Grateful Dead

My copy finally arrived today. I even found time to listen to it all. To my ears it sounds like a very competent performance but the band are hardly on fire. Still, better than I had expected. Fortunately not a lot of Fisher Price piano and very little Brent lead vocal. Solid.

As a 44+ year Dead collector, this was an amazing surprise! I was ambivalent about this release. I have complete Dick's and Dave's Picks and think I might just rank this show in my top 10. Can't stop listening to it. Keep 'em coming Dave!

A sad sad story to be sure.

Good thing it's outdoors. I've seen the Lobos several times, easily the loudest band I've ever heard, with three guitarists. At the fillmore, the sound bounces around the room, a real cacophony. Outdoors, they are great!!

See My Friends by The Kinks was released in summer 1965. I think that's an example of what some people now call "accidental psych" - experimental, innovative pop music that introduced elements which were later used by more overt psychedelic bands. "Happening Ten Years Time Ago" by The Yardbirds from 1966 would be another of those.

Donovan recorded "Sunshine Superman" in December 1965, although it wasn't released until 1966. He was real psych pioneer, Donovan, but because a lot of his recordings were held back, when they were finally released he came across as more of a band wagon jumper than the innovator he was. That clip in "Don't Look Back", where he is confronted with a sarky Bob Dylan didn't do his image much good either.

After growing up listening to Live/Dead, Skull and Roses, and Europe 72 ... and my cassette recording of the King Biscuit from Orpheum '76 ... I stood in line outside of Kiel Auditorium at sunrise to score tickets to my first show. I remember being dissapointed; listening to this CD confirms my memory. At least I got a cool tasting glass.

Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
… the single was released in March 1966, which reached numbers two and seven in the US and UK charts respectively.
Fun fact - 12 x 35 -= 420

Honorable mention - White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

First psychedelic hit? Fascinating question! Somebody must know that.

Probably not “Time of the Season” though since that came out in 1968, according to the Google lords. I was but a wee lad at the dawning of the First Psychedelic Era, but I do remember some very strange sounds emanating from my Christmas stocking transistor radio somewhat prior to the Summer of Love. I remember the Electric Prunes “Too Much to Dream Last Night”: looks like that came out in late ’66. Pretty sure the 13th Floor Elevators “You’re Gonna Miss Me” was even before that, though I don’t remember hearing it back then.

I spose the answer kind of depends on how you define “psychedelic” and how you define “hit”. Like, the Elevators were a very psychedelic band, but I’d say that particular song is more garage rock, even with the jug noises and Roky’s unhinged vocal. And a quick Google shows it only made #55 on the charts.

I’m going to propose some ground rules: in order to qualify as “psychedelic” the lyrics AND music have to reference or depict the drug experience in some way, and in order to be considered a hit, the song had to be in the top 40.

So, how about “Eight Miles High”? Now that tune is undeniably syke-a-muh-delic in word and deed and it made #14. Yeah, I’m voting for “Eight Miles High.” It came out in in March of ’66.

The again, there’s always those Weedy Beatles to consider. “Day Tripper” came out in December 1965 and made #5, it says here, and it’s at least kinda sorta psychedelic: that guitar break, the nudge-nudge-wink-wink use of the word “tripper”. Hmm. Borderline, I think. I’ll have to think about that one.

Been on a deep dive through ‘70s fusion just lately: lots of Mahavishnu, Weather Report, Herbie's Mwandishi. My cat is starting to wonder what’s going on.

In Aspen Sunday. It is really free, no ticket needed.
Part of their Raizado Festival celebrating Latinx culture.
Check the DOT website for road closures as I-70 and US 40 were closed yesterday for rock removal. And bring a raincoat as the monsoon is on us.
Cheers

The Flaming Lips played at the zoo earlier this week. Watching people going in I could tell some of them were lysergic. I was able to peek in by the fence and could see there was quite a psychedelic light and stage show. Giant pink dancing puppets (like, 12 feet tall.)

I will always remember the "(doses)" people at my first GD show.

It was 2 more years before I went on that path.