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I was hoping those older than me (44) could give us a history of how Acid Rock from the 60's came about as i believe it's the earliest foundations of Heavy Metal music started around 1970 by Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper that continued thru the 80's, 90's and current metal rockers.
Since i was born in 1964 i was too young to know much of the 60's as my first taste of rock was when i was around 6 or 7 and that the was ''bubblegum'' rock i.e. The Osmonds, Partidge Family, Jackson Five, Ohio Express etc..and wasn't until my uncle bought me the KISS album ''Hotter Than Hell'' in 1974 that changed me.
So i hope those in the know can school us on Acid Rock and if you need to go back further than please do so.
6/3! Whazzup? Let me see if the ol' Double H can come up with something constructive here. Great thread!
IMO, I have always felt the psychedelic movement has been taking bits and pieces of music from centuries back from other music and also other cultures. A couple examples might be Native American tribal chanting,extended drum solos, the use of the sitar, adding sound effects etc. A British psychiatrist by the name of Humphrey Osmond was one of the first people I was aware of who in the early 60's tagged the term psychedelic; "To fathom hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic!"
It wasn't long afterwards that a controversial guy named Timothy Leary really got the word out with a series of lp's, an early one being, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out." And that is exactly what thousands of college and grad students did. That saying became Timothy Leary's mantra. I might comment on Leary later,to say he has a colorful and controversial past is absolutely putting it mildly! About the same time author Ken Kesey,befriended a group of musicians called the Warlocks who eventually were renamed Grateful Dead. Kesey's album from 1967, The Acid Test came out on the Sound City Label. It's kinda like the Theme from the Twilight zone on steroids! Author Tom Wolfe wrote a book describing his experiences with this era called "The Electric KoolAid Acid Test."
Music inspired by mind altering drugs. Actually mind altering drugs (mushrooms, peyote, etc) have been around as long as civilization has been around IMO. What books I have read suggest an east coast band called the Holy Modal Rounders coined the term first. Some of the most prominent names of the psychedelic rock scene were from San Francisco; Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, Country Joe and the Fish, and others. Shortly after that another huge movement went on in Southwest Texas (Austin, Houston). There was a label that was created that specialized in the genre-International records out of Houston. They didn't make that many albums, but they are the most collected in the hobby: Bubble Puppy, Red Crayola, Lost and Found, 13th Floor Elevators, Golden Dawn, and others. Other Texas groups were signed on major labels such as Fever Tree with MCA's Uni label, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Mainstream and later Columbia.
Then you have the major names that defined the genre; Jimi Hendrix Experience, Steppenwolf, Spirit, Doors, Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, and many others. Psychedelic groups start with Affinity and end with Zombies with hundreds of groups in between. Probably, from a commercial standpoint, the Beatles 1966 lp Revolver really brought the subject to the forefront and a huge exclamation point was put on it with the June 1, 1967 release of the hallmark lp "Seargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band". The Beach Boys got involved at the same time with their 1967 releases Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile. There are just so many other artists, and labels as well, that really delve into the issue.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 01-28-2009 at 10:12 AM..
Reason: spelling, addition
Good stuff, Double H! I still have a Bubble Puppy 45: Hot Smoke and Sassafrass
Was acid rock when musicians began experimenting the most with feedback?
I remember poster art really taking off at that time.
From Robert Crumb to Peter Max, that genre was fascinating to me.
I wish I'd saved all my black light posters--I think my mom got rid of them in a garage sale.
In addition to Revolver, I'd also mention "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds as a landmark early acid rock tune, due to the Coltrane influenced guitars and otherworldly lyrics. Sunshine Superman by Donovan and Over, Under, Sideways, Down by The Yardbirds also strike me as early acid rock tunes (circa 1966).
But the Beatles and Byrds form of acid rock (eg Strawberry Fields Forever, I am The Walrus) is quite different from the late '60s heavier sound of lengthy, loud and repetitive guitar solos. The closest The Beatles came to that would be George Harrison's under-appreciated gem "It's All Too Much". Though, who knows, someday "Carnival of Light" may be released to show a wilder side to The Beatles.
Hollywood also saw an opportunity within the culture of acid. The 1967 film The Trip which starred Peter Fonda comes to mind. It's the story of a young exec who goes through a painful divorce and starts dropping acid. Considered one of the first psychedelic films, Roger Corman's depiction of tripping's visual effects were quite impressive for the time. The film's cast reads like a who's who in the movie industry. Peter Fonda, Susan Strasberg, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper with screenplay by Jack Nicholson. A few more from this genre...
Head - Starring the Monkees (1968)
Beneath The Valley Of The Dolls - written by Roger Ebert! (1970)
Psych Out - starring almost the same cast as The Trip (1968)
They all featured bands of the day, mostly from the west coast that would have been exactly what HH was describing in that wonderful post.
:walks in and finds a place to sit among the growing crowd; listens to Double H, Square Peg, 6 Foot 3 introduction, and a great question from BlueWillowPlate. am amazed at the wealth of knowledge and scribble down some notes... this is way pass awesome... :
Man... break is done but gonna sneak back in... somebody run a tape please so those of us coming in later can see what we missed! LOL
:exciting! Will be back with questions of my own as well... as soon as I digest the wealth of info given us.:
Just wanted to chime in and say thanks to all who replied so far as this has been a great education for others and myself into the early foundations of hard rock and also some posters have asked me about the 60's early rock scene in some other threads that i felt i wasn't qualified to offer up proper historical info about this subject.
Good thread! It's about freaking time! I've been sick of these monotonous threads in here lately, unless it involves something concrete like the 70s, 80s, drinkin', breakin' up, heroin smackin' etc.
I'm younger than you, so bear with my expertise or lack thereof. I was down with the Jackson 5 and all, but I was first down with Come on baby light my fire! Or so I'm told! I was only 2 or 3 at the time, when I flailed around the ground singin' the Doors and streakin' around!
Jerry Garcia says there's no such thing as Acid Rock. But he does concede that people do infact drop acid and listen to certain music.
Now, when it comes to some of that music, count me in!
Mpls Todd has some great comments in his post, in particular John Coltrane. There are some detractors, to be sure, but John Coltrane was/is looked at as one of the biggest figures in Jazz music. During that period of when the psychedelic rock started to really blossom, Coltrane was recording some interesting albums such as A Love Supreme, Meditations, Interstellar Space, and lots of other lp's.
I'm not sure, but when the jazz aficionados penned the term Free form jazz and avante garde jazz, IMO they were referring to this period of Coltranes career. Other jazz artists who would fit into this category would be Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra, and many others. I wonder how how influential avante garde jazz influenced the psychedelic movement; I would think a lot. Just my two cents.
6/3! I certainly didn't mean to slight Deep Purple as they were right in the middle of the action. While their catalog might be knownfrom their '72 lp Machine Head and onward as Heavy Metal, their early lp's on Tetragrammaton fits in with early psych, IMHO. Thankfully, the Tetragrammaton releases were re-issued with extra tracks and they are GREAT recordings! You can really pick up the psych passages on their initial lp, Shades Of Deep Purple. Some of my favorite songs from their '68-69 period are Hush, Kentucky Woman, Anthem, Chasing Shadows, and an awesome 10 minute plus version of River Deep-Mountain High.
Interestingly, the original lead vocalist was Rod Evans. Ian Gillian replaced him by the time they switched over to Warner Brothers in 1970. Tetragrammaton Records was held together by duct tape, shoestrings, tiewire, and wishful thinking. Unfortunately Deep Purple's initial success could not keep the label from going under. The albums that were pressed in that time were ho hum quality, and through the early 70's the albums were re-issued (more than likely bootlegged). The CD's from that time period contain some great music. I recommend them!
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 01-28-2009 at 05:19 PM..
Reason: addition
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