Psychedelic Music: The British Invasion of ‘60s Psychedelic Sound

Turn On, Tune In, Rock Out 🎶🎸🇬🇧

[This is part 1 of a new series on psychedelic music. 🎵 Subscribe to receive part 2 (Americana), and any future posts as they’re published]

Music and psychedelics have always had strong ties. The '60s counterculture movement and psychedelic revolution were spearheaded by artists whose music was influenced not only by the use of psychedelics themselves but also by the psychedelic zeitgeist of the decade. 

From The Beatles and Pink Floyd as a British exposé of psychedelia to Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead as American figures, the influence of psychedelics has permeated the music industry without rest since the ‘60s. Surviving, if not further potentiated by the war on drugs, and maintaining a strong place in today's musical scenes worldwide. 

This series will dive into the stories of some of the icons of psychedelic rock and their influence on contemporary music, starting with British psychedelia of the 60s in part one, moving into 60s America, the summer of love, and hippie counterculture in part two.

We hope you enjoy the trip!

The Beatles 

It’s difficult to begin this article with anyone else. The Beatles are probably the most influential artists of the counterculture movement and most likely one of the first to come to mind when discussing music and psychedelics.

The Beatles were no novices when it came to psychoactive substances. By the time they were introduced to LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and marijuana, they had all experimented with stimulants like Benzedrine and Preludin — which they used to help endure long performances, tours, and public appearances. 

It was no other than Bob Dylan who introduced the Beatles to weed, and from then on, the group took a strong liking to the plant — which eventually led to conflict with their production team as they were almost constantly stoned. 

"The Beatles had gone beyond comprehension. We were smoking marijuana for breakfast. We were well into marijuana, and nobody could communicate with us because we were just glazed eyes, giggling all the time." — John Lennon.

The Beatle's introduction to LSD didn't happen until 1965 in a rather unorthodox manner. John Lennon, George Harrison, and their spouses at the time had their coffee secretly dosed with LSD at a dinner party. The host, John Riley, spiked all of his guest's coffee with a sugar cube containing a full dose of acid (he did not take one himself and allegedly had never tried it before). When the guests were getting ready to leave for a club where their friends were performing, the host came clean about what was in their coffee and insisted that they stay at the house, but the situation was weird, to say the least, and they left. 

The experience brought Lennon and Harrison closer together but started creating a gap between them and the other band members — Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney — neither of which had tried it. 

Harrison and Lennon arranged for the two other Beatles to try acid, but McCartney refused until later that year with a separate group of people. McCartney claimed peer pressure from friends, the other band members, and his public figure as a Beatle is what eventually led him to try LSD. He enjoyed it occasionally afterward, but never to the degree that his band members did. 

The band eventually took a step back from LSD after the summer of love in 1967 after a bad experience in the crowds of San Francisco (and probably some other bad trips). They publicly renounced drugs that year. 

Despite their abstinence, they continued to defend LSD as the powerful substance it is. 

Beatles Recommend Listens

Although much of The Beatle's repertoire and culture is strongly influenced by their experiences with mind-altering substances, there are a few songs that stick out as the “trippiest,” or that directly speak about drugs. 

Here are a few: 

1. Day Tripper — Although the sound is not the trippiest itself, it’s inspired by the musician’s psychedelic lifestyle. Lennon and McCartney have both stated that the term “day tripper” was used in the song to refer to someone who was a “part-time hippie” or not as invested in the lifestyle as they were. 

2. Tomorrow Never Knows — this song has lyrics adapted from The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary and Ram Dass. With eclectic and experimental reversed sounds and many layers, the song pulls your attention in different directions, but the steady drums and vocals keep you grounded within the chaos. 

3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds — although the band has denied this song has anything to do with LSD, it has become an anthem of psychedelia, and its sound is undeniably psychedelic. The upbeat and playfulness of the chorus contrast with the slower verses for a bit of a rollercoaster trip. 

4. Strawberry Fields Forever — this song uses several production techniques, like reverse recording of various instruments that recreates the chaotic nature of a trip. This song is a bit more mellow than other Beatles' psychedelic anthems. A good background piece with some interesting sounds to pick out. 

5. I Am the Walrus — This song was inspired by a few of Lennon's LSD trips, and it shows. The nonsensical lyrics and multiple shifts within the song create the effect of LSD-induced chaos.

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd and psychedelic culture have become almost one and the same. The band formed in 1965 and quickly became one of the first psychedelic rock bands. They’re a strong voice in progressive rock with their long compositions and experimental sound. The band's live shows featured trippy light shows and bubble machines.

Psychedelics had a huge influence on the band, not just on its music but in their story of working together. Perhaps the most infamous story is that of original member Syd Barret, the band's lead guitarist and songwriter. 

Barrett's genius composition, lyrics, and experimental guitar effects were influenced by psychedelia and mysticism. Many believe this is what eventually led to the band's massive success. 

However, Barrett's behavior had a strong shift after taking psychedelics.

He started regularly taking high doses of acid and going on benders — disappearing from his bandmates for days at a time. He began acting strange on stage and seemingly catatonic in interviews. The band eventually decided they could not continue to work with him. 

The general narrative associated with Barrett's story is that "he took acid and went crazy."

Of course, this story lacked nuance and fit perfectly into the anti-counterculture narrative as a cautionary tale. The truth is that what happened to Barrett is mostly unknown. While it’s likely that drugs played a role in his eventual psychological breakdown, the effects of the overwhelming pressure that comes with fame and success (and the potential presence of mental illness) can't be overlooked either.  

Roger Waters, the band’s bassist and eventually lyricist, has been very vocal about Barrett’s story and has worked on busting the “acid craze” myth. He recently went on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he stated that although Barrett did have a period of consuming acid regularly, he believed that he could have been dealing with schizophrenia and recalls a few instances in which his behavior seemed to point that way.

Barrett went back to Cambridge after his breakdown and didn't engage with many people other than his sister for the rest of his life. He spent his life in isolation and avoided contact with people from his past. The band continued without him, with David Gilmour as his replacement, and went on to produce several songs inspired by Barrett or that referenced him in some regard, like "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," "Brain Damage," "If," and the solo production of the band's keyboardist Richard Wright "Pink's Song."

Barrett's story is tragic, and it had a strong effect on his band members and fans. However, his creative genius led the band to its success, and his legendary work lives on in the music he made before his breakdown and his influence on the band even after his replacement. Pink Floyd is now globally recognized as one of the biggest, most influential groups in psychedelic and progressive rock. 

Although clearly a band that was moved by the psychedelic revolution of the '60s, Waters has put a lot of effort into trying to change the band's association with drugs. While he recognizes that psychedelia had a strong influence on their music, he also tries to voice that their work is not all about drugs, with much of it being influenced by literature, philosophies like Taoism, and personal experiences. 

Pink Floyd Recommend Listens

1. Flaming — With talk about unicorns, sleeping on dandelions, and their line “ever so high,” this song definitely has some trippy lyrics. This, in addition to their wide range of sounds, gives the song a strange but enjoyable psychedelic feel. 

2. Time — Although the lyrics don’t have much allusion to drugs, this song itself is a trip. Their use of different samples of clocks, bells, and markers of time gives the song an intense start, which is on par with the band’s experimental nature. 

3. Welcome to the machine — with panned synths and spacey sounds paired with a sweet acoustic guitar, this song gives a 3D feel with many layers. This song will take you on a trip even if you’re stone-cold sober. 

4. A saucerful of secrets — Over 11 minutes of trippy instrumental soundscape. Think: X Files soundtrack meets modernized church organs. With moments of utter chaos and moments of odd tranquility, this purely experimental piece definitely qualifies as trippy. 

5. Set the controls for the Heart of the Sun — Like any other Pink Floyd song, this should be heard with a good pair of headphones or a properly tuned stereo system. The perpetually side-to-side panning of eclectic sounds and whispered lyrics makes this song quite an immersive experience. 

The Rolling Stones

Now, the Rolling Stones, unlike other artists in the '60s, have enjoyed a career spanning many decades, making them one of the only bands to remain together and continue working for over 50 years. Their longevity means their music has seen many stages and has evolved in many ways. Though they aren’t necessarily positioned as a psychedelic rock band, they flirted briefly with psychedelia in the 60s when the genre first took off. 

What people know as the Stone's psychedelic phase can be encompassed in their album "Their Satanic Majesties Request." 

The album surprised fans with a different sound, with songs full of synth effects and filtered vocals. Although the album wasn’t as popular as their other work, it moved away from what they had shown the world so far and dipped its toes into a more abstract and experimental space. A space facilitated by the zeitgeist of the 60s.

Many listeners discredited the album as a failure and called it a cheap copy of other psychedelic rock albums of the times like The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's. However, much like today, creatives in the 60s were influenced by each other's work, and the experimentation of some opened paths for others to do the same.

The Rolling Stones popularized heavier sounds — unlike The Beatles, for instance — who stuck to more commercial pop styles and derived much of their sounds from blues influences. The Rolling Stones evolved quickly with the passing of the psychedelic hippie movement and fit right into the post-prohibition 70s with their darker style and characteristically strong sounds.

Their style became a significant influence for later rock and roll artists. The legacy of their influence permeates other genres like heavy rock and metal. 

Although The Rolling Stones's music only briefly portrayed counterculture psychedelia, the band had several encounters with psychedelic drugs. 

Keith Richards and Bryan Jones were first given LSD by Ken Kesey, host of the famous Acid Test parties in San Francisco. 

Mick Jagger had a bit of a more turbulent LSD trip when, after having some LSD-laced tea made by famous dealer David Schneiderman (aka The Acid King), the house was raided by police, and Jagger and Richards were arrested on drug charges. The court ended up overturning sentences. Schneiderman later confessed to working with FBI and British authorities to set up the Stones for their arrest. 

Richards remembers the day of the raid and how he experienced the first moments on acid in his memoir "Life," stating: "They were policemen, but I didn't know it. They just looked like very small people wearing dark blue with shiny bits and helmets. 'Wonderful attire! Am I expecting you? Anyway, come on in; it's a bit chilly out."

The Rolling Stones Recommend Listens:

1. Child of the Moon — This is a bit more mellow compared to other Stones songs. A very easy listen with a very familiar sound reminiscent of the '60s rock scene.  

2. She’s a Rainbow — This may be one of the Stone's most Beattleesque songs. The song exudes color with string arrangements and vocal harmonies that resemble those of the Beatles. It gets more experimental as the song slowly deconstructs into chaos toward the end, with tremolos and scratched strings in disarray. On par with other 60s production experimentation, the vocals are fully panned to the left, so do not attempt to listen to this with a single headphone. You will literally miss half the song. 

3. 2000 lightyears from home — If the song above resembled The Beatle's colorful psychedelia, this one is closer to Pink Floyd's darker experimental sound without fully abandoning the colorful sound of the '60s. This song features fully panned voices, so plan to listen to this in stereo, and don't you dare take off either earpiece. 

4.  Going Home — This song is certainly more “sober” than the two above. Leaning into a familiar blues bass line and some folk tones, it has more of a simple hippie feel to it than some of the more experimental Stones songs. 

5. Sing This All Together — With some serious peace and love energy in the lyrics and lines like "open our heads and let pictures come," the song could certainly be interpreted as a psychedelic feeling of unity. This song, too, is full of experimental sounds, with some bug-like buzzing combined with some tropical drums and distant guitar riffs for an interesting instrumental interlude. 

Other Notable Names From ‘60s British Psychedelia

While the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones are undeniably three of the biggest names in the British psychedelic music renaissance, they’re just the tip of the iceberg. 

A comprehensive list is far beyond what we can cover in one post, but we do want to give you a few extra artists to listen to while you dive into the nostalgia of 60’s British psychedelia. 

Here are a few artists to add to your playlist: 

• Donovan — Often dubbed the "British Bob Dylan," Donovan's folk-infused psychedelia charmed the 60s with whimsical lyrics and mystical melodies.

• The Animals — Known for their gritty blues sound, The Animals ventured into psychedelia with darker, more experimental tones that echoed the era's countercultural vibes.

• Cream — Cream blended blues, rock, and psychedelia into a heavy, improvisational sound that made them one of the era's most influential power trios.

• The Who — While rooted in mod culture, The Who embraced psychedelic elements, creating anthems that captured the spirit and experimentation of the 60s.

• Yes — Pioneers of progressive rock, Yes incorporated complex arrangements and surreal imagery, pushing the boundaries of music with their psychedelic influences.

• Genesis — Genesis evolved from folk-inspired roots to a more elaborate, theatrical form of psychedelia, defining the progressive rock genre with their imaginative concepts.

• The Yardbirds — The Yardbirds were instrumental in developing the psychedelic rock sound, experimenting with feedback and fuzz tones that influenced the genre's evolution.

• The Zombies — The Zombies contributed to the psychedelic movement with "Odessey and Oracle," an album that showcased baroque pop and psychedelic influences with intricate melodies and sophisticated harmonies.

Want More Psychedelic Music-Inspired Content in Your Feed?

If this journey through the heart of the 60s British psychedelia resonated with you, let us know by giving it a like or drop a comment below.

If we get enough interest in this series, we’ll bring a monthly Psychedelics and Music column to life.

---

Help Us Grow 🌱

Tripsitter was built by a community of psychedelic advocates — but it’s people like you that allow us to thrive.