| Psychedelic folk | |
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| Cultural origins | Mid-1960s, United States |
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Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) [2] is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music.
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Psychedelic folk generally favors acoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation. Chanting, early music and various non-Western folk music influences are often found in psych folk. Much like its rock counterpart, psychedelic folk is often known for a peculiar, trance-like, and atmospheric sound, often drawing on musical improvisation and Asian influences. [3] [ self-published source ]
The first musical use of the term psychedelic is thought to have been by the New York–based folk group The Holy Modal Rounders on their version of Lead Belly's "Hesitation Blues" in 1964. [4] Folk/avant-garde guitarist John Fahey recorded several songs in the early 1960s that experimented with unusual recording techniques, including backward tapes, and novel instrumental accompaniment. [5] His nineteen-minute "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" "anticipated elements of psychedelia with its nervy improvisations and odd guitar tunings". [5] Other songs from Fahey's The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions (recorded between 1962 and 1966) also used "unsettling moods and dissonances" that took them beyond the typical folk fare. In 1967, he performed with the psychedelic/avant-garde/noise rock band Red Krayola (then Red Crayola) at the Berkeley Folk Festival, which was recorded and later released as Live 1967 . Among other descriptions, their performance has been likened to early Velvet Underground bootlegs and "the very weirdest parts of late-'60s Pink Floyd pieces (like the shrieking guitar scrapes of 'Interstellar Overdrive')". [6]
Similarly, folk guitarist Sandy Bull's early work "incorporated elements of folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic-influenced dronish modes". [7] His 1963 album Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo explores various styles and instrumentation and "could also be accurately described as one of the very first psychedelic records". [8] Later albums, such as 1968's E Pluribus Unum and his live album Still Valentine's Day 1969 , which use experimental recording techniques and extended improvisation, also have psychedelic elements. [9] [10]
Musicians with several groups that became identified with psychedelic rock began as folk musicians, such as those with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Beau Brummels from San Francisco; the Byrds, Love, Kaleidoscope, and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy from Los Angeles; Pearls Before Swine from Florida; and Jake and the Family Jewels, and Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys from New York. [11] [12] The Serpent Power was a psychedelic rock group with a strong folk influence. The Byrds was the most important American folk-rock band to incorporate psychedelia in their sound and themes.
In the UK, folk artists who were particularly significant included Marc Bolan, with his hippy duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, who used unusual instrumentation and tape effects, typified by the album Unicorn (1969), and Scottish performers such as Donovan, who combined influences of American artists like Bob Dylan with references to flower power, and the Incredible String Band, who from 1967 incorporated a range of influences into their acoustic-based music, including medieval and eastern instruments. [13] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, solo acts such as Syd Barrett and Nick Drake began to incorporate psychedelic influences into folk music with albums such as Barrett's The Madcap Laughs and Drake's Five Leaves Left . [14]
In the mid-1970s psychedelia fell out of fashion and those folk groups that had not already moved into different areas had largely disbanded. In Britain folk groups also tended to electrify, as did acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, which became the electric combo T. Rex. [15] This was a continuation of a process by which progressive folk had considerable impact on mainstream rock. [16]
Independent and underground folk artists in the late 1990s led to a revival of psychedelic folk with the New Weird America movement. [17] Also, Animal Collective's early albums identify closely with freak folk as does their collaboration with veteran British folk artist Vashti Bunyan, [18] and The Microphones/Mount Eerie, [19] who combine naturalistic elements with lo-fi and psychedelia. Both artists received significant exposure in the indie music scene following critical acclaim from review site Pitchfork Media [20] [21] [22] and soon more artists began experimenting with the genre, including OCS, Quilt, Grizzly Bear, [23] Devendra Banhart, Rodrigo Amarante, Ben Howard and Grouper. [24]
In 2022, Uncut magazine published a CD called Blackwaterside: Sounds of the New Weird Albion, [25] featuring artists including Jim Ghedi, Henry Parker, Jon Wilks, Sam Lee, and Cath Tyler. This led to the publication of an extensive exploration of Britain's new "weird folk" in Japanese music magazine Ele-King. [26] The lead article looked at artists including Nick Hart, Burd Ellen, Elspeth Anne, Frankie Archer, Shovel Dance Collective and Angeline Morrison. [27]
| Freak folk | |
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| Stylistic origins | Psychedelic folk |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s, United States |
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Freak folk is a loosely defined [28] synonym [29] or subgenre of psychedelic folk [1] that involves acoustic sounds, pastoral lyrics, and a neo-hippie aesthetic. [28] The label originated from the "lost treasure" reissue culture of the late 1990s. [28]
Vashti Bunyan has been labeled "the Godmother of Freak Folk" [30] for her role in inspiring the new crop of folk experimentalists. [31] David Crosby's 1971 album If Only I Could Remember My Name has been described as an early progenitor of the genre. [32] [33] Other major influences on later freak folk artists include Linda Perhacs, [28] [34] Anne Briggs, Karen Dalton, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Animal Collective, the Incredible String Band, Xiu Xiu, and Pearls Before Swine. [28] Devendra Banhart would become one of the leaders of the 2000s freak-folk movement, [35] along with Joanna Newsom. [36]
Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording techniques, extended instrumental solos, and improvisation. Many psychedelic groups differ in style, and the label is often applied spuriously.
Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It typically combines elements of folk and rock music together, it arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers such as Bob Dylan and the Byrds—several of whose members had earlier played in folk ensembles—attempted to blend the sounds of rock with their pre-existing folk repertoire, adopting the use of electric instrumentation and drums in a way previously discouraged in the U.S. folk community. The term "folk rock" was initially used in the U.S. music press in June 1965 to describe the Byrds' music.
Devendra Obi Banhart is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas, and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. In 2002, Banhart released his debut album and is best known for his albums in the late 2000s such as Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. He has since expanded his career to incorporate his interest and training in the visual arts.
The Psychedelic era was the time of social, musical and artistic change influenced by psychedelic drugs, occurring from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. The era was defined by the proliferation of LSD and its following influence in the development of psychedelic music and psychedelic film in the Western world.
Jennifer Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. She began her career in the mid-1960s and released a debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. The album sold very few copies and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career. By 2000, her album had acquired a cult following; it was re-released and Bunyan recorded more songs, initiating the second phase of her musical career after a gap of thirty years. She released two more albums, Lookaftering in 2005, and Heartleap in 2014.
New Weird America is a 21st-century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s.
S. F. Sorrow is the fourth album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1968, it is known as one of the first rock operas ever released.
Just Another Diamond Day is the debut album by the English folk singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan, and was released on Philips Records in December 1970. Much of the album is a musical reflection on Bunyan and travelling partner Robert Lewis's experiences while travelling by horse and wagon through Scotland in 1968. It highlighted Bunyan's vocals with minimal instrumental accompaniment that was arranged by contemporary musical artists supervised under record producer Joe Boyd.
First Utterance is the debut album of the progressive folk band Comus. It was released in 1971, with the opening song "Diana" being released as a single.
The Golden Apples of the Sun is a limited edition compilation of contemporary folk music curated by musician Devendra Banhart for the art magazine Arthur Magazine. It collected 20 songs performed by recent underground folk and psychedelic artists and has since become considered the definitive compilation of what some have dubbed the New Weird America movement. It also featured artwork by Banhart himself.
Psychedelic music is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as DMT, LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms, to experience synesthesia and altered states of consciousness. Psychedelic music may also aim to enhance the experience of using these drugs and has been found to have a significant influence on psychedelic therapy.
Psychedelic pop is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included "trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, sitars, and Beach Boys-style harmonies, wedded to melodic songs with tight song structures. The style lasted into the early 1970s. It has seen revivals in subsequent decades by neo-psychedelic artists.
The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1966. The cover simply labels the album Guitar Vol. 4 while the liner notes label it The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions. The title never appeared on the record labels themselves. It marked the beginning of Fahey's interest in his recording of experimental soundscapes and sound effects. Despite Fahey's distaste for the 1960s counterculture, it is his release most often referred to as psychedelic.
Fat Mattress is the debut self-titled studio album by English rock band Fat Mattress, released on 15 August 1969.
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group the Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February. "Laugh, Laugh" was the first hit single to come out of the emerging San Francisco music scene in response to the British Invasion. The song was later included on the band's first full-length album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, released in April 1965.
"Just a Little" is a song by the American rock group the Beau Brummels. The song is included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, and was released as its second single, following "Laugh, Laugh". "Just a Little" became the band's best hit parade U.S. single, which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1965. It also reached no lower than position #10 of the hit parades in Canada and Australia.
H. P. Lovecraft II is the second album by the American psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft and was released in September 1968 on Philips Records. As with their debut LP, the album saw the band blending psychedelic and folk rock influences, albeit with a greater emphasis on psychedelia than on their first album. H. P. Lovecraft II failed to sell in sufficient quantities to reach the Billboard Top LPs chart or the UK Albums Chart, despite the band being a popular act on the U.S. psychedelic concert circuit. Legend has it that the album was the first major label release to have been recorded by musicians who were all under the influence of LSD.
Helena Espvall is a Swedish–American musician noted for her participation in the post-millennial psychedelic folk and free improv scenes. Her primary instruments are cello, guitar and voice.
Nightingale is the second studio album by the folk rock project Erland and the Carnival, released in 2011 on the Full Time Hobby label. The album combines British folk themes with original rock music and received largely positive reviews." Dusted Magazine stated that "Nightingale is a distinctive exemplar of folk revivalism for the age of indie," and This is Fake DIY marked the album as the point where the band had "proven their worth in instrumental experimentation."
The Bonniwell Music Machine is the second and final album by the American garage rock band The Music Machine, recorded under the renamed moniker The Bonniwell Music Machine, and released on Warner Bros. Records on February 10, 1968. As with their debut LP, the album again saw the band blending garage and psychedelic rock influences, albeit with a greater emphasis on psychedelia than on their previous album release. Prior to completing its recording, all of the group's original members, except for its creative force, Sean Bonniwell, departed, though they would still appear on some of the album's tracks.
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