Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by
psychedelicThe term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of
psychedelic drugA psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
s. It emerged during the mid 1960s among
folk rockFolk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
and
blues-rockBlues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
bands in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the
ragaA raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
s and drones of
Indian musicThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
. It spread into psychedelic folk,
psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
,
psychedelic popPsychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
and
psychedelic soulPsychedelic soul, sometimes called black rock, is a sub-genre of soul music, which mixes the characteristics of soul with psychedelic rock...
in the 1960s before declining in the early 1970s. It helped create many new musical genres including
progressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, kosmische musik, synth rock, jazz rock,
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
,
glam rockGlam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
,
funkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
,
electroElectro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
and
bubblegum popBubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
. It was revived in forms of neopsychedelia from the 1980s and re-emerged in electronic music in genres including
acid houseAcid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
,
trance musicTrance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
(see
psychedelic trancePsychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy is a form of electronic music characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. It appeared in the mainstream in 1995 as with reporting of the trend of Goa trance. The genre offers variety...
) and
new raveNew rave is a term applied to several types of music that fuse elements of electronic music, new wave, rock, indie, techno, bastard pop, breakbeat hardcore and electro house...
.
Background
Beat GenerationThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
writers of the 1950s and 60s, like William Burroughs,
Jack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
,
Allen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and especially the new proponents of consciousness expansion such as
Timothy LearyTimothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
,
Alan WattsAlan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
and
Aldous HuxleyAldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, profoundly influenced the thinking of the new generation, helping to popularise the use of
LSDLysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, associating it with spiritual enlightenment and social consciousness. Soon musicians began to refer (at first indirectly, and later explicitly) to the drug and attempted to recreate or reflect the experience of taking LSD in their music, just as it was reflected in
psychedelic artPsychedelic art is any kind of visual artwork inspired by psychedelic experiences induced by drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" "mind manifesting". By that definition all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic"...
,
psychedelic literature-The science of psychedelic drugs:*Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved: A Chemical Love Story by Alexander Shulgin and wife Ann Shulgin*Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved: The Continuation by Alexander Shulgin and wife Ann Shulgin...
and film.
Characteristics
Psychedelic music often contains some of the following features:
- exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
and tablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
;
- more complex song structures, key
In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental...
and time signatureThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
changes, modalIn the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
melodies and dronesIn music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
;
- surreal
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, whimsical, esoterically or literary-inspired, lyrics;
- a strong emphasis on extended instrumental solo
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
s or jamsJam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
;
- electric guitars, often used with feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
, wah wah and fuzzboxes;
- a strong keyboard presence, especially organ
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
s, harpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
s, or the MellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
(an early tape-driven 'sampler');
- elaborate studio effects, such as backwards tapes
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
, panningPanning is the spread of a sound signal into a new stereo or multi-channel sound field. A typical physical recording console pan control is a knob with a pointer which can be placed from the 8 o'clock dial position fully left to the 4 o'clock position fully right...
, phasingIn the compositional technique phasing, the same part is played on two musical instruments, in steady but not identical tempo...
, long delay loopsIn electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
, and extreme reverb;
- primitive electronic instruments such as synthesizers and the theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
;
- later forms of electronic psychedelia also employed repetitive computer generated beats;
Psychedelic folk
The first musical use of the term psychedelic is thought to have been by the New York-based folk group The Holy Modal Rounders on their version of Lead Belly's '
Hesitation Blues"Hesitation Blues" is a popular song adapted from a traditional tune. One version was published by Billy Smythe, Scott Middleton, and Art Gillham. Another was published by W.C. Handy as "Hesitating Blues." Because the tune is a traditional tune many artists have given themselves credit as...
' in 1964. Psychedelic music spread rapidly in the beat folk scenes of both the east and west coast of the mid-1960s. San Francisco produced bands such as
KaleidoscopeKaleidoscope was an American psychedelic folk and ethnic band who recorded 4 albums and several singles for Epic Records between 1966 and 1970.-Formation:...
,
It's a Beautiful DayIt's a Beautiful Day is a band formed in San Francisco, California in 1967, the brainchild of violinist David LaFlamme.LaFlamme, a former soloist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, had previously been in the band Orkustra, and unusually, played a five-string violin...
, Peanut Butter Conspiracy and
H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1967 and named after horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Much of the band's music was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambience, and consisted of material that was inspired by the macabre writings of the author whose...
. From New York city's
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
came groups such as Jake and the Family Jewels and
Cat Mother & the All Night NewsboysCat Mother and The All Night Newsboys was an American musical group, originally formed in New York and later based in Mendocino, California, most active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.- History :...
and from Florida
Pearls Before SwinePearls Before Swine was an American psychedelic folk band formed by Tom Rapp in 1965 in Eau Gallie, now part of Melbourne, Florida. They released six albums between 1967 and 1971, before Rapp launched a solo career.-Early years, 1965-68:...
. Many of these psychedelic folk groups followed the Byrds into folk rock from 1965, and are, as a result, more widely remembered, including the
Grateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
,
Jefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
,
Captain BeefheartDon Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
,
Country Joe and the FishCountry Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.-History:...
, The Great Society and
Quicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
.
From the mid-sixties, partly as a result of the
British InvasionThe British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, this trend ran in parallel in both America and Britain and as part of the inter-related folk, folk rock and rock scenes. Blues, drugs, jazz and eastern influences had featured since 1964 in the work of Davy Graham and
Bert JanschHerbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
. Folk artists who were particularly significant included the Scottish performers
DonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, who combined influences of American artists like
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
with references to
flower powerFlower power is a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in...
, and the
Incredible String BandThe Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...
, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences into their acoustic based music, including medieval and eastern instruments.
Psychedelic rock
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
introduced many of the major elements of the psychedelic sound to main-stream audiences in the mid-1960s, with "
I Feel Fine"I Feel Fine" is a riff-driven rock song written by John Lennon and released in 1964 by The Beatles as the A-side of their eighth British single. The song is notable for the use of feedback on a recording for the first time by any musician...
" (1964) using guitar feedback; in late 1965 the
Rubber SoulRubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
album included the use of a
sitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
on "
Norwegian Wood"Norwegian Wood " is a song by The Beatles, first released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul....
"; they employed
backmaskingBackmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
on their 1966 single B-side "Rain" and other tracks that appeared on their
RevolverRevolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
album later that year. However, the first use of the term psychedelic rock is generally attributed to
Austin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
band The
13th Floor ElevatorsThe 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...
, whose early tours would inspire San Francisco's still incubating scene. The Byrds rapidly progressed from purely folk rock in 1966 with their single "
Eight Miles High"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
", widely taken to be a reference to drug use.
In Britain arguably the most influential band in the genre were The Yardbirds, who, with Jeff Beck as their guitarist, increasingly moved into psychedelic territory, adding up-tempo improvised "rave ups",
Gregorian chantGregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and
world musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
influences to songs including "Still I'm Sad" (1965) and "Over Under Sideways Down" (1966). From 1966 the
UK undergroundThe Underground was a countercultural movement in the United Kingdom linked to the underground culture in the United States and associated with the hippie phenomenon. Its primary focus was around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in London...
scene based in North London, supported new acts including
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
,
TrafficTraffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
and
Soft MachineSoft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
. The same year saw the débuts of blues rock bands
CreamCream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, whose extended guitar-heavy jams became a key feature of psychedelia.
Psychedelic rock reached its apogee in the last years of the decade. 1967 saw the Beatles release their definitive psychedelic statement in
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
, including the controversial track "
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, for The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...
" and the Rolling Stones responded later that year with
Their Satanic Majesties RequestTheir Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by London Records...
. Pink Floyd produced what is usually seen as their best psychedelic work,
The Piper at the Gates of DawnThe Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by the English rock group Pink Floyd, and the only one made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership. The album contains whimsical lyrics about space, scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairy tales, along with psychedelic instrumental songs...
. In America the
Summer of LoveThe Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
was prefaced by the
Human Be-InThe Human Be-In was a happening in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the afternoon and evening of January 14, 1967. It was a prelude to San Francisco's Summer of Love, which made the Haight-Ashbury district a symbol as the center of an American counterculture and introduced the word 'psychedelic'...
event and reached its peak at the
Monterey Pop FestivalThe Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, the latter helping to make major American stars of Jimi Hendrix and The Who, whose single "
I Can See for Miles"I Can See for Miles" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who, recorded for the band's 1967 album, The Who Sell Out. It was the only song from the album to be released as a single, on 14 October 1967...
" delved into psychedelic territory. Key recordings included Jefferson Airplane's
Surrealistic PillowSurrealistic Pillow is the second album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in February 1967.Original drummer Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band in mid-1966, replaced by a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, Spencer Dryden, a nephew of Charlie Chaplin. New lead vocalist...
and
The DoorsThe Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
'
Strange DaysStrange Days is the second album released by American rock band The Doors. The album was a commercial success, earning a gold record and reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Despite this, the album's producer, Paul Rothchild, considered it a commercial failure, even if it was an...
. These trends climaxed in the 1969
Woodstock festivalWoodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, which saw performances by most of the major psychedelic acts, including Jimi Hendrix,
Janis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
and
SantanaSantana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
.
Psychedelic pop
As psychedelia emerged as a mainstream and commercial force, particularly through the work of the Beatles, it began to influence pop music, which incorporated hippie fashions, as well as the sounds of sitars, fuzz guitars, and tape effects. The Beach Boys' hit single "
Good Vibrations"Good Vibrations" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys. Composed and produced by Brian Wilson, the song's lyrics were written by Wilson and Mike Love....
" was one of the first pop songs to incorporate psychedelic lyrics and sounds, making use of a Tannerin (an easier to manipulate version of a
ThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
). American pop-oriented bands that followed in this vein included Electric Prunes,
Strawberry Alarm ClockStrawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles best known for their 1967 hit "Incense and Peppermints". The group took its name as an homage to the Beatles' psychedelic hit "Strawberry Fields Forever", reportedly, at the suggestion of their record company Uni Records.They are...
and
Blues MagoosThe Blues Magoos was a rock music group from the The Bronx, New York. They were at the forefront of the psychedelic music trend, beginning as early as 1966.-1964 - 1971:The band was formed in 1964 as "The Trenchcoats"...
. Psychedelic sounds were also incorporated into the output of early
bubblegum popBubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
acts like
The MonkeesThe Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
and
The Lemon PipersThe Lemon Pipers were a 1960s psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968...
. Scottish folk singer
DonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
's transformation to 'electric' music gave him a 1966 pop hit with "Sunshine Superman", one of the earliest overtly psychedelic pop records.
More pop oriented psychedelia was popular among the emerging bands in Australia and New Zealand, including
The EasybeatsThe Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...
, formed in Sydney but who recorded their international hit "
Friday on my mind"Friday on My Mind" is a 1966 song by Australian rock group The Easybeats. Written by band members George Young and Harry Vanda, the track became a worldwide hit, reaching #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1967 in the US, #1 in Australia and #6 in the UK, as well as charting in several...
" (1966) in London and remained there for their forays into psychedelic-tinged pop until they disbanded in 1970. A similar path was pursued by the
Bee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, formed in Brisbane, but whose first album
Bee Gees 1st (1967), recorded in London, gave them three major hit singles and contained folk, rock and psychedelic elements, heavy influenced by the Beatles.
The TwilightsThe Twilights were an Australian rock music group of the mid to late 1960s. Alongside their own career successes, The Twilights are also notable for the inclusion of vocalist Glenn Shorrock, who later fronted Axiom, Esperanto and Little River Band, and guitarist Terry Britten who went on to become...
, formed in Adelaide, also made to trip to London, recording a series of minor hits, absorbing the psychedelic scene, to return home to produce covers of Beatles' songs, complete with sitar, and the concept album
Once upon a Twilight (1968). The most successful New Zealand band,
The La De DasThe La De Das were a leading New Zealand rock band of the 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in New Zealand in 1963 , they enjoyed considerable success in both New Zealand and Australia until their split in 1975....
, produced the psychedelic pop concept album
The Happy Prince (1968), based on the
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
children's classic, but failed to break through in Britain and the wider world.
Psychedelic soul
Following the lead of Hendrix in rock, psychedelia also began to have an impact on African American musicians, particularly the stars of the Motown label. Influenced by the
civil rights movementThe civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, it had a darker and more political edge than much acid rock. Building on the
funkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
sound of
James BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, it was pioneered by Sly and the Family Stone with songs like "
Dance to the Music"Dance to the Music" is a 1968 hit single by the influential soul/funk/rock band Sly & the Family Stone for the Epic/CBS Records label. It was the first single by the band to reach the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10, peaking at #8 and the first to popularize the band's sound, which would be emulated...
" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968) and "
I Want to Take You Higher"I Want to Take You Higher" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, the B-side to their Top 30 hit Stand!". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one...
" (1969) and The Temptations with "
Cloud Nine"Cloud Nine" is a 1968 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Motown label. It was the first of their singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup, was the first of producer Norman Whitfield's psychedelic soul tracks, and won Motown its first Grammy Award...
" (1968), "
Runaway Child, Running Wild"Runaway Child, Running Wild" is a 1969 hit single for the Gordy label, performed by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield...
" (1969) and "
Psychedelic Shack"Psychedelic Shack" is a 1969 single for the Motown label performed by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield. It became a hit single in 1970....
" (1969). Others soon followed like the Supremes with "
Love Child"Love Child" is a 1968 song released by the Motown label for Diana Ross & the Supremes, becoming the Supremes' 11th number-one single in the United States....
" (1968) and "
Stoned Love"Stoned Love" is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the last Billboard Pop Top Ten hit for the group, peaking at number seven, and their last Billboard number-one R&B hit as well, although the trio continued to score top ten hits in the UK into 1972...
" (1970),
The Chambers BrothersThe Chambers Brothers is a soul-music group, best known for its 1968 hit record, the 11-minute long song "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements, spawning a heady mix...
with "
Time has come today"Time Has Come Today" is a song recorded by The Chambers Brothers in 1966. It was then released on album in November 1967, and it spent five weeks at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1968....
" (1966, but charting in 1968), The 5th Dimension with a cover of
Laura NyroLaura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
's "
Stoned Soul Picnic"Stoned Soul Picnic" was a song from 1968. The most known version of the song was recorded by The 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching #3 on the U.S. Pop chart and #2 on the Billboard R&B chart...
" (1968),
Edwin StarrEdwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
's "War" (1970) and the Undisputed Truth's "
Smiling Faces Sometimes"Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year, resulting in a number-three Billboard...
" (1971).
George ClintonGeorge Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
's interdependent
FunkadelicFunkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
and
ParliamentParliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
ensembles and their various spin-offs, took the genre to its most extreme lengths making funk almost a religion in the 1970s, producing over forty singles, including three in the US top ten, and three platinum albums.
Decline
By the end of the decade psychedelia was in retreat. LSD had been declared illegal in the US and UK in 1966. The murders of
Sharon TateSharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca by
Charles MansonCharles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
and his "family" of followers, claiming to have been
inspired by Beatles' SongsThe murders perpetrated by members of Charles Manson's "Family" were inspired in part by Manson's prediction of Helter Skelter, an apocalyptic war he believed would arise from tension over racial relations between blacks and whites...
such as "Helter Skelter", has been seen as contributing to an anti-hippie backlash. The Altamont Free Concert in California, headlined by
The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
on December 6, 1969, became notorious for the fatal stabbing of black teenager
Meredith HunterMeredith Curly Hunter was a male spectator at the Altamont Free Concert. During the performance by The Rolling Stones, Hunter pulled out a gun after being punched by a Hells Angel and was then stabbed to death by a Hells Angel serving as a security guard...
by
Hells AngelThe Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
security guards. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys,
Brian JonesLewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
of the Rolling Stones,
Peter GreenPeter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
of
Fleetwood MacFleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
and
Syd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
of Pink Floyd, were early "acid casualties", helping to shift the focus of the respective bands of which they had been leading figures. Some bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream broke up. Jimi Hendrix died in London in September 1970, shortly after recording
Band of Gypsies (1970), Janis Joplin died of a heroin overdose in October 1970 and they were closely followed by
Jim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
of the Doors, who died in Paris in July 1971. Many surviving acts moved away from psychedelia into either more back-to-basics "
roots rockRoots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
"; traditional-based, pastoral or whimsical folk; the wider experimentation of progressive rock; or riff-laden heavy rock. By 1970s psychedelic-soul influenced records were losing their grip on the charts and most of the major artists began to look for inspiration elsewhere.
After the death of
Brian EpsteinBrian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
and the unpopular surreal television film,
Magical Mystery TourMagical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...
(1967), the Beatles returned to a raw style with
The BeatlesThe Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
(1968),
Abbey Road (1969) and
Let It Be (1970), before their eventual break up. The back to basics trend was also evident in the Rolling Stones' albums, from
Beggar's Banquet (1968) to
Exile on Main St.Exile on Main St. is the tenth British and 12th American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones. Released as a double LP in May 1972, it draws on many genres including rock and roll, blues, soul, R&B, gospel and country. The release of Exile on Main St. met with mixed reviews, but is...
(1972). English folk rock outfit
Fairport ConventionFairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
released
Liege and Lief in 1969, turning away from American-influenced folk rock toward a sound based on traditional British music and founding the sub-genre of
electric folkElectric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
, to be followed by bands like
Steeleye SpanSteeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
and
FotheringayFotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
. The psychedelic-influenced and whimsical strand of British folk continued into the 1970s with acts including
ComusComus is a British progressive rock / folk band which had a brief career in the early 1970s; their first album, First Utterance, gave them a cult following which persists. They have revived in the late 2000s and played several festivals.-History:...
,
Mellow CandleMellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also unusually young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB...
,
Nick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, The Incredible String Band,
ForestForest were an English psychedelic folk / acid folk trio who formed in Grimsby, Lincolnshire in 1966. Made up of brothers Martin Welham, Adrian Welham and school friend Dez Allenby, they started out performing unaccompanied traditional folk music in a similar vein to contemporaries The Watersons...
and
TreesTrees was an English folk rock band that existed between 1969 and 1972. Although the group met with little commercial success in their time, the reputation of the band has grown over the years. Like other folk contemporaries, Trees' music was influenced by Fairport Convention, but with a heavier...
and with
Syd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
's two solo albums.
Influence
Many of the British musicians and bands that had embraced psychedelia went on to create
progressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
in the 1970s, including Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and members of
YesYes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
.
King CrimsonKing Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
's album
In the Court of the Crimson KingIn the Court of the Crimson King is the 1969 debut album by the British progressive rock group King Crimson. The album reached No. 5 on the British charts, and is certified gold in the United States....
(1969), has been seen as an important link between psychedelia and progressive rock. While bands such as
HawkwindHawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
maintained an explicitly psychedelic course into the 1970s, most dropped the psychedelic elements in favour of wider experimentation. As they moved away from their psychedelic roots and placed increasing emphasis on electronic instrumentation, German bands like
KraftwerkKraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
,
Tangerine DreamTangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
,
CanCan was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
and
FaustFaust are a German krautrock band. Formed in 1971 in Wümme, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.-History:Faust...
developed a distinctive brand of electronic rock, known as kosmische musik, or in the British press as "
KrautKraut is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as a derogatory term for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II. Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional German and central European food.- Etymological...
rock". The adoption of electronic synthesisers, pioneered by
Popol VuhPopol Vuh was a German electronic avantgarde band, in the mainstream-media so called Krautrock, founded by pianist and keyboardist Florian Fricke in 1969 together with Holger Trülzsch and Frank Fiedler...
from 1970, together with the work of figures like
Brian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
(for a time the keyboard player with
Roxy MusicRoxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
), would be a major influence on subsequent synth rock. The incorporation of jazz into the music of bands like Soft Machine and Can, also contributed to the development of the jazz rock of bands like
ColosseumColosseum is a pioneering British progressive jazz-rock band, mixing progressive rock and jazz-based improvisation.-History 1968 - 1971:The band was formed in September 1968 by drummer Jon Hiseman, tenor sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, who had previously worked together...
.
Psychedelic rock, with its distorted guitar sound, extended solos and adventurous compositions has been seen as an important bridge between blues-oriented rock and later
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. Two former guitarists with the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck and
Jimmy PageJames Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, moved on to form key acts in the genre,
The Jeff Beck GroupThe Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
and
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
respectively. Other major pioneers of the genre had begun as blues-based psychedelic bands, including
Black SabbathBlack Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
,
Deep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
,
Judas PriestJudas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
and
UFOUFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
.
Psychedelic music also contributed to the origins of
glam rockGlam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, with
Marc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
changing his psychedelic folk duo into rock band
T. RexT. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
and becoming the first glam rock star from 1970. From 1971
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
moved on from his early psychedelic work to develop his Ziggy Stardust persona, incorporating elements of professional make up, mime and performance into his act.
Psychedelic influences lasted a little longer in pop music, stretching into the early 1970s and playing a major part in the creation of
Bubblegum popBubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
. Similarly, psychedelic soul continued into the 1970s and its sounds were incorporated into funk music and eventually disco music.
Neo-psychedelia
Psychedelic rock began to be revived in the later 1970s by bands of the
post-punkPost-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
scene, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen,
The ChurchThe Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, and the Soft Boys. In the US in the early 1980s these bands were joined by the
Paisley UndergroundPaisley Underground is an early genre of alternative rock, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s.- History :...
movement, based in Los Angeles, with acts like
Dream SyndicateThe Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.-History:...
,
The BanglesThe Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
and
Rain ParadeThe Rain Parade was a band active in the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles in the 1980s.-History:The band was founded by college roommates Matt Piucci and David Roback in 1981, originally as The Moving Sidewalks. David's brother Steven Roback joined the band shortly thereafter...
. There were occasional mainstream acts that dabbled in neo-psychedelia, including
PrincePrince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's mid-'80s work and some of
Lenny KravitzLeonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
's 1990s output, but it has mainly been an influence on alternative and indie-rock bands. In the 1990s the Elephant 6 collective, including acts like
The Apples in StereoThe Apples in Stereo, styled The Apples in stereo, is an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant Six Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band is largely a product of lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider, who writes the...
,
The Olivia Tremor ControlThe Olivia Tremor Control is an indie rock band prominent in the mid to late 1990s which, along with The Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, was one of the three original Elephant 6 projects...
,
Neutral Milk HotelNeutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....
,
Elf PowerElf Power is an indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, and drummer Eric Harris...
and
Of MontrealOf Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
, produced eclectic psychedelic rock and folk. Other
alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
acts that delved into psychedelic territory included Australian band
The ChurchThe Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
, Nick Saloman's Bevis Frond, the
space rockSpace rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
of
Spacemen 3Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
and diverse acts like
Mercury RevMercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
, the Flaming Lips and
Super Furry AnimalsSuper Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
. In the early 1990s
stoner rockStoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
emerged, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues-rock and
doom metalDoom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
. Typically using slow-to-mid
tempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
and featuring low-tuned guitars in a
bassThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
-heavy sound, with melodic vocals, and 'retro' production, it was pioneered by the Californian bands
KyussKyuss is a rock band, originally from Palm Desert, California. After forming in the late 1980s and releasing an EP under the name Sons of Kyuss in 1990, the band shortened its name to Kyuss. Over the next five years the band released four full-length albums, and one last split EP in 1997 with...
and
SleepSleep is a stoner doom metal band from San Jose, California. Active during the 1990s, Sleep earned critical and record label attention early in their career. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes them as "perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band" and notes they exerted a strong influence on heavy metal...
. In the UK
The Stone RosesThe Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
debut single in 1988 set out a catchy neo-psychedelic guitar pop, helping to create the
MadchesterMadchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...
scene, and influencing the early sound of 1990s Britpop bands like
BlurBlur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, and
OasisOasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
who drew on 1960s psychedelic pop and rock, particularly on the album
Standing on the Shoulder of GiantsStanding on the Shoulder of Giants is the fourth studio album by English rock band Oasis, released on 28 February 2000. The album is the 16th fastest selling album in UK chart history, selling over 310,000 copies in its first week...
. In the immediate
post-BritpopPost-Britpop is a sub-genre of British alternative rock, made up of bands that emerged from the late 1990s and early 2000s in the aftermath of Britpop, influenced by acts like Pulp, Oasis and Blur, but with less overtly British concerns in their lyrics and making more use of American rock...
era
Kula ShakerKula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by outspoken frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed great commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles...
incorporated swirling, guitar-heavy sounds of late-'60s psychedelia and with Indian
mysticismMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and spirituality. In the new millennium neo-psychedelia was continued by bands directly emulating the sounds of the 60s like
Tame ImpalaTame Impala are a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Australia. They are signed to Modular Records. The band came to prominence in 2010 with the release of their first debut album, Innerspeaker. Their name refers to the impala, a medium sized antelope...
and
The Essex GreenThe Essex Green are an indie rock band from Brooklyn, NY. The band is primarily composed of songwriters Jeff Baron, Sasha Bell and Chris Ziter, and specialize in a classic sound inspired by 1960s–1970s pop and folk in the tradition of bands like The Left Banke and Fairport Convention.-History:The...
.
Psychedelic electronic music
From the 1980s psychedelic music began to be revived within forms of
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, often connected to the
raveRave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
subculture, and leading to a host of sub-genres, including
acid houseAcid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
,
tranceTrance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
and
new raveNew rave is a term applied to several types of music that fuse elements of electronic music, new wave, rock, indie, techno, bastard pop, breakbeat hardcore and electro house...
.
Acid house
Acid house originated in the mid-1980s in the
house musicHouse music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
style of Chicago DJs like
DJ PierreDJ Pierre is the stage name of Nathaniel Pierre Jones, a Chicago born DJ and performer of house music. He helped to develop the house music subgenre of Acid House, as member of Phuture, whose 1987 E.P...
,
AdonisAdonis is a Chicago acid house pioneer who made his name with the classic 1986 tracks 'No Way Back' and 'We're Rockin Down The House'.Adonis recorded many innovative and influential dance tracks. Born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, Adonis was introduced to music at a young age...
, Farley Jackmaster Funk and
PhuturePhuture is a Chicago-based acid house group founded in 1985 by Spanky, DJ Pierre and Herb J.The group's 12-minute track "Acid Tracks" is one of several recordings that lay claim to being the first-ever acid house record....
, the last of which coined the term on his "
Acid Trax"Acid Tracks" is a 12-inch single released in 1987 by Phuture. It is one of several recordings laying claim to be the first song made using the Roland TB-303 synthesizer to create the acid house "squelch" sound. The 303 was originally designed as a bass accompaniment for bands, but ended up as a...
" (1987). It mixed elements of house with the "squelchy" sounds and deep basslines produced by the
Roland TB-303The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer with built-in sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from late 1981 to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music.-History:...
synthesizer. As singles began to reach the UK the sound was re-created, beginning in small warehouse parties held in London in 1986-87. During 1988 in the
Second Summer of LoveThe Second Summer of Love is a name given to the period in 1988-89 in Britain, during the rise of acid house music and the euphoric explosion of unlicensed MDMA -fuelled rave parties...
it hit the mainstream as thousands of clubgoers travelled to mass
raveRave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
s. The genre then began to penetrate the British pop charts with hits for M/A/R/R/S,
S'ExpressS'Express were a British dance music act from the late 1980s, who had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre."Theme from S'Express", based on Rose Royce's "Is It Love You're After", was also one of the earliest recordings to capitalize on a resurgence of sampling culture...
, and
TechnotronicTechnotronic is a Belgian studio-based music project formed in 1988 by Jo Bogaert , who had already made his musical mark in the beginning of the 1980s as a part of a cover band and as a solo artist under various New Beat projects, including The Acts of Madmen and Nux Nemo...
by the early 1990s, before giving way to the popularity of trance music.
Trance
Trance music originated in the German
technoTechno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and
hardcoreHardcore techno is a type of electronic music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples...
scenes of the early 1990s. It emphasized brief and repeated synthesizer lines with minimal rhythmic changes and occasional synthesizer atmospherics, with the aim of putting listeners into a trance-like state. Derived from acid house and techno music it developed in Germany and the Netherlands with singles including "Energy Flash" by
Joey BeltramJoey Beltram is an American DJ and record producer, best-known for the pioneering recordings "Energy Flash" and "Mentasm"....
and "The Ravesignal" by CJ Bolland. This was followed by releases by Robert Leiner,
Sun ElectricSun Electric is the name of an electronic music group from Berlin. Their first release was the single "O'Locco" on the Wau! Mr. Modo label in 1990, and they have considerable body of work released via the R&S / Apollo labels throughout the following decade. Sun Electric have been active and...
,
Aphex TwinRichard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
and most influentially the techno-trance released by the
HarthouseHarthouse is a German record label specializing in techno music. The label has been responsible for many success stories in the electronic world including Oliver Lieb, Eternal Basement, Hardfloor, Sven Väth and Koxbox....
label, including the much emulated "Acperience 1" (1992) by duo
HardfloorHardfloor is a German techno and acid trance duo, consisting of Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Their most famous track is "Acperience 1" ....
. Having gained some popularity in the UK in the early 1990s it was eclipsed by the appearance of new genres of electronic music such as trip-hop and
jungleJungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
, before taking off again towards the end of the decade and beginning to dominate the clubs, with DJs including
Paul OakenfoldPaul Mark Oakenfold is a British record producer and a trance DJ.-Early Career: 1979–84:Paul Oakenfold's career was set to be a chef, after having hopes of becoming part of a band. He describes his early life as a "bedroom deejay" in a podcasted interview with Vancouver's 24 Hours, stating he grew...
,
Pete TongPeter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
,
Tony De VitTony De Vit was a British club DJ, Producer and Remixer and one of the most influential of his generation. He was credited with helping to take the "Hard house" and fast "Hard NRG" sounds out of the London gay scene and into mainstream clubs...
,
Danny RamplingDanny Rampling is a British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene. His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars and clubs in London.-Ibiza:...
,
SashaSasha is a Welsh DJ and record producer. Sasha began his career playing acid house dance music in the late 1980s...
,
Judge JulesJudge Jules is a British dance music DJ and producer, known for his DJ activities and popular radio show which achieved global success.-Education:...
and in the US
Christopher LawrenceChristopher Lawrence is an American DJ and producer, specializing in progressive trance music. He has released 10 mix CDs since 1997.Lawrence has an international audience and makes frequent appearances worldwide...
and Kimball Collins. It soon began to fragment into a number of subgenres, including progressive trance,
acid tranceAcid trance is a style of trance music that emerged in the late '80s early '90s focusing on utilising the acid sound. The trademark sound of "acid" is produced with a Roland TB-303 by playing a sequenced melody while altering the instrument's filter cutoff frequency, resonance, envelope modulation,...
, euro trance,
goa tranceGoa trance is a form of electronic music that originated during the late 1980s in Goa, India.-History:The music has its roots in the popularity of Goa in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a hippie capital, and although musical developments were incorporating elements of industrial music and EBM...
,
psychedelic trancePsychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy is a form of electronic music characterized by hypnotic arrangements of synthetic rhythms and complex layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. It appeared in the mainstream in 1995 as with reporting of the trend of Goa trance. The genre offers variety...
,
hard tranceHard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Western Europe in the mid-1990s as the breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influenced by UK hard house, happy hardcore and jungle/drum & bass...
and
uplifting tranceUplifting trance, often synonymous with epic trance, anthem trance, emotional trance, or euphoric trance is a term used to describe a large sub-genre of trance music. The name, which emerged in the wake of progressive trance in 1997, is derived from the feeling which listeners claim to get...
.
New rave
In Britain in the 2000s the combination of
indie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
with
dance-punkDance-punk is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the post-punk and No Wave movements.-Predecessors:...
was dubbed new rave in publicity for
The KlaxonsThe Klaxons were a Belgian accordion based band who had a minor UK hit in 1983 with "The Clap Clap Sound", which reached number 45 in the UK charts...
and the term was picked up and applied by the
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
to a number of bands, including
Trash FashionTrash Fashion are a four-piece band made up of brothers Tom Marsh and Ben Marsh joined by Matt Emerson and Jim Ready . Their current UK record label is Propaganda Records and in Japan it is Vinyl Junkie...
,
New Young Pony ClubNew Young Pony Club are an English electronic band from London, consisting of members from London, Hereford, Cambridge and Bromley. Their influences are prominently from post-punk and New Wave....
,
Hadouken!Hadouken! are an English grime, electronica, dance band who formed in Leeds in October 2006 by singer, writer and producer James Smith, alongside his girlfriend, synth player Alice Spooner, guitarist Daniel "Pilau" Rice, and drummer Nick Rice. The band name is taken from the name of a special...
,
Late of the PierLate of the Pier are a four-piece dance-punk band from Castle Donington, England, currently signed to Phantasy. Their debut album Fantasy Black Channel was released on 11 August 2008 by Parlophone produced by Erol Alkan.- History :...
,
Test IciclesTest Icicles were a short-lived dance punk band that formed in England, primarily influenced by indie rock but containing musical elements from a variety of genres . The band was formed in 2004 by Rory Attwell and Sam Mehran, who were later joined by Devonte Hynes...
, and
ShitdiscoShitdisco, was a Dance-punk band from Glasgow, Scotland. They were formed in 2003 while studying at the Glasgow School of Art. Their first single "Disco Blood"/"I Know Kung Fu" was released in December 2005 and sold out quickly. They are signed to record label Fierce Panda...
. It formed a scene with a similar visual aesthetic to earlier rave music, centred around visual effects: glowsticks,
neonA neon lamp is a miniature gas discharge lamp that typically contains neon gas at a low pressure in a glass capsule. Only a thin region adjacent to the electrodes glows in these lamps, which distinguishes them from the much longer and brighter neon tubes used for signage...
and other lights were common, and followers of the scene often dressed in extremely bright and fluorescent coloured clothing.
See also