Psychedelic Popular Music

Pop music of the sixties and seventies embraced psychedelic youth culture yet appealed to listeners of all ages up and down the radio dial. Easy Listening Acid Trip explains the missing musical link between electric guitars and orchestral strings, from the Beatles to Lawrence Welk, and why we just can't help but liking songs we hear in the elevator.

Recognized for its distinctive musical features and its connection to periods of social innovation and ferment, the genre of psychedelia has exerted long-term influence in many areas of cultural production, including music, visual art, graphic design, film, and literature. William Echard explores the historical development of psychedelic music and its various stylistic incarnations as a genre unique for its fusion of rock, soul, funk, folk, and electronic music. Through the theory of musical topics—highly conventional musical figures that signify broad cultural concepts—and musical meaning, Echard traces the stylistic evolution of psychedelia from its inception in the early 1960s, with the Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver and the Kinks and Pink Floyd, to the German experimental bands and psychedelic funk of the 1970s, with a special emphasis on Parliament/Funkadelic. He concludes with a look at the 1980s and early 1990s, touching on the free festival scene, rave culture, and neo–jam bands. Set against the cultural backdrop of these decades, Echard's study of psychedelia lays the groundwork and offers lessons for analyzing the topic of popular music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The long forgotten story of Turkish psychedelic music in the twentieth century, told in relation to the social, political and cultural climate of the time. In the mid-1960s, a new generation of young Turkish musicians combined Western pop music with traditional Anatolian folk to forge the home-grown phenomenon of Anadolu Pop. But that was just the beginning. Through the second half of that turbulent decade, Turkish rock warped and transformed, striking out into wilder and stranger territory – fuelled by the psychedelic revolution and played out over a backdrop of cultural, social and political turmoil. The Turkish Psychedelic Music Explosion tells the story of a musical movement that was brought to an end by a right-wing coup in 1980, largely forgotten and only recently being rediscovered by Western crate-diggers. It’s a tale of larger-than-life musical pioneers with raging political passions and visionary ideas ripe for rediscovery.

Psychedelic Celluloid is the definitive guide to the decade when swinging London was the film capital of the world. Illustrated throughout with colour images of the period and covering over 300 British and European films and TV shows, Psychedelic Celluloid moves from the Beatles via Bond spin offs to crazy personal folies des grandeurs, Blow Up and its imitators, concert movies, documentaries, stylish horror films and many more. Carefully researched and drawing on interviews with some of the survivors of the era, Psychedelic Celluloid provides a witty and detailed account of each major production, listing its stars, directors, producers and music and showing how they were linked to the fashion and trends of the period.'Psychedelic Celluloid covers the swinging sixties in minute detail, noting the influence of pop on hundreds of productions' - The Independent 'While the pop and rock of the 60s has been the subject of innumerable studies, and people have catalogued the films too, often at great length, up until now no one has put the two together' -Little White Lies 'A richly illustrated guide' - The Bookseller

Listen to Psychedelic Rock! contains more than 50 entries covering the people, records, places, and events that shaped one of the most exciting and influential periods in popular music. This addition to the Exploring a Music Genre series concentrates solely on psychedelic rock music. Listen to Psychedelic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre covers over fifty topics, arranged alphabetically, that are central to learning about psychedelic music and will enable readers to understand the breadth and ongoing influence of psychedelia through to the present day. The title contains biographical sketches on selected artists, "song-by-song" descriptions of many albums, and short, informative essays on participants who were influential in the original psychedelic movement. A background section introduces the genre and a legacy section shows how psychedelic music has cemented its place in the world, while another section shows the tremendous impact the music has had on popular culture. Information on record labels and year-of-release dates for all musical entries make it easy for any reader to navigate this title - a must-have for high school and college readers as well as for music scholars and fans of the genre.

“This book uniquely and successfully sustains a cohesive analysis of the work, career, and reception of a single artist . . . Neil Young.” —Daniel Cavicchi, author of Tramps Like Us As a writer in Wired magazine puts it, Neil Young is a “folk-country-grunge dinosaur [who has been] reborn (again) as an Internet-friendly, biodiesel-driven, multimedia machine.” In Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy, William Echard stages an encounter between Young’s challenging and ever-changing work and current theories of musical meaning—an encounter from which both emerge transformed. Echard roots his discussion in an extensive review of writings from the rock press as well as his own engagement as a fan and critical theorist. How is it that Neil Young is both a perpetual outsider and critic of rock culture, and also one of its most central icons? And what are the unique properties that have lent his work such expressive force? Echard delves into concepts of musical persona, space, and energy, and in the process illuminates the complex interplay between experience, musical sound, social actors, genres, styles, and traditions. Readers interested primarily in Neil Young, or rock music in general, will find a new way to think and talk about the subject, and readers interested primarily in musical or cultural theory will find a new way to articulate and apply some of the most exciting current perspectives on meaning, music, and subjectivity. “A fascinating and unique reading of Neil Young’s music.” —Literary Review of Canada “[An] intriguing, elegantly written analysis of Young . . . Exemplifies the fruitful union of musicology and cultural studies.” —Cotten Seiler, Dickinson College

Through art and images, Pop Psychedelic examines the current synthesis of 1960s and 1970s psychedelia and pop art of the 1980s. The lasting influence of these two art forms continues in fashion, music, spirituality, the art world at large and even revolutionary movements. Pop Psychedelic considers the history of these two movements and their unique contributions, ideologically, aesthetically and culturally. Looking at the evolution of these ideas over time, it relates them to the psychedelic pop phenomenon in illustration and graphic arts.

The ultimate guide to underground sounds 1965-1982. The book features release details and in-depth reviews for more than 5,000 obscure LPs from the USA and Canada, 1965-1982, including reissue data and value ratings. The main genres are psychedelia, garage, folk & folkrock, hippie rock, progressive rock, and hard-rock. There is also a wide selection of interesting and rare singer-songwriter, harmony pop, soft rock, lounge-rock, avant-garde, vanity-pressings and "outsider" albums. This is the first ever comprehensive guide to the vintage musical underground of North America, and opens up a gigantic field of outstanding music that has earlier been exclusive and hard to grasp. There's also a buyer's guide, a glossary, a historical background, fun Top 10 lists, and much more. The massive book is loaded with color images of obscure and trippy album sleeves, posters and band photos, many of which have never been published before, and a foreword by Mike Stax of Ugly Things magazine. Highlights:- The largest selection ever presented of underground albums from North America 1965-1982.- Original release data and in-depth commentary from world-leading rare record experts.- Ratings of LP market value, detailed reissue data, and full color images of rare and trippy albums sleeves.- Special feature essays about rare Exotica, Lounge, '70s Funk & Soul, Southern Rock and New Age albums, written by leading field collectors.- A brand new round of informative and hilarious Top 10 Lists that were a popular part in the first book.