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.
Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelic subculture. Named after lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the style is generally defined by heavy, distorted guitars, lyrics with drug references, and long improvised jams. Much of the style overlaps with 1960s garage punk, proto-metal, and early heavy, blues-based hard rock.
Kim Vincent Fowley was the American record producer, songwriter and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed The Runaways in the 1970s. He has been described as "one of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll", as well as "a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream".
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (WCPAEB) was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group created music that possessed an eerie, and at times sinister atmosphere, and contained material that was bluntly political, childlike, and bizarre. Representing different musical backgrounds among band members, the group, at times, resembled a traditional Byrds-esque folk rock ensemble, but the WCPAEB also, within the same body of work, recorded avant-garde music marked by multi-layered vocal harmonies.
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 5-MeO-DMT, 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.
Pebbles is a compilation of US underground and garage single record releases from the mid- to late-1960s. It had a limited original release in 1978 and a more general release in 1979. It was followed by several subsequent Pebbles compilations and albums. This album is nowadays known as Pebbles, Volume 1 and was originally issued in 1978 as Pebbles, Volume One: Artyfacts from the First Punk Era, an obvious riff on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, a similar, groundbreaking compilation from 1972.
Pebbles, Volume 3, subtitled The Acid Gallery, is a compilation album featuring American underground psychedelic rock musical artists from the 1960s. It is the third installment of the Pebbles series and was released on BFD Records in 1979. The album is marked for containing among the most unusual recordings of psychedelic music.
The Pebbles Box is a 5-LP box set of mid-1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings, primarily by American bands. Several years later, a similar 5-CD box set was released that was called the Trash Box. The Pebbles Box purports to collect the first five volumes of the Pebbles series, although there are fewer songs than on the original LPs: 72 total tracks on the five discs, as compared with 86 on the original LPs. Also, as is generally true of the CD reissues of these five volumes, the tracks differ significantly on all five discs as compared to both the original Pebbles LPs and the later Pebbles CDs in the corresponding volumes; and the surf rock rarities on Pebbles, Volume 4 have been eschewed entirely.
Trash Box is a 5-CD box set of mid-1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings, primarily by American bands. This box set is similar to the earlier Pebbles Box and includes almost all of the same recordings in that box set, along with numerous bonus tracks at the end of each disc. Supposedly, the Trash Box collects the first five volumes of the CDs in the Pebbles series. However, as is generally true of the CD reissues of these five volumes, the tracks differ significantly on all five discs as compared to both the original Pebbles LPs and the later Pebbles CDs in the corresponding volumes; and the surf rock rarities on Pebbles, Volume 4 have been eschewed entirely. Overall, there are 109 tracks in the box set as compared to 101 songs on the individual CDs and 72 tracks in the Pebbles Box.
The Human Expression was an American garage and psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles that released three well-regarded singles, and made additional demo recordings between 1966 and 1967.
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 1 is a compilation album of American garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings from the mid to late 1960s. It was the first in a series that is nearly as long as the earlier Pebbles series of similar music, although the Highs albums concentrate strictly on particular regions of the US – in this case, recordings that were released in Los Angeles, California..
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 2 is a compilation album in the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, featuring recordings that were released in Los Angeles, California.. The subtitle is taken from Riot on Sunset Strip ; the film features live performances by two classic garage-rock bands, the Standells and the Chocolate Watchband.
Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 3 is a compilation album in the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, featuring recordings that were released in Los Angeles.. The subtitle is seemingly taken from Mondo Cane, an influential 1962 documentary film.
The Velvet Illusions, also known as Georgy and the Velvet Illusions and the Illusions, were an American garage rock band formed in Yakima, Washington in 1965. The group, with influences spanning from R&B standards, the British Invasion, to early psychedelia, released five singles in their brief recording career. Despite never breaking out nationally, the band's music has been revived, thanks, in large part, to its inclusion on several compilation albums, most notably Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968.
The Grains of Sand were an American garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. For a period, the group exerted a promising presence in Los Angeles's music scene, releasing three singles in their recording career, the second of which was produced by Kim Fowley. Much of the band's material found on their first two releases have since been compiled on several compilation albums, including Pebbles, Volume 1, and is cited by critics as classics of the garage rock genre.
Green Crystal Ties, Volume 6: Rarities from the Psychedelic Vaults is a compilation album featuring obscure psychedelic rock bands that recorded in the 1960s. It is the sixth installment of the Green Crystal Ties series and was released on Collectables Records on April 7, 1998. Though Volume 6 focuses specifically on psychedelia, the album is commended for featuring a wide-diversity of musical styles intertwined in the genre.
Teddy and His Patches were an American garage rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1964. The group, for the greater duration of its existence, was rather straightforward in their musical style; however, their best-known recording, "Suzy Creamcheese", exemplifies some of the odder aspects of psychedelia. The song was a regional hit and has since achieved favor among psychedelic music enthusiasts, who rediscovered the composition through several compilation albums.
The Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 was an American garage rock band formed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1966. Experimenting with inventive vocal arrangements and fuzz-toned guitar melodies, the group was a forerunner in the musical genre of psychedelic rock. The band released what is commonly agreed by music historians as the first psychedelic single by a native New Mexican group, with their first single "I Wanna Come Back ".
The Consumers were the first American punk rock band from Phoenix, Arizona, United States, but their members quickly relocated to Los Angeles, and became involved with the then-burgeoning L.A. punk scene.
The Fire Escape was an American psychedelic rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967. Existing mainly as a studio group composed of unknown session musicians, the band was masterminded by record producer Kim Fowley and Michael Lloyd. The project produced one album called Psychotic Reaction, which contained mainly cover versions of popular songs from the era. It is reported that Sky Saxon of the garage rock band, the Seeds and Mars Bonfire of Steppenwolf, played on some of the tracks.
