Psychedelic
rock emerged in the mid-'60s, as British Invasion and folk-rock bands began
expanding the sonic possibilities of their music. Instead of confining themselves
to the brief, concise verse-chorus-verse patterns of rock & roll, they moved
toward more free-form, fluid song structures. Just as important -- if not more
so -- the groups began incorporating elements of Indian and Eastern music and
free-form jazz to their sound, as well as experimenting with electronically
altering instruments and voices within the recording studio. Initially, around
1965 and 1966, bands like the Yardbirds and the Byrds broke down the boundaries
for psychedelia, creating swirling layers of fuzz-toned guitars, sitars, and
chanted vocals. Soon, numerous groups followed their pattern, including the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones, both of whom recorded psychedelia in 1966. In
no time, groups on both sides of the Atlantic embraced the possibilities of
the new genre, and the differences were notable. In Britain, psychedelia tended
to be whimsical and surrealistic. Nevertheless, bands -- most notably Pink Floyd
and Traffic -- played extended instrumentals that relied on improvisation as
much as their American contemporaries the Grateful Dead, the Doors, Love, and
Jefferson Airplane. In other corners of America, garage bands began playing
psychedelic rock without abandoning their raw, amateurish foundation of three-chord
rock -- they just layered in layers of distortion, feedback, and effects. Eventually,
psychedelic evolved into acid rock, heavy metal, and art rock, but there continued
to be revivals of psychedelia in the decades that followed, most notably in
the American underground of the mid-'80s.
Psychedelic
