Psychedelic Music, Its Origins, and Its Effects on Music...

Psychedelic Music, Its Origins and Its Effects on Music Today Psychedelia in music has been around for a long time and has changed much of the popular music of today. The dictionary definition of psychedelic is, â€Å"of or noting a mental state characterized by a profound sense of intensified sensory perception, sometimes accompanied by severe perceptual distortion and hallucinations and by extreme feelings of either euphoria or despair.† It started in the 1960’s with the discovery of LSD and use of other psychedelic drugs. Psychedelia did not only affect music, it affected people, cities, and the way people think. LSD, which was the catalyst for psychedelic music, was discovered on April 16, 1943, by Albert Hofmann. For months he†¦show more content†¦Many other bands wrote music inspired by LSD in 1966, such as The Rolling Stones, The 13th Floor Elevators, and The Byrds. The influence of Psychedelia and LSD was everywhere. At the end of 1966, the United States started outlawing LSD use, but it was too late. The drug was increasing in popularity, and peaked in the summer of 1967. Although it was now illegal, LSD was still getting more and more popular (DeRogatis 6, 9, 10). Many psychedelic bands came from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The Grateful Dead was one of the most popular psychedelic rock bands ever. Although they did not sell many records, they were very well known for their live performances, and their music was often used as a soundtrack for LSD parties. While the Bay area, and especially the Haight-Ashbury, was good for producing great bands, there was a downside as well. Other than the many people dying LSD related deaths, many of the early bands were exploited by the record companies. The record companies wanted to profit from the hippy movement, but they did not like their music. Some producers were paid specifically to change a band’s original sound into a more popular sound, such as that of The Beatles. The Bay area was known for creating gr eat bands, but more and more psychedelic bands were beginning to form all over the world, including Pink Floyd, a band from Europe (Scaruffi). Pink Floyd was, and to thisShow MoreRelatedCarnatic Music888 Words   |  4 PagesVillage and San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury district. 3. The origins of the terms hip and hep are uncertain, though by the 1940s both had become part of African American jive slang and meant sophisticated; currently fashionable; fully up-to-date. 4. The Beats adopted the term hip, and early hippies inherited the language and countercultural values of the Beat Generation. 5. Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and some used drugs suchRead MoreHow Was Sgt? 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