The Beatles were credited with starting trends and to the fans in the midwest they were the trendsetters from which you heard it first. But the Beatles, like most artists, reflected the world around them and in the 1960s London, England, was from where it all started.
As the world around them moved from smoking marijuana to taking mescaline and psilocybin to LSD, from roughly 1965 to 1967, the Beatles showed the rest of the world how those changes looked and sounded.
The Beatles recorded three albums from 1966 to 1968 that vividly illustrate the changing times. The first is titled Revolver. The Beatles had already begun smoking pot in 1956 and the Pop Art / Op Art influenced album cover by Klaus Voorman is the first clue that this isn’t a Mop Tops record.
On Revolver is the psychedelic classic, Tomorrow Never Knows which John Lennon claimed was written as an interpretation of Timothy Leary’s reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The theme of other dimensions of reality is a basic precept of both the psychedelic experience and of religions preaching life after death. The psychedelic influences of the song were explained away at the time so as to keep it “underground”, both hip to those in the know and safe from being banned by the BBC.
George Harrison’s song on Revolver, Love You To, was the first Beatles song to delve into Indian music styles and depend heavily on the sitar. Norwegian Wood on Rubber Soul featured a sitar but only as a novelty sound on an otherwise straight western pop song. The East Indian sound of Love You To represented the Beatles interest in spirituality and other dimensions of reality for which it was as much a code as the sound of backward guitars and echo effects coming out of the Acid Rock bands of San Francisco.
John Lennon’s song, She Said She Said, was both psychedelic in the sound of the fuzz tone guitar, the unusual rhythm pattern and in the lyrics which stated, “I know what it’s like to be dead.” His song, Doctor Robert, was about an actual London physician who freely dispensed pharmaceuticals to the English Rock and Roll aristocracy although John admitted first getting turned on to LSD through his dentist so may Dr. Robert was his dentist.
Paul McCartney has claimed that his song, Got To Get You Into My Life, was his love letter to marijuana and being the last of the Fab Four to take psychedelics perhaps his musical composition illustrated his lagging behind.
It’s been rumored that Yellow Submarine is about the yellow pills that were popular at the time but none of the Beatles ever admitted to that and they were so open about their drug usage that they had no reason to lie. Although, taken in conjunction with Lennon’s song, I’m Only Sleeping, a case could be made for the ingestion of depressants.
Lastly, it is pushing it to say that the song, Good Day Sunshine, is about an afternoon tripping on Orange Sunshine LSD, but who knows?
Revolver is an album bordering on psychedelia and in the time period between the black and white world and the full color world that would bloom in 1967. Revolver is the Beatles’ psilocybin album. Things are different, but still recognizable.
As the world around them moved from smoking marijuana to taking mescaline and psilocybin to LSD, from roughly 1965 to 1967, the Beatles showed the rest of the world how those changes looked and sounded.
The Beatles recorded three albums from 1966 to 1968 that vividly illustrate the changing times. The first is titled Revolver. The Beatles had already begun smoking pot in 1956 and the Pop Art / Op Art influenced album cover by Klaus Voorman is the first clue that this isn’t a Mop Tops record.
On Revolver is the psychedelic classic, Tomorrow Never Knows which John Lennon claimed was written as an interpretation of Timothy Leary’s reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The theme of other dimensions of reality is a basic precept of both the psychedelic experience and of religions preaching life after death. The psychedelic influences of the song were explained away at the time so as to keep it “underground”, both hip to those in the know and safe from being banned by the BBC.
George Harrison’s song on Revolver, Love You To, was the first Beatles song to delve into Indian music styles and depend heavily on the sitar. Norwegian Wood on Rubber Soul featured a sitar but only as a novelty sound on an otherwise straight western pop song. The East Indian sound of Love You To represented the Beatles interest in spirituality and other dimensions of reality for which it was as much a code as the sound of backward guitars and echo effects coming out of the Acid Rock bands of San Francisco.
John Lennon’s song, She Said She Said, was both psychedelic in the sound of the fuzz tone guitar, the unusual rhythm pattern and in the lyrics which stated, “I know what it’s like to be dead.” His song, Doctor Robert, was about an actual London physician who freely dispensed pharmaceuticals to the English Rock and Roll aristocracy although John admitted first getting turned on to LSD through his dentist so may Dr. Robert was his dentist.
Paul McCartney has claimed that his song, Got To Get You Into My Life, was his love letter to marijuana and being the last of the Fab Four to take psychedelics perhaps his musical composition illustrated his lagging behind.
It’s been rumored that Yellow Submarine is about the yellow pills that were popular at the time but none of the Beatles ever admitted to that and they were so open about their drug usage that they had no reason to lie. Although, taken in conjunction with Lennon’s song, I’m Only Sleeping, a case could be made for the ingestion of depressants.
Lastly, it is pushing it to say that the song, Good Day Sunshine, is about an afternoon tripping on Orange Sunshine LSD, but who knows?
Revolver is an album bordering on psychedelia and in the time period between the black and white world and the full color world that would bloom in 1967. Revolver is the Beatles’ psilocybin album. Things are different, but still recognizable.
Friday Funnies
CRUSHED BY FALLING AMP STACKS
This is especially dangerous to road crew personnel but luckily, most amplifier manufacturers include a warranty
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