sci Fi poetry, heavy metal, fusion and electronics. The Damned, The Jam and The Stranglers revived psychedelic production techniques as part of the punk boom of the late '70s. Hüsker Dü, Moving Targets and Sonic Youth forged a combination of hardcore and psychedelic rock, resulting in the most mind-bending music of the 1980s. Camper Van Beethoven cleverly mixed country, world folk music and acid rock during the same period.
Despite the laughably deplorable conventions of the mainstream music industry today, we are fortunate enough to live during a major psychedelic revival movement. The mantle has been passed to such modern greats as Beck, The Bevis Frond, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Flaming Lips, Guided by Voices, The Heads, Kula Shaker, Lucky Bishops, Mercury Rev, Motorpsycho, The Olivia Tremor Control, Pavement, Spiritualized, The Virgineers, Wall Of Sleep, Wellwater Conspiracy and Yo La Tengo. Electronic groups like Boom Boom Satellites, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method and Massive Attack and Britpop bands like Blur, Oasis, Suede and The Verve also feature psychedelic elements in their music. Thank you John Lennon, Roger McGuinn, Syd Barrett, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young and all the rest of you for giving music fans something challenging to consider and enjoy beyond the limits of the normal pop machine. In many ways, you were the greatest social, artistic and philosophical leaders of the 20th Century.
The following list contains the albums that I believe best capture the power of the original psychedelic era. Some of the bands eclipsed these selected works with later achievements. Exile On Main Street is probably the best Rolling Stones album ever, but it's not particularly psychedelic. The same goes for Who's Next. Santana never had a more successful year than 1999, riding the popularity of the Latin/blues/rock/hip hop CD Supernatural. Country, folk, blues, pop and soul artists such as Joan Baez, Booker T And The MGs, Brewer And Shipley, James Brown, Paul Butterfield, Johnny Cash, Country Joe McDonald, King Curtis, Donovan, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Arlo Guthrie, Janis Joplin, John Mayall, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Simon And Garfunkel, and Taj Mahal were all important parts of the same social and political scene. However, I have limited my list to the perfect shining moments of psychedelic production and/or musical exploration that exemplify the genre. Sitar master Ravi Shankar and jazz luminaries John Coltrane and Miles Davis were major inspirations to the psychedelic sound but never actually set out to make psychedelic music of their own. The blues catalogs of legends including John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, B.B. King and Muddy Waters were picked clean by the likes of The Blues Project, Cream, Led Zeppelin and The Yardbirds.
While I consider myself somewhat of an expert on acid rock, I admit that a great band can pass under my radar once in a while. The fertile Canterbury scene didn't really make it across the Atlantic, so I don't know much about that. Though I give all due credit and respect to such relevant artists as The Moody Blues, Status Quo, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The 13th Floor Elevators and Ultimate Spinach, my lack of any recent personal interest in (and/or thorough knowledge of) their work kept them off the list. The Monkees had some great moments but I'm not very enthusiastic about the task of buying all of their albums and searching for the cool songs among all of those horrible teenybopper ballads Don Kirshner forced them to release. Feel free to disagree with my selections or to turn us on to your favorites. Send an e-mail to
Heidi@FreeCityMedia.com if you would like to discuss the finer points of our psychedelic heritage.
Special thanks to Heidi Marie Bensen and Dave Stevens for their knowledgeable assistance in the selection process.
NICK BENSEN'S LIST OF THE GREAT RECORDINGS OF THE ORIGINAL PSYCHEDELIC ERA
NOTE - Re-mastered CDs of many of the albums on this list (usually including bonus tracks and detailed recording/historical notes) were released during the 1990s. A variety of greatest-hits packages are also available for most of the artists included below. Any best-of collections I have listed contain exclusive or otherwise out-of-print tracks.
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND (see also The Hour Glass):
The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
Idlewild South (1970)
At Fillmore East (1971. Expanded edition renamed The Fillmore Concerts released in 1992)
Eat A Peach (1972)
Dreams Box Set - Including rarities performed by The Allman Joys, The Hour Glass,
The 31st of February and The Second Coming (1989)
Live At The Ludlow Garage, 1970 (1990)
Fillmore East 2/70 (1997)
THE BEACH BOYS:
Pet Sounds (1966. The Pet Sounds Sessions Box Set released in 1996)
THE BEATLES (see also George Harrison):
NOTE - You could reasonably argue that every Beatles release from Beatles For Sale (1964) onward was psychedelic to a certain extent. For me, Rubber Soul (1965) was the real push toward a new consciousness. The double album The Beatles (1968) showed a deliberate turn away from the psychedelic format. It's on the list because John Lennon's "Dear Prudence" and "Glass Onion" as well as George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Piggies" and "Savoy Truffle" make it a classic of the genre in spite of itself. John and Yoko's "Revolution 9" even exceeded the parameters of psychedelic weirdness. Abbey Road (1969) was a tough call since it has a '70s feeling and the extended suite on side two is fairly well into progressive territory. However, if this album is judged by the same criteria as such like-minded thematic releases as Arthur by The Kinks, Parachute by The Pretty Things and The Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus by Spirit, it has to be counted as psychedelic. Let It Be, on the other hand, signaled a return to straight-ahead rock & roll so it was not included.
Rubber Soul (1965)
Revolver (1966)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
The Beatles a.k.a. The White Album (1968)
Side one (or the whole new expanded version) of Yellow Submarine (1969/1999)
Abbey Road (1969)
Past Masters Volume Two - Singles 1965-1970 (1988)
Anthology II (1996)
Anthology III (1996)
BLIND FAITH (see also Cream, Traffic and The Yardbirds):
Blind Faith (1969)
MIKE BLOOMFIELD/AL KOOPER/STEVE STILLS (see also The Blues Project, Buffalo Springfield and CSNY):
Super Session (1968)
THE BLUES PROJECT (see also Bloomfield/Kooper/Stills):
Projections (1966)
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD (see also Bloomfield/Kooper/Stills, CSNY and Neil Young):
Buffalo Springfield (1967)
Stampede (1967. Never released)
Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
Last Time Around (1968)
THE BYRDS (see also David Crosby and CSNY):
5th Dimension (1966)
Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
CREAM (see also Blind Faith and The Yardbirds):
Fresh Cream (1966)
Disraeli Gears (1967)
Wheels Of Fire (1968)
Goodbye (1969)
Live Cream (1970)
Live Cream, Vol. 2 (1972)
Those Were The Days Box Set - All of the above plus rarities (1997)
DAVID CROSBY (see also The Byrds and CSNY):
If I Could Only Remember My Name (1971)
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG (see also Bloomfield/Kooper/Stills, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, David Crosby and Neil Young):
Crosby, Stills And Nash - Recorded before Neil Young joined the group (1969)
Déjà Vu (1970)
Four Way Street (1971)
So Far (1974)
CSN Box Set (1991)
DEEP PURPLE:
Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)
Book Of Taliesyn (1968)
Deep Purple (1969)
THE DOORS:
NOTE - While The Doors are not a favorite group of mine, I have to concede that their first three albums are historically significant. Starting with The Soft Parade (1969), the band's sound fell victim to bloated lounge-act production values.
The Doors (1967)
Strange Days (1967)
Waiting For The Sun (1968)
ELECTRIC PRUNES:
Lost Dreams (2000. Highlights from the first two albums plus rarities)
JERRY GARCIA (see also The Grateful Dead):
Zabriskie Point Soundtrack (1970. Expanded 2-CD edition released in 1997)
Garcia (1972)
Hooteroll - With Howard Wales (1972)
GILES, GILES AND FRIPP (see also King Crimson):
The Cheerful Insanity Of… (1968)
THE GRATEFUL DEAD (see also Jerry Garcia):
NOTE - Numerous live CDs from the pre-Workingman's Dead era have been issued since the early '90s. The performances tend to be about equally impressive yet flawed.
The Grateful Dead (1967)
Anthem Of The Sun (1968)
Aoxomoxoa (1969)
Live Dead (1970)
So Many Roads Box Set (1999)
The Golden Road Box Set (2001)
GEORGE HARRISON (see also The Beatles):
Wonderwall Music (1968)
All Things Must Pass (1970)
HAWKWIND:
NOTE - Hawkwind's studio catalog has been badly neglected in the U.S. A large number of nearly identical live collections (some marred by careless editing and sound dropout) are widely available but it's hard to find any of the original releases. The band has dozens of worthwhile albums. Since their sound developed into progressive space rock during the '70s, just the early highlights and a solid best-of collection are listed here.
Hawkwind (1970. U.S. version released in 1972)
In Search Of Space (1972)
Space Ritual (1973)
Sonic Boom Killers - The Best Of Singles A's & B's From 1970 To 1980 (1998)
THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE:
Are You Experienced? (1967)
Axis: Bold As Love (1968)
Electric Ladyland (1968)
Smash Hits (1969)
Band Of Gypsys (1970. 2-CD edition renamed Live At The Fillmore East released in 1999)
The Cry Of Love (1971)
Rainbow Bridge Soundtrack (1971)
Loose Ends (1973)
Nine To The Universe - Long out-of-print instrumental album (1978)
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (1982)
Live At Winterland (1988)
First Rays Of The New Rising Sun - Rarities Vol. 1 1968-1970 (1997)
South Saturn Delta - Rarities Vol. 2 1967-1970 (1998)
BBC Sessions (1998)
Live At Woodstock - Hendrix's complete festival set on 2 CDs (1999)
Morning Symphony Ideas (2000)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Box Set (2000)
HIGH TIDE:
NOTE - Although they were signed and promoted as a progressive act, High Tide approached their music with an aggressive psychedelic abandon. Featuring the intense guitar/violin interplay of Tony Hill and Simon House, High Tide incorporated the dark melodies of the early Doors and the ceaseless back and fourth jamming of Cream into their sound. Hill and House revived the band name in the '80s and continue to perform and record as High Tide.
Sea Shanties (1969)
High Tide (1970)
THE HOUR GLASS (see also The Allman Brothers Band):
Power Of Love (1968)
IRON BUTTERFLY:
Heavy (1968)
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)
Ball (1969)
Live (1970)
Metamorphosis (1971)
THE JAMES GANG:
Yer' Album (1969)
James Gang Rides Again (1970)
Thirds (1971)
Live In Concert (1971)
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE:
Surrealistic Pillow (1967)
After Bathing At Baxter's (1967)
Crown Of Creation (1968)
Volunteers (1969)
Blows Against The Empire - Credited to Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship (1970)
KING CRIMSON (see also Giles, Giles And Fripp):
In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)
THE KINKS:
Face To Face (1966)
Something Else (1968)
(The Kinks Are) The Village Green Preservation Society (1969)
Arthur, Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire (1969)
LED ZEPPELIN (see also The Yardbirds):
NOTE - More blues/metal than psychedelic, Led Zeppelin II qualifies for the list on the strength of "What Is And What Shall Never Be", "Ramble On" and the middle part of "Whole Lotta Love". After delving into folk and helping to define the progressive and heavy metal genres, the band ventured back into psychedelic territory in the latter half of the '70s with songs like "Kashmir", "In The Light" and "Achilles' Last Stand". I put Coda on the list just because of the leadoff track, a classic acid blues take on Ben E. King's "We're Gonna Groove" from 1970. The bulk of that rarities collection consists of later hard rock stuff.
Led Zeppelin (1969)
Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Coda (1982)
The Complete Studio Recordings Box Set (1993)
BBC Sessions (1997)
LOVE:
Love (1966)
Da Capo (1967)
Forever Changes (1968)
MC5:
Kick Out The Jams (1969)
Back In The USA (1970)
STEVE MILLER BAND:
Children Of The Future (1968)
Sailor (1968)
Brave New World (1969)
Your Saving Grace (1969)
Number 5 (1970)
MOBY GRAPE:
Moby Grape (1967)
Wow/Grape Jam (1968)
PINK FLOYD:
Tonight, Let's All Make Love In London Soundtrack (1967)
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)
The First Three Singles (1967-68. CD compiled in 1997)
A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968)
More Soundtrack (1969)
The live disc from Ummagumma (1969)
Zabriskie Point Soundtrack (1970. Expanded 2-CD edition released in 1997)
Relics (1971)
THE PRETTY THINGS (a.k.a. THE ELECTRIC BANANA):
S.F. Sorrow (1967. Released in 1969)
The Electric Banana Blows Your Mind (1967-69. CD compiled in 1997)
Parachute (1970)
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE:
Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968)
Happy Trails (1969)
Unreleased - Lost Gold And Silver (1999)
THE ROLLING STONES:
Aftermath (1966)
Between The Buttons (1967)
Flowers (1967)
Their Satanic Majesties' Request (1967)
Singles Collection: The London Years Box Set (1989)
SANTANA:
Santana (1969)
Abraxas (1970)
Santana III (1970)
Live At The Fillmore '68 (1997)
THE SAVAGE RESURRECTION:
The Savage Resurrection (1968)
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE:
A Whole New Thing (1967)
Dance To The Music (1968)
Life (1968)
Stand! (1969)
SMALL FACES:
(There Are But Four) Small Faces (1967)
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake (1968)
The Autumn Stone - Singles and rarities (1969)
The Darlings Of Wapping Wharf Laundrette - The Immediate Anthology - All of the above (minus some live songs from The Autumn Stone) plus bonus tracks (1999)
SOFT MACHINE:
The Soft Machine a.k.a. Volume One (1968)
Volume Two (1968)
Third (1970)
Live At The Paradiso 1969 (1995)
Spaced (1996)
SPIRIT:
Spirit (1968)
The Family That Plays Together (1968)
Clear Spirit (1969)
The Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)
STEPPENWOLF:
Steppenwolf (1968)
Steppenwolf The Second (1968)
At Your Birthday Party (1969)
Early Steppenwolf - Live At The Matrix, SF 1967 (1969)
Monster (1969)
Seven (1970)
Live Steppenwolf (1971)
For Ladies Only (1971)
THE STOOGES:
The Stooges (1969)
Fun House (1970)
TANGERINE DREAM:
Electronic Meditation (1970)
THE TEMPTATIONS:
Cloud Nine (1969)
Puzzle People (1969)
Psychedelic Shack (1970)
TRAFFIC (see also Blind Faith):
Mr. Fantasy (1967)
Traffic (1968)
Last Exit (1969)
VARIOUS ARTISTS (Joan Baez, The Band, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Country Joe And The Fish, Creedence Clearwater Revival, CSNY, Arlo Guthrie, Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Melanie, Mountain, Santana, John Sebastian, Sha Na Na, Sly And The Family Stone, Ten Years After, The Who and Johnny Winter):
Woodstock Box Set - The two original multi-LP sets plus many unreleased tracks from the pivotal 1969 festival (1994)
VELVET UNDERGROUND:
The Velvet Underground And Nico (1967)
White Light/White Heat (1968)
Peel Slowly And See Box Set - All of the classic VU albums plus many bonus tracks (1995)
THE WHO:
NOTE - Tommy (1969) certainly has psychedelic overtones but I count rock operas as their own separate genre.
The Who Sell Out (1967)
Magic Bus (1968)
THE YARDBIRDS (see also Blind Faith, Cream and Led Zeppelin):
NOTE - A warning about The Yardbirds' final studio album Little Games: Jimmy Page's only album as lead guitarist with the band would be a full psychedelic classic if hit-obsessed producer Mickey Most hadn't compromised the integrity of the project with six awful, insincerely "hip" cover songs. The rarities, instrumentals and alternate takes on the 2-CD version go a long way toward restoring the album's credibility. It's a wonderful record if you program in only the good tracks. Avoid "I Remember The Night", "Ha Ha Said The Clown" and "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" at all costs. The pop singles by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty's follow-up band Together (on the second disc) are also pretty sappy. On the other hand, the track listing includes two versions of Jimmy Page's great signature instrumental "White Summer" as well as the inspired psychedelic numbers "Glimpses (Versions 1 & 2)", "Think About It" and "L.S.D.". Also, The Ultimate Collection is primarily blues-oriented but it contains the excellent psychedelic singles "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Shapes Of Things". With a total of 36 tracks on 2 CDs (sold for the price of one), it's one of the most comprehensive overviews of the pre-Roger The Engineer period.
Roger The Engineer a.k.a. Over Under Sideways Down (1966)
Little Games (1967. Expanded 2-CD set The Little Games Sessions And More released in 1992)
BBC Sessions (1997)
The Ultimate Collection (1999)
YES:
Yes (1969)
Time And A Word (1970)
NEIL YOUNG (see also Buffalo Springfield and CSNY):
NOTE - Neil Young's first two post-Buffalo Springfield albums were released only a few months apart (and both were produced by David Briggs) yet they represent two opposite ends of the psychedelic spectrum. Aside from one long acoustic exception to the rule ("Last Trip To Tulsa"), Young's debut features short, pop-rock songs with layered, processed guitars, choral backing vocals, and even some strings. Jack Nitzsche and Ry Cooder arranged and produced three of the more baroque tracks. Everybody Knows… contains a raw-boned collection of monster electric guitar jams and hypnotic dirges, setting the standard for Young's subsequent electric releases. Journey Through The Past has been out of print for over twenty years. That unsettling soundtrack album mixed long practice jams (peppered with political sound bites) with stark piano ballads, muffled lo-fi Buffalo Springfield live recordings, an old Beach Boys track mixed too loud and a somewhat off-key brass band version of the theme from The King Of Kings. It's a very bizarre curio, worth picking up if you ever happen to see a copy. When he has not been concentrating on other styles including country, folk, rockabilly, horn-driven blues and synth. pop, Neil Young has continued in a neo-psychedelic vein with such later songs as "Dangerbird", "Cortez The Killer" and "Mansion On The Hill", as well as the 35-minute feedback sculpture "Arc".
Neil Young (1969)
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - With Crazy Horse (1969)
Journey Through The Past Soundtrack (1971)
Decade - A 3-LP/2-CD retrospective including some good rarities (1977)
THE ZOMBIES:
Odessey And Oracle (1968)
Article (c) 2000 Nick Bensen
Good heavens, jared get your virtual a** over to the Alley and check out my Zombies thread!!!! Come on, baby! "Zombies' Heaven"? I have it but haven't had a chance to hear it all yet. I'm seeing the Zombies at Town Hall in NYC on Oct. 13 but I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing Arthur Lee w/ Love--now that I *understand*.
Linear Mode
