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| psychedelic music | |
|---|---|
| Name | Psychedelic music |
| Cultural origins | Mid-1960s San Francisco, London, Los Angeles |
| Derivatives | Progressive rock, Krautrock, Shoegaze, Neo-psychedelia |
| Subgenres | Psychedelic pop, Acid rock, Space rock |
| Instruments | Electric guitar, sitar, synthesizer, Mellotron, tabla |
psychedelic music Psychedelic music emerged in the mid-1960s as an experimental style associated with artists exploring altered consciousness, avant-garde production and non-Western influences. It combined popular song forms with studio innovation, extended improvisation and visual aesthetics tied to live performance venues and festivals. Key figures, labels and scenes across San Francisco, London and Los Angeles drove its spread through recordings, concerts and underground press.
The origins trace to recordings and live scenes involving The Beatles, The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Rolling Stones, alongside influences from Indian classical music through figures like Ravi Shankar. Early pioneering sessions at studios like Abbey Road Studios, Sun Studio and Gold Star Studios intersected with producers such as George Martin, Phil Spector and engineers linked to Motown techniques. Festivals and events—Monterey Pop Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Woodstock—crystallized a network of artists including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors and Cream. Labels like Warner Bros. Records, Columbia Records, Reprise Records and Verve Records released landmark albums that shaped the trajectory alongside independent presses including Rolling Stone (magazine), NME and Melody Maker.
Characteristics include use of modal harmony found in Indian classical music and African music influences, extended improvisation associated with John Coltrane and Miles Davis, guitar effects pioneered by players like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and studio technologies advanced by engineers at Abbey Road Studios and studios used by The Beach Boys's collaborators. Techniques such as tape manipulation, backward recording, phasing, flanging, reverb and multitrack overdubbing were deployed by producers including Brian Wilson, Glyn Johns and Joe Meek. Instrumentation often incorporated sitar introduced by George Harrison and non-Western percussion played by artists connected to World music circuits and ensembles tied to Indian classical and Balinese gamelan traditions.
Major artists and bands include The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Zombies, Love, The Velvet Underground, Traffic, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Who, Syd Barrett, Can, T. Rex, David Bowie, Syd Barrett-era projects, and later figures such as Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, The Flaming Lips and Spiritualized. Regional scenes included San Francisco (Haight-Ashbury venues, Fillmore West), London clubs (UFO Club, Marquee Club), Los Angeles studios and scenes around Haight-Ashbury and Venice, Los Angeles. Independent labels and collectives like Factory Records, Harvest Records and Sundazed Music documented local and international acts.
Psychedelic-era artists intersected with social movements and events such as Summer of Love, Anti-Vietnam War protests, Civil Rights Movement demonstrations and gatherings promoted by countercultural publications including Rolling Stone (magazine), Oz (magazine), The Village Voice and NME. Visual culture from artists like Peter Max, Victor Moscoso and concert poster scenes for promoters such as Bill Graham and venues like Fillmore East reinforced ties to communal living experiments and collectives linked to figures who participated in festivals such as Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. Political and spiritual figures, including proponents of Transcendental Meditation and teachers from movements connected to Ravi Shankar and Ram Dass, influenced lyrics, imagery and performance rituals.
Subgenres include Psychedelic pop exemplified by The Beatles's later work and The Beach Boys's experimental albums; Acid rock represented by Jimi Hendrix and Cream; Neo-psychedelia revival scenes tied to The Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Church and later acts like Tame Impala and MGMT. Progressive movements such as Progressive rock and experimental offshoots like Krautrock (bands such as Can, Neu!), Space rock (e.g., Hawkwind), shoegaze movements involving My Bloody Valentine and dream pop currents around Cocteau Twins drew on psychedelic templates. Labels and curators on 4AD, Creation Records and Sire Records fostered revivals and hybrids.
Psychedelic techniques influenced Progressive rock groups including Yes, King Crimson; electronic and ambient pioneers like Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Aphex Twin; indie and alternative acts such as Sonic Youth, Pixies and Radiohead; and hip-hop producers sampling psychedelic-era recordings for artists like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West. Film soundtracks, fashion houses and visual artists featured motifs from poster artists and designers linked to Psychedelic art exhibitions and retrospectives in institutions such as Tate Modern and Museum of Modern Art. Contemporary festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury Festival and Primavera Sound showcase acts that incorporate psychedelic aesthetics.
Criticism targeted associations with drug use, moral panics framed by media outlets including Time (magazine), The New York Times and BBC News, and legal actions affecting artists and promoters; controversies involved censorship, venue closures and litigation against promoters and labels. Academic critique in journals linked to Cultural studies and musicology debated authorship and authenticity in work by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and others, while historians and archivists at institutions like British Library and Library of Congress catalogue recordings, ephemera and oral histories. Debates continue over commercialization, appropriation of non-Western musics and the role of psychedelia in political movements.
Category:Music genres