Psychedelic music

Psychedelic music was a popular form of much music in the 1960s (and later) which is creatively oriented towards the use of mind affecting drugs such as mescaline and LSD.

In the United States, this sound was particularly characteristic of the West Coast sound, with bands such as the Grateful Dead, Vanilla Fudge, Tommy James and the Shondells and Jefferson Airplane in the vanguard. There were also less well known psychedelic bands in outlying regions, such as the 13th Floor Elevators and Bubble Puppy[?] working out of Texas.

In Great Britain, although the psychedelic revolution[?] occurred later, the impact was nonetheless profound within the British music scene. Established artists such as Eric Burdon[?], The Who and The Beatles produced a number of highly psychedelic tunes. In the case of the Beatles, this was especially the case on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (which contains the track "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", the initials of which spell out LSD, although this is apparently a coincidence). They also released "Blue Jay Way", another pschedelic tune, on an EP. However, neither The Animals, Beatles nor The Who could be classified as a psychedelic band. The music of Cream and of early Pink Floyd is much more representative of British psychedelia. Independent record producer Joe Meek has been credited with inventing the phasing sound publicised most notably on the first UK hit of the band Status Quo entitled "Pictures of Matchstick Men" but also heard on hits such as Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play", the Lemon Pipers' "Green Tamborine" and Hawkwind's "Silver Machine". "I Can See for Miles" and "Pictures of Lilly" by the Who, "Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles and "We Love You" by the Rolling Stones are arguably the best examples of English psychedelic pop.

Recently the group Kula Shaker[?] under Crispian Mills, created much Indian-influenced psychedelic music such as their most recent album 'Peasants, pigs and Astronauts'.

British band Anomie are standard-bearers for British garage psychedelia, citing Pink Floyd and Hawkwind as their musical influences. Some music now termed "ambient" or "trance" would have fallen within the category of psychedelia in the 1966 to 1990 period. Stoner rock acts like Kyuss and their successors also carry forward the flag of explicitly psychedelic music into the present day.

List of musicians associated with psychedelic music:

• Jimi Hendrix
• The Velvet Underground
• The Beatles
  • Revolver (album)
  • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)
  • The White Album
  • Yellow Submarine (especially the movie)
• The Grateful Dead
• The Doors
  • Jim Morrison (singer)
• Jefferson Airplane
  • Surrealistic Pillow (album)
  • After Bathing at Baxter's[?] (album)
  • Grace Slick[?] (musician)
• The Who
• Cream (band)
• Status Quo
• Pink Floyd
  • Syd Barrett (musician)
• Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies[?]
  • American Metaphysical Circus[?] (album)
  • The United States of America (band)
• Blue Cheer
• Big Brother and the Holding Company[?]
  • Janis Joplin (singer)
• Vanilla Fudge
• Country Joe McDonald[?]
  • Country Joe and the Fish
• Iron Butterfly
  • In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (song, album)
• 13th Floor Elevators
  • Roky Erickson (musician}
  • Easter Everywhere (album)
• P Funk
  • Funkadelic
  • Maggot Brain (album)
  • Qualify and Satisfy (song)
  • Billy Bass Nelson (musician)
• Sly Stone
• Nirvana (60s band)
• The Rolling Stones
• Neil Young
• Stooges
• Hawkwind
• Anomie
• Simon Posford
• The Paupers[?]
• The End[?]

See also:

• List of rock and roll performers
• Rock and roll
• Timeline of trends in music (1951-present)
• Gothic rock
• Stoner rock