Psychedelic rock is a type of rock music that began in the mid-1960s. It was influenced by psychedelic culture and the use of drugs that change how people see and feel. Musicians used new sounds, special recording methods, long instrument solos, and creative playing styles. Many groups had different styles, and the term "psychedelic rock" was sometimes used without clear reasons.

This music started with British and American artists. It was inspired by the effects of LSD, which can make people feel disconnected from themselves, experience time differently, or see still objects move. These effects were shown through new recording tricks, unusual instruments, and strange song structures. Some early musicians had roots in folk, jazz, or blues, while others used Indian classical music, called "raga rock." In the 1960s, two main styles existed: playful British psychedelic rock and heavier American "acid rock." Though "acid rock" is sometimes used the same as "psychedelic rock," it often refers to the louder, more intense side of the genre.

Psychedelic rock was most popular from 1967 to 1969. Events like the 1967 Summer of Love and the 1969 Woodstock Festival helped spread its influence worldwide, starting a counterculture movement and the hippie movement. The genre declined later due to changing attitudes, the loss of key musicians, and a return to simpler styles. It helped connect early rock music to later styles like progressive rock and hard rock, and it influenced the development of heavy metal. Since the late 1970s, it has been revived in new forms called "neo-psychedelia."

Etymology

Psychedelic rock is a musical style that used new electronic sound effects, recording techniques, long instrument solos, and improvisation. Features of this genre include:

• electric guitars, often played with effects like feedback, wah-wah, and fuzzbox;
• studio effects, especially in British psychedelic music, such as backwards tapes, panning, flanging, tape loops, and extreme reverb;
• music from India and other Eastern countries, including Middle Eastern styles;
• instruments from other cultures, especially in British psychedelic music, such as the sitar, tambura, and tabla;
• elements of free-form jazz;
• a strong use of keyboards, including electronic organs, harpsichords, and the Mellotron (an early tape-driven instrument);
• long instrumental sections, such as guitar solos or jams;
• unusual song structures, with changes in key or time signature, and use of modal melodies and drones;
• a droning quality in vocal singing;
• electronic instruments like synthesizers and the theremin;
• lyrics that directly or indirectly mention hallucinogenic drugs;
• surreal, whimsical, or literary-inspired lyrics, often referencing childhood in British psychedelic music;
• references to Victorian-era items, such as music boxes, music hall sounds, and circus noises, found only in British psychedelic music.

The word "psychedelic" was created in 1956 by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in a letter to Aldous Huxley, who supported LSD use. The New York-based folk group the Holy Modal Rounders used the term "psychedelic" in their version of Lead Belly’s "Hesitation Blues" in 1964. In May 1965, drummer John Densmore joined guitarist Robby Krieger in a band called the Psychedelic Rangers in Los Angeles, California. The duo legally used LSD and wrote two songs, one named "Paranoia." This group was among the first rock bands to call themselves "psychedelic." Around the same time, John Townley and David Blue formed a short-lived band with the same name in New York. Townley compared their band to the Holy Modal Rounders and had been roommates with Steve Weber. Densmore and Krieger later joined the Doors in late 1965. In January 1966, the Texan band the 13th Floor Elevators used the term "psychedelic rock" on business cards with an image of a third eye. Later that year, the band released an album titled The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, which is considered the first use of "psychedelic" in an album title. In November 1966, New York-based bands the Deep and Blues Magoos released albums named Psychedelic Moods and Psychedelic Lollipop.

As the countercultural movement grew in San Francisco, the terms "acid rock" and "psychedelic rock" were used in 1966 to describe music influenced by drugs. These terms were widely used by 1967. While they are often used interchangeably, "acid rock" is sometimes seen as a more intense version of psychedelic rock, with heavier sounds, longer instrument solos, a stronger focus on LSD, and more use of distortion.

Original psychedelic era

The first mention of LSD on a rock record was the Gamblers' 1960 surf instrumental "LSD 25." Music critic Richie Unterberger says that trying to find the first psychedelic record is "nearly as hard as trying to name the first rock & roll record." Some claims include the instrumental "Telstar" (produced by Joe Meek for the Tornados in 1962) and the Dave Clark Five's "massively reverb-laden" "Any Way You Want It" (1964). A 1962 single by the Ventures, "The 2000 Pound Bee," used a distorted, "fuzztone" guitar sound. This led to more interest in heavy, transistorized distortion and other effects like improved reverb and echo on London's rock scene. By 1964, fuzztone could be heard on singles by P.J. Proby, and the Beatles used feedback in "I Feel Fine," their sixth number 1 hit in the UK.

According to AllMusic, psychedelic rock began in the mid-1960s as British bands and folk rock groups tried to expand the sounds of their music. Arnold Shaw wrote in his 1969 book The Rock Revolution that American psychedelic rock represented youth trying to escape adult problems like racism, violence, and materialism.

Bob Dylan's music was important in creating the folk rock movement in 1965, and his lyrics influenced psychedelic songwriters later. Ravi Shankar, an Indian musician, started in 1956 to share Indian classical music with the West, inspiring jazz, classical, and folk musicians. By the mid-1960s, his music influenced young rock musicians who added Indian sounds to psychedelic rock. In Britain, Davy Graham blended blues, jazz, and Eastern music in the 1960s. His use of special guitar tunings inspired other musicians like Bert Jansch. John Coltrane's music, which included sounds from Indian ragas, also influenced guitar players.

Folk guitarist John Fahey used unusual recording methods like backwards tapes and instruments like flute and sitar in the early 1960s. His song "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" had sounds that later appeared in psychedelic music. Sandy Bull's work combined folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic music. His 1963 album Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo is considered one of the first psychedelic records. In 1965, the New York band the Fugs mentioned LSD in their song "I Couldn't Get High."

Barry Miles, a key figure in the 1960s UK underground, said that "Hippies didn't just appear suddenly" and that 1965 was the year youth movements began in the US. Many psychedelic rock bands formed in 1965. In the US, Augustus Owsley Stanley III and Ken Kesey held events where people used LSD. In Britain, Michael Hollingshead opened the World Psychedelic Centre, and poets like Allen Ginsberg performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Miles said these events helped spread psychedelic culture.

Music critic Jim DeRogatis wrote that the Beatles were called the "Acid Apostles of the New Age." Producer George Martin, who first worked on comedy records, helped the Beatles use studio tricks to create psychedelic sounds. Their song "Ticket to Ride" (1965) had a subtle, India-inspired drone. Musicologist William Echard said the Beatles used techniques like unusual rhythms, Indian music, and studio effects that became part of psychedelic music.

Richie Unterberger said the Byrds and the Yardbirds were more responsible than the Beatles for starting psychedelic rock. The Byrds used electric guitars to make a hit version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965. The Yardbirds' lead guitarist, Jeff Beck, used techniques that shaped psychedelic guitar. Their song "Heart Full of Soul" (1965) had a sitar-like guitar sound and was a top hit.

The Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood" (1965) was the first Western rock recording to use a sitar. This led to more interest in Indian instruments in rock music. Music historian George Case said the Beatles' Rubber Soul album marked the start of the psychedelic era.

Revivals and successors

Psychedelic soul music, which was influenced by the civil rights movement, became popular among African American musicians in the late 1960s. This style combined elements of psychedelic rock with soul music, often having a more serious and political tone. It was inspired by the funk sound of James Brown and was led by artists like Sly and the Family Stone and The Temptations. Other musicians who followed included Edwin Starr and the Undisputed Truth. George Clinton’s bands, Funkadelic and Parliament, helped take the genre to its most extreme form in the 1970s, creating over forty songs and three platinum albums.

While psychedelic rock declined by the end of the 1960s, psychedelic soul remained popular into the 1970s. It reached its peak in the early 1970s and faded later in the decade as music trends changed. Norman Whitfield, a songwriter, wrote many psychedelic soul songs for The Temptations and Marvin Gaye.

In the 1970s, British musicians who had been influenced by psychedelic rock helped create a new style called progressive rock. Bands like Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, and members of Yes were part of this movement. The Moody Blues’ 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord used Indian instruments and is seen as an early example of progressive rock. King Crimson’s 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King also connected psychedelic rock to progressive rock. While some bands like Hawkwind kept psychedelic elements, most moved toward new styles. The use of jazz in bands like Soft Machine and Can influenced the development of jazz rock. German bands such as Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Can, Neu!, and Faust created a unique type of electronic music called kosmische musik, or "Kraut rock." The use of electronic synthesizers, started by Popol Vuh in 1970, and work by musicians like Brian Eno helped shape future electronic rock.

Psychedelic rock, with its loud guitars and creative compositions, helped connect blues rock to heavy metal. American bands like the Amboy Dukes and Steppenwolf were early examples of heavy metal. In England, former Yardbirds guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page formed The Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin, which became major heavy metal acts. Other bands, including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, and UFO, also began as blues-based psychedelic groups. Psychedelic music also influenced glam rock, as Marc Bolan turned his psychedelic folk band into T. Rex, becoming the first glam rock star in 1970. David Bowie later developed his Ziggy Stardust persona, adding makeup and performance elements to his music starting in 1971.

The jam band movement, which began in the late 1980s, was inspired by the Grateful Dead’s improvisational and psychedelic style. The Vermont band Phish gained a large fan base in the 1990s and was called "heirs" to the Grateful Dead after the band’s founder, Jerry Garcia, died in 1995.

In the 1990s, a new style called stoner rock combined elements of psychedelic rock and doom metal. It used slow-to-mid tempo, heavy bass, and melodic vocals, and was started by bands like Kyuss and Sleep from California. Today, festivals such as Austin Psych Fest, Liverpool Psych Fest, and Desert Daze celebrate psychedelic music.

Some mainstream musicians experimented with neo-psychedelia, a style that began in the late 1970s among post-punk bands. This style influenced alternative and indie rock and sometimes updated 1960s psychedelic rock. Bands like the Soft Boys, the Teardrop Explodes, Wah!, and Echo & the Bunnymen were important in this movement. In the early 1980s, the Paisley Underground in Los Angeles added to this scene with bands like The Three O’Clock, Dream Syndicate, the Bangles, and Rain Parade.

In the late 1980s, the UK developed a genre called Madchester in Manchester. This style mixed alternative rock, acid house, and psychedelic music. Bands like the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and Inspiral Carpets were central to this movement. The scene was linked to drug use, especially ecstasy, and was part of a larger "rock rave crossover" in the UK. The 1993 album Screamadelica by the Scottish band Primal Scream was a key example.

In the 1990s, the Elephant 6 collective, which included bands like The Olivia Tremor Control and The Apples in Stereo, blended psychedelic rock with lo-fi music. Later, Jeff Telrich of Treblezine noted that Primal Scream made neo-psychedelia suitable for dance music, The Flaming Lips and Spiritualized expanded it into orchestral styles, and Animal Collective developed their own unique approach.