Psychedelic Classics

[Mike's Beard]

Dare I mention that The Stone's "Their Satanic Majesties Request" is actually quite good?

[MBE]

Just Dropped In by The First Edition is great as was their debut LP with it.
roll plymouth rock could call on Billy Nichols

[hypehat]

A psychedelic mix? Sure, why not? Just chucking a lot into the pot here, really, and some aren't classic 60's psych, but ssh.

1. Open My Eyes - The Nazz
2. Last Night, I Had a Dream (Psych version) -Randy Newman
3. Intro/Shine A Light/Electric Mainline - Spiritualized (from the Albert Hall album)
4. Fur Immer - NEU!
5. Roses & Rainbows - Danny Hutton
6. Sometimes - Spacemen 3
7. I Want To Take You Higher! - Sly And The Family Stone
8. Mind Rocker - Fenwyck
9. Sugar and Spice - The Cryan Shames
10. It Was a Pleasure Then - Nico
11. He's Got The Whole World In His Hands - Dion
12. Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground
13. May The Circle Be Unbroken - Spacemen 3

[Loaf]

8. Mind Rocker - Fenwyck

Oh, that hits the spot. It's on my ipod, i'm queuing it up now and taking a 3-min break from work.

[All Golden 74]

3. Intro/Shine A Light/Electric Mainline - Spiritualized (from the Albert Hall album)
6. Sometimes - Spacemen 3
12. Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground
13. May The Circle Be Unbroken - Spacemen 3

The Spacemen 3 were/are THE 80's psych/space rock band!  I always dug Walking With Jesus, and their covers of Rollercoaster and Transparent Radiation are what turned me on to The 13th Floor Elevators and The Red Crayola!
I remember some clever fella edited some 70's porn with Spiritualized as the soundtrack and put it on the internet - it woulda worked better with Barbarella(I think).
Of course Sister Ray is a stone classic - influenced tons of the noise/indie/improv bands from the 70's and 80's (and beyond).  I remember hearing Smiley Smile for the first time - is it one of the great under-sung influences on all the low-fi/DIY/indie stuff from the same time (70's and 80's).?  Uh, maybe I'm the only one who thinks that.

[Catbirdman]

Thanks to all your input, I've done a lot of research and listening, and my world has been duly broadened, my colors have been brightened, etc….

I've decided to put together a mix for my local music club (it's my turn to present a mix in four weeks) based on the theme of, for lack of a better, snappier title, "unlikely psych." In other words, I'm putting together a selection of artists who aren't generally known for psychedelic music, but who dipped the proverbial toe into the pool for an album or two. My playlist thus far follows (the exact sequence isn't yet ironed out, but it's close):

Armenia City In The Sky - The Who
See Emily Play - Pink Floyd
Natural Harmony - The Byrds
Sitting by the Riverside - The Kinks
Wind Chimes (Smiley Smile version) - The Beach Boys
All Golden - Van Dyke Parks
Red Chair, Fade Away - Bee Gees
Come On In - The Association
Mrs. Stately's Garden - The Four Seasons
She's A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones
Elevated Observations? - The Hollies
Girl, You're Blowing My Mind - Jan & Dean
You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies - Simon & Garfunkel
Bonnie And Clyde (avec Brigitte Bardot) - Serge Gainsbourg
Maybe After He's Gone - Zombies
Heroes And Villains (Catbirdman version) - The Beach Boys
Porpoise Song - The Monkees

Any thoughts on the tracklist? Songs I should consider adding? Any selections you aren't keen on, or IYO are there better tracks for a given artist that I could have chosen? Some of those choices were tough. By the way, I wanted to limit it to one track per artist, but I couldn't resist putting two Beach Boys tracks on there. I'm sure you can empathize.

[Roger Ryan]

That's a very good list...but I would say that Pink Floyd is very likely psychedelic! I suppose it may be on your list because circa '73 on they would be called "progressive rock", but unlike the other bands you mentioned, the Floyd were initially known as a psychedelic band and I believe many fans would say what gives them an edge over other prog bands of the 70s is their willingness to experiment and maintain a psychedelic mind-set instead of just issuing art rock.

[guitarfool2002]

I'd say the Kinks' "Wicked Annabella" nearly tops the list of bands taking a dip in the psych pool, and "Porpoise Song" has to be on such a list, definitely. I think Smiley's Wind Chimes may be a bit too jarring and unusual for those who don't know it...Cabinessence is better, more mind-blowing, and it delivers the point in a stunning way, and has fuzztone to boot. Wind Chimes, to me, just kind of hangs there until the gorgeous coda...maybe you could loop the "whispering winds" coda and substitute that!

Zombies...great choice on that song. I actually have the chords of that one in front of me today.

I don't know if it's psych but it's mind-blowing just the same: "Buzzin Fly" by Tim Buckley. Very delicate psych, that one.

[Loaf]

I don't know if it's psych but it's mind-blowing just the same: "Buzzin Fly" by Tim Buckley. Very delicate psych, that one.

Definitely not psych, more like jazzy folk, Fred Neil etc..., but it is excellent. Tim Buckley's earlier records sound a lot like Love, baroque folk-rock, but they're shite.

Best TB song has to be the live version of I've Been Out Walkin'.

[Alex]

Not sure if modern day psych qualifies for a recommendation on this thread, but I`d say check out anything by the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev...MGMT are also pretty good.

[Jay]

The two solo albums Syd Barrett put out should be required listening, as well as Velvet Underground. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Electric Mud by Muddy Waters.

[FUN³]

you have to check out ramases "space hymns" if you haven't yet! massive psych from 71 on vertigo (mexican summer just put out a nice vinyl re-issue this year), featuring 10cc in psych-folk mode. in that respect it would also fit in with the whole "unlikely psych" moniker as well. ramases was an interesting guy with quite a story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDkHkRxdIRg&feature=related

todd rundgren's "number 1 lowest common denominator" is a pretty definitive psych cut imo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Gd_odSkwg

i'll also add eno's baby's on fire because of that mind melting fripp solo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMt1Oy5uQ0w

[guitarfool2002]

I don't know if it's psych but it's mind-blowing just the same: "Buzzin Fly" by Tim Buckley. Very delicate psych, that one.

Definitely not psych, more like jazzy folk, Fred Neil etc..., but it is excellent. Tim Buckley's earlier records sound a lot like Love, baroque folk-rock, but they're shite.

Best TB song has to be the live version of I've Been Out Walkin'.

I know it's stretching the term but I labeled it psych from the mood it creates especially during the instrumental breaks - the sounds seem to float in the air, it's such a different groove with different sounds. I guess labeling something "psychedelic" is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, because some of my choices might not jive with others' definitions, and some names on the lists already given aren't what I'd consider psychedelic music...but that's what makes a list like this fun and informative!

"Porpoise Song" is hard to beat, but for Monkees tracks "Daily Nightly" would blow some minds because it was an obvious stab at psychedelia, it's about the Pandora's Box/Sunset Strip riots of 66, and it has the first Moog track ever released on a pop/rock record. A triple-threat!

And for another Monkees consideration, going for the country/Gram Parsons brand of cosmic American psych, Mike Nesmith's "Aunties Municipal Court" which is quite  the awesome sounding song (Birds, Bees, and The Monkees album).

[hypehat]

Not sure if modern day psych qualifies for a recommendation on this thread, but I`d say check out anything by the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev...MGMT are also pretty good.

I will state again that Spacemen 3/Spiritualized are hugely essential psych.


Spiritualized are also great Beach Boys-esque pop at points, but that's another thread 

[JK]

Bumped into this bunch recently, courtesy of the Mojo '60s mag:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0P1EgUzuJc

[The Demon]

Dare I mention that The Stone's "Their Satanic Majesties Request" is actually quite good?

Their best album.  That was one great thing about the psych trend: bands stepping out of character.  It often made for more interesting music.  I wish the Stones wouldn't disown this period.

[jimmy1949]

How about the 1st 4 or 5 Procol Harum records

[Alex]

Some of my favorite Stones songs are on Satanic Majesties. Foda Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Goats Head Soup, Exile, etc. Flowers, Between the Buttons, and TSMR are the Stones at their finest.

[cta]

No Ogden's Nut Gone Flake here?


As for RS' Satanic, I always felt it was kind of weak...until I got a hold of the mono mix!

[JK]

i discovered this gem by UK psychedelians The Curiosity Shoppe on YouTube a few years ago with these crazy Op Art visuals. Then it was pulled, to be replaced by a version with a wimpy Blow-Up-style vid.  Thankfully the original is back now. Enjoy! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UMww5ybG_s

[Ron]

My favorite that pops to mind immediately is "Crimson and Clover", the long version with all the crazy guitar work.  I can't figure out what it's about.  My theory is that the Crimson represents his love or his women, and the clover represents his money.  So he's saying that he loves women and loves money and spends his money on women.  Over and Over. 

[JK]

My favorite that pops to mind immediately is "Crimson and Clover", the long version with all the crazy guitar work.  I can't figure out what it's about.  My theory is that the Crimson represents his love or his women, and the clover represents his money.  So he's saying that he loves women and loves money and spends his money on women.  Over and Over. 

Wicked song. First time I heard it I automatically assumed it was about Tommy rolling around in the grass with a girl in a crimson dress. 

[Ron]

It could be.  It's a mystery to me.

The best part, sans the guitar work, is when it drops dead for a beat, then he goes "YEAHHHHHHHH"  

lol.

Here's the long version in Stereo.  Good backing vocals too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrAUXbQ7Iw

[Aum Bop Diddit]

No Ogden's Nut Gone Flake here?

Hell yeah!

"Hello Mrs, Jones; how's yer bird's lumbago?"....

[JK]

No Ogden's Nut Gone Flake here?

Hell yeah!

"Hello Mrs, Jones; how's yer bird's lumbago?"....

Ahem... Bert, not bird. :=)

I should add that I love this album, from the stunning instrumental title track on side one to Stanley Unwin's gobbledygook all over side two. In my opinion, The Small Faces knock The Faces into a cocked hat.