Freak-out (slang)

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Freak-out (also known as a psychedelic freakout) is a counterculture-era phrase that originally emerged in the 1960s. The term was used as a noun, adjective and verb throughout the decade. In drug culture, "freak-out" referred to a "bad trip", though it was also associated with the Los Angeles freak scene which inspired a short-lived music scene. The term had also been defined as "a celebratory event, a gathering together of counterculturists to enjoy music and drugs," referring to happenings and parties.

Contents

The phrase, which originally gained popularity in the United States, would see further prominence in the United Kingdom with psychedelic nightclubs such as London's UFO Club (short for "Unlimited Freak Out"). Writer Tom Wolfe used the term "freak" throughout his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968), defining it as denoting certain "styles and obsessions". He clarified that the term was not a "negative word," and stated it could refer to "any- thing, isms, life styles, habits, leanings, causes, sexual organs".

Etymology

The terms "freak-out" and "freak" have several definitions, with both terms being deployed as adjectives, nouns and verbs throughout the 1960s counterculture. In 1968, writer Tom Wolfe used the term "freak" several times in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test , stating that in the context of the psychedelic movement, it was not a pejorative: [1]

Thing was the major abstract word in Haight-Ashbury. It could mean any- thing, isms, life styles, habits, leanings, causes, sexual organs; thing and freak; freak referred to styles and obsessions, as in "Stewart Brand is an Indian freak" or "the zodiac-that's her freak," or just to heads in costume. It wasn't a negative word.

According to the California legisture's 1969 substance abuse guide, "freak-out" referred to having a "bad trip". [2] Amidst the counterculture of the 1960s, the term "freak" was used alongside other terms such as "head" and "hippie". [1] In the 2015 edition of Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English , the term "freak out" in relation to drug use is defined as "to lose sanity while under the influence of LSD or another hallucinogen". [3] The phrase was also defined as "a celebratory event, a gathering together of counterculturists to enjoy music and drugs". [3] The term "freak" would be defined as "a member of the 1960s counterculture. Originally a disparaging negative, turned around and used in a positive, complimentary sense. Widely used from the mid-1960s; hurled as abuse at the original hippies, the term was adopted by them and turned back on the critics by the self-confessed "freaks" with an ability to FREAK OUT themselves and others". [4]

According to writer Skip Stone's 1999 book Hippies from A to Z, the term "freak" referred to "A descriptive term for hippies. Like the old Freak show in a carnival, hippies were so different and their behaviors so bizarre by ordinary standards they were considered freaks. But really it's an affectionate term used within the hippy community to describe someone really into being themselves, however outlandish that might be." [5]

Music

Freak-out music and movement

A handbill of "Freak Out" concert on September 27, 1966, presented by Dallas producer Pat Morgan at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles Pat Morgan Freak Out.jpg
A handbill of "Freak Out" concert on September 27, 1966, presented by Dallas producer Pat Morgan at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles
Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart (left) photographed in a 1975 concert. They have been described as" two giants of the late-60s LA freak scene" Frank Zappa - Capt. Beefheart - crop.jpg
Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart (left) photographed in a 1975 concert. They have been described as" two giants of the late-60s LA freak scene"

During the mid-to late 1960s, music publications used the term "freak-out music" to describe a subset of groups associated with the Los Angeles freak scene. In September 1966, the Los Angeles Free Press (also known as "Freep") advertised the Mothers of Invention's next performance, stating: [6]

Pat Morgan, Dallas producer, is presenting one of the wildest light shows and dance freak-out performances at the Shrine Exposition Hall, Saturday night, September 17. The show will feature the Mothers Of Invention, Little Gary Ferguson (seven years old and a star!), along with the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Count Five, Kenny Dino, and the Factory.

Another "Freak Out" performance would be scheduled for October 15 at the Earl Warren Showground in Santa Barbara, though it was cancelled due to a "critical acoustic problem & virtually non-existent PA". [7] [6] According to writer Neil Slaven in his book Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa, one of the following two issues of Freep featured a "hectoring letter" from Frank Zappa, credited to "Suzy Creamcheese", the letter involved Zappa's idea of "Freaking out": [6]

[...] The Mothers and what they represent as a group has attracted all of the outcasts, the pariahs, the people who people who are angry and afraid and contemptuous of the existing social structure. The danger lies in the 'Freak Out' becoming an excuse instead of a reason. An excuse implies an end, a reason a beginning. Being that the easiest way is consistently more attractive than the harder way, the essential thing that makes the 'Freak Out' audiences different constitutes their sameness. A freak is not a freak if ALL are freaks. 'Freaking Out' should presuppose an active freedom, freedom meaning a liberation from the control of some other person or persons. Unfortunately, reaction seems to have taken place of action. We SHOULD be as satisfied listening to the Mothers perform from a concert stage. If we could channel the energy expended in 'Freaking Out' physically into 'Freaking Out' intellectually, we might possibly be able to create something concrete out of the ideological twilight of bizarre costumes and being seen being bizarre. Do we really listen? And if we really listen, do we really think? Freedom of thought, conversely, brings an awesome responsibility. Looking and acting eccentric IS NOT ENOUGH.

On the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror , writer Norman Jopling describes the "freak-out" movement: [8]

The whole movement was initially underground (even now, Freak Out records are not played on U.S. radio stations), and that the philosophy is one of the few in connection with the pop music field (or rock 'n' roll, as the Americans call pop) which was not concocted by Madison Avenue. In fact. U.S. big business is only just beginning to realise that there are dollars to be made from this cult. Last week's "Billboard" reports that many record companies are reaching out for "underground" groups-who are getting nearly all of their exposure in coffee houses. Three labels, ESP, Atlantic, and MGM are battling to sign the Fugs whose first LP on ESP has been on the Billboard' LP chart for fourteen weeks without any air play.

Kim Fowley in the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror, labeled "Prince of Freak Out" Prince of Freak Out Kim Fowley.png
Kim Fowley in the October 12, 1966 issue of British music magazine Record Mirror , labeled "Prince of Freak Out"

Joplin adds, "The music itself ranges from rock 'n' roll to near-psychodelic [ sic ] free form [...] The connection between Freaking Out and psychodelic music is not as strong as supposed. And the equally tenuous connection between both of them and LSD is more of an enigma than a tie-up. The leaders of the Freak Out movement claim to have never taken LSD, Frank Zappa of the Mothers Of Invention, and the omnipresent Kim Fowley." [8]

Joplin cites the Mothers Of Invention, the Blues Project, the Velvet Underground and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band as "other groups in this category," and later advertises Kim Fowley's single "Lights" as the first freak-out record in the United Kingdom as issued by EMI, concluding with "But whether the whole Sunset Strip happening scene of Freaking Out 'creative expression,' et al. is repeated in Britain, probably depends more on the passing whim and fancy of certain susceptible pop group members, rather than a revolutionary change in the social pattern of young people..." [8]

In the United Kingdom, NME referred to the Creation as "freak-out music" in their November 1966 issue, though the writer stated the group "denied categorically that they're anything to do with the freak-out scene". [9] [10] In December 1966, British magazine Beat Instrumental wrote a piece on freak-out music, stating: [10]

This 'freak-out' music takes a bit of explaining. Count Five, with their hit 'Psychotic Reaction,' have already made it onto the charts in both America and Britain. The Fingers, Kim Fowley, the Yardbirds, John's Children, and the Monkees are also part of this growing movement making an impact on the charts. But the Mothers of Invention are regarded as the most way-out of them all.

The term "freak-out music" would be applied to a lot of Frank Zappa's work from the 1960s, with writer Kelly Fisher Lowe stating "The song eventually breaks down, as many of Zappa's songs of this era do, into a sort of acid / jam freak-out music" in reference to the song "America Drinks" from 1967's Absolutely Free . [11]

In his book Evening's Empire (2010), writer Bill Flanagan reflected that in 1967 before American psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead released their debut album, they were considered "freak-out music", stating, "I was vaguely aware of the Grateful Dead as a California band who played what we then called Freak-Out Music, long and ear-splitting jams." [12]

The Beatles' Paul McCartney as seen on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album art (Paul McCartney portrait crop).jpg
The Beatles' Paul McCartney as seen on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967

On January 18th 1967, the Beatles' Paul McCartney appeared on the Granada Television news/documentary series Scene at 6.30's episode "It's So Far Out, It's Straight Down," which featured performances by Pink Floyd as well as an interview with McCartney. In the interview, McCartney discussed the British public's reaction to the growing counterculture, referring to happenings, psychedelic freakouts and the use of recreational drugs: [13]

I really wish the people [...] that [...] look sort of with anger at the weirdos, at the happenings, at the psychedelic freakout would instead of just looking with anger, just look with nothing, with no feeling. [...] The next time you see the word, you know, like sort of any word, any new strange word like psychedelic, you know, drugs, the whole bit, you know, freak out music and all of that, don't immediately take it as that, you know, because your first reaction's got to be one of fear, you know. [...] I really wish the people [...] that that look sort of with anger at the weirdos, at the happenings, at the psychedelic freakouts would instead of just looking with anger, just look with nothing, with no feeling.

In a 2009 interview with The Guardian , Hawkwind's Dave Brock used the term "freak-out music" to describe the band's work in 1969, when according to Brock, "we were using plenty of LSD, tape loops, repetitive riffs, colours and lights. [14] In director Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back , scenes involving the band performing "freak-out jam" sessions with Yoko Ono are showcased during the 1969 recording sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road . [15]

Musical influence

The term "freak-out" has been used as a musical descriptor by several sources. On October 12, 1968, Rolling Stone magazine published an interview with the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, where he stated: "'Have You Seen Your Mother' was like the ultimate freakout. We came to a full stop after that. I just couldn’t make it with that anymore, what more could we say." [16]

On December 25, 1966, The New York Times published an article entitled Shock Rock: Take Musical Satire One Step Further by journalist Robert Shelton. In the article, Shelton discussed Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, while briefly discussing Zappa's liner notes for his debut album Freak Out! (1966), "Zappa has apparently hit his mark, for he thinks that "freaking out" is an important method of expression and effecting change". [17] That same month, Belfast Gypsies produced by Kim Fowley released "People! Let's Freak Out / The Shadow Chasers" under the name "The Freaks of Nature".

In 1967, American instrumental surf rock band the Ventures released the album Guitar Freakout. [18] That same year, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's album Gorilla parodied the term "freak" in the sleeve notes for the song "Cool Britannia", which said "Someone letta Freak-Out? What do you think Reader?"[ citation needed ]

In December 1968, Rolling Stone magazine labeled Texas psychedelic band Red Krayola as "the original freak-out group". [19] The band were influenced by Frank Zappa and used the phrase "Free Form Freak-Out" on their debut album The Parable of Arable Land. [20] [21] Front man and bandleader Mayo Thompson stated in 2009: "A lot of people talked about Freakout. Then Zappa came out with his Freak Out! record. But from what I now know about Zappa I'm sure he composed every note. Ours wasn't an image of chaos, it was chaos." [22]

In 1970, music critic Nik Cohn published the book Awopbopaloobop alopbamboom, which briefly discussed the Mothers of Invention's album Freak Out! (1966): "Bearded and gross and filthy, entirely obscene, they [The Mothers of Invention]...were freaks. They were meant to be. They were playing the same old game again, épater la bourgeoisie , but this time round it wasn't called Dada or Existentialism or Beat, it was Freak-Out. 'On a personal level', wrote Zappa, 'Freaking out is a process whereby an individual casts off outmoded and restricted standards of thinking, dress and social etiquette in order to express CREATIVELY his relationship to his environment and the social structure as a whole'". [23] Freak Out! would later be described as an early rock concept album due to loosely being based around the Los Angeles freak scene.

In 1971, in a review of Yoko Ono's Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band for Rolling Stone, music critic Lester Bangs used the phrase "freak-out", stating: "It wasn't until the long freak-out on the back of the live Toronto LP that Yoko began to show some signs that she was learning to control and direct her vocal spasms, and John finally evidenced a nascent understanding of the Velvet Underground-type feedback discipline that would best underscore her histrionics." [24]

Freak out party

A "freak-out party" or simply "freak-out" is a term used in the hippie subculture or general counterculture of the 1960s to refer to psychedelic happenings or dance parties. On March 2, 1967, journalist Robert Pitman stated in The Daily Express, "These curious way-out events, simulating drug ecstasies, which are known as "freak-outs", in which girls writhe and shriek and young men roll themselves naked in paint or jelly." [25] In the 2015 edition of Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English , the term was defined as "a celebratory event, a gathering together of counterculturists to enjoy music and drugs". [3]

On April 26, 1973, writer Arthur Levy published an article in Zoo World entitled Frank Zappa: The Great Southern and Western Expedition Is On! regarding a radio advertisement for a "freak out party": [26]

We were doing a thing on a UHF station where a guy announced they were gonna have a freak out party on this record hop dance show and told all the kids to wear the weirdest clothes they could wear. And we had kids wearing two different socks and you worked your way down from there. That was a freak out party at the time.

In 1967, New York band the Unfolding released a psychedelic rock album entitled How To Blow Your Mind And Have A Freak Out Party. [27] Additionally, the term "freak-out party" would be mentioned in a scene featured in the 1967 hippie exploitation film The Trip by director Roger Corman. The term "freak-out party" would be mentioned in Andy Warhol's book Andy Warhol's Party Book (1983).

Politics

This section is an excerpt from Hunter S. Thompson § Aspen sheriff campaign.[ edit ]
Thompson for 1970 Aspen, Colorado Sheriff poster.jpg
"Thompson for 1970 Aspen, Colorado Sheriff" poster by Thomas W. Benton
Thompson & Whitmire at the sheriff's debate (1970-10-12).jpg
Thompson (right) at a debate with Sheriff Carrol D. Whitmire (left), his incumbent opponent

In 1970, Thompson ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, as part of a group of citizens running for local offices on the "Freak Power" ticket. The platform included promoting the decriminalization of drugs (for personal use only, not trafficking, as he disapproved of profiteering), tearing up the streets and turning them into grassy pedestrian malls, banning any building so tall as to obscure the view of the mountains, disarming all police forces, and renaming Aspen "Fat City" to deter investors. Thompson, having shaved his head, referred to the crew cut-wearing Republican candidate as "my long-haired opponent". [28]

With polls showing him with a slight lead in a three-way race, Thompson appeared at Rolling Stone magazine headquarters in San Francisco with a six-pack of beer in hand, and declared to editor Jann Wenner that he was about to be elected sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, and wished to write about the "Freak Power" movement. [29] "The Battle of Aspen" was Thompson's first feature for the magazine carrying the byline "By: Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Candidate for Sheriff)". (Thompson's "Dr" certification was obtained from a mail-order church while he was in San Francisco in the '60s.) Despite the publicity, Thompson lost the election. While carrying the city of Aspen, he garnered only 44% of the county-wide vote in what had become, after the withdrawal of the Republican candidate, a two-way race. Thompson later said that the Rolling Stone article mobilized more opposition to the Freak Power ticket than supporters. [30] The episode was the subject of the 2020 documentary film Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb. Writing of the episode more than 50 years later, Wenner wrote, "Aspen didn't get a new sheriff, but I realized that, in Hunter, I had a fellow traveler." [31]

Additionally, members of the Weather Underground drafted their manifesto and declaration of war on the U.S. state with the sentence: "Freaks are revolutionaries and revolutionaries are freaks". [32]

Other uses

The "freaks", with their aggressively anti-social stance, came in for much criticism, not only from conventional culture but from within the counterculture itself, for their "pretext of a theoretically total but actually quite false revolt against the 'conventional lies of civilization"'. [33] John Lennon sang how '"freaks on the phone won't leave me alone"', explaining how he was "sick of all these aggressive hippies or whatever they are, the Now Generation [...] demanding my attention as if I owed them something [...] under a delusion of awareness by having long hair and that's what I'm sick of'". [34] Similarly, Bob Dylan suffered from "Dylan freaks [...] once more trying to force him to live up to their concept of what he should be". [35] In a not atypical exchange, he'd be told "you've got to live up to your responsibility as a culture hero – you're DYLAN, man, every freak has a soft spot in their heart for ya...you're DYLAN, DYLAN, DYLAN" only for him to reply "I'm not Dylan, you're Dylan". [36]

In 2009, The Guardian used the term "freak-out rock" to describe neo-psychedelia band the Flaming Lips' album Embryonic. [37]

In 1966, Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins established the UFO Club in London, which was short for "Unlimited Freak Out". [38]

In 1967, Warren Publishing released two issues of the Freak Out USA magazine which focused on California's psychedelic music scene. [39]

In 1968, Gilbert Shelton of the underground comix scene published The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers , which featured a group known as "The Freaks." According to The Irish Times , the Freaks were a "trio of perpetually wasted hippie desperados". [40]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Wolfe 1968, p. 15.
  2. ↑ Assembly, California Legislature (1969). Drug Abuse for Junior and Senior High School: Science Portion of District Curriculum Guide, San Jose Unified School District.
  3. 1 2 3 Victor & Dalzell 2015, pp. 907–908.
  4. ↑ Victor & Dalzell 2015, p. 906.
  5. ↑ Stone, Skip (2000). Hippies from A to Z: Their Sex, Drugs, Music, and Impact on Society from the Sixties to the Present. Hip, Incorporated. ISBN   978-1930258013.
  6. 1 2 3 Slaven 2009, p. 102.
  7. ↑ Slaven 2009, p. 103.
  8. 1 2 3 Jopling, Norman (12 October 1966). "Freak Out! The latest West Coast way of life—rebels with a cause, & their music" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 5.
  9. ↑ "New Musical Express 1966" (PDF). NME. 1966-11-04. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Beat Instrumental" (PDF). Beat Instrumental. December 1966. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  11. ↑ Lowe 2007, p. 40.
  12. ↑ Flanagan 2010, p. 172.
  13. ↑ Shepphard 1967.
  14. ↑ Vulliamy, Ed (2009-08-27). "Hawkwind: 'It was basically freak-out music'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  15. ↑ Gentry, Alexis (2021-11-25). "'The Beatles: Get Back' a Captivating Candid Look at Creative Genius". trashwire.com. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  16. ↑ Cott, Johnathan (1968-10-12). "Mick Jagger: 'I Don't Think the Lyrics Are That Important'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  17. ↑ Shelton, Robert (25 December 1966). "Shock Rock: Take Musical Satire One Step Further". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  18. ↑ Guitar Freakout - The Ventures | Album | AllMusic , retrieved 2026-01-20
  19. ↑ Larry Sepulvado and John Burks (1968-12-07). "Tribute to the Lone Star State: Dispossessed Men and Mothers of Texas". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2026-01-19.
  20. ↑ "The Red Krayola – Frederick Barthelme" . Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  21. ↑ "Mayo Thompson: Experimental Recording Pioneer | TapeOp". Tape Op Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  22. ↑ Graham, Dave. "How a dead parakeet changed the course of rock". U.S. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  23. ↑ Nik Cohn, AwopBopaLooBopaLopBamBoom: Pop from the Beginning (Paladin, 1973), pp. 222-223.
  24. ↑ Bangs, Lester (1971-03-04). "Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  25. ↑ Pitman 1967.
  26. ↑ Levy, Arthur (26 April 1973). "Frank Zappa: The Great Southern and Western Expedition Is On!". Zoo World . No. 31. pp. 10–11.
  27. ↑ Pyro, Howie (2014-11-25). "'How To Blow Your Mind And Have A Freak Out Party': The stupidest record of the 1960s?". dangerousminds.net. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  28. ↑ Gilbert, Sophie (June 26, 2014). "When Hunter S. Thompson Ran for Sheriff of Aspen". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  29. ↑ Anson, Robert Sam (December 10, 1976), "Rolling Stone, Part 2; Hunter Thompson Meets Fear and Loathing Face to Face", New Times , archived from the original on October 11, 2011, retrieved September 12, 2006– via The Great Thompson Hunt
  30. ↑ Hunter S. Thompson (2003), Kingdom of Fear , Simon & Schuster, p. 95.
  31. ↑ Wenner, Jan (2022). Like A Rolling Stone: A Memoir (1st ed.). Little, Brown and Company. ISBN   9780316415194.
  32. ↑ "Democracy Now! | Ex-Weather Underground Member Kathy Boudin Granted Parole". Democracy Now! . Archived from the original on November 14, 2007.
  33. ↑ G. Legman, Rationale of the Dirty Joke Vol I (Panther 1973) p. 20
  34. ↑ Jann Wenner ed., Lennon Remembers (Penguin 1971) p. 96
  35. ↑ Anthony Scaduto, Bob Dylan (London 1973) p. 287
  36. ↑ Craig McGregor, Bob Dylan: a Retrospective (London 1973) p. 266
  37. ↑ Thomson, Graeme (2009-10-03). "Embryonic by Flaming Lips". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  38. ↑ Fryer, Peter (December 1967). "A to Z of Zowie". The Observer.
  39. ↑ "Freak Out, U.S.A." www.afka.net. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  40. ↑ "Faboulous Freak Out". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.

Bibliography

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