Various Artists - Songs Of A Psychedelic Age (1978)

(Various 60's Artists)
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Out of thirty tumultuous years of rock 'n' roll, 1967 stands unchallenged as the end of the beginning and, some might say, the beginning of the end. Had we not been there, we would doubt that it ever came to pass. Future generations may well dismiss it as a preposterous narcotic nightmare.

1967 was the Gathering of The Tribes, the realisation that rock music was in fact rock culture. An overflowing optimism engulfed us all; we truly believed that we could change the world with our ideals, our beliefs, our new found freedoms and our music. That we were naïve and self-indulgent never occurred to us for a moment during that idyllic, heady, flowery year. Musicians, the young Gods of the Age of Aquarius, identified themselves with the romantic figures of the past — poets, painters, writers, philosophers and mystics. By breaking down the previously sacred three minute song limit and experimenting with improved rhythms and structures, they believed they were giving the music the same freedoms they had seized for themselves. And it worked ... for a time.
Psychedelia, inner consciousness, transcendental meditation, mind expansion — these words became part of the new language of the counter culture. 

Music became an intellectual experience — dancing was passe — we now had to sit and contemplate the lyrics, dwell upon the cosmic possibilities of it all. We wanted so desperately much to feel new sensations and absorb new concepts But then we also wanted to stop the war in Vietnam, feed the starving millions, challenge all the values of our elders, free the blacks and make the sun shine a few hours longer each day. And if this wonderful innocent dream was too hard, there were wondrous potions to make it easy; chemical and organic substances which turned our minds inside out and did strange and often incomprehensible things to our music. As the Electric Prunes put it, "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night'.

By 1967, a second front had opened. The leadership of London was challenged by traditionally tolerant San Francisco. While London hippies grooved away at the UFO and Middle Earth clubs, listened intently to John Peel's Perfumed Garden radio show, got blown away at the 24 Hour Technicolor Dream Festival, and never missed a performance by Pink Floyd, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Dantalion's Chariot, Tomorrow, Soft Machine, Tyrannosaurus Rex and The Incredible String Band; the freaks of San Francisco were on their own plane of advanced consciousness at the Matrix Club. Fillmore or Family Dogg, picking flowers during the Human Be In at Golden Gate Park, listening to the birth of free-form FM radio, and experiencing the unbelievable light shows which accompanied performances by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane. Country Joe & The Fish, Moby Grape, It's A Beautiful Day and so many others.

Despite the visually and sensually overwhelming trappings, what was happening to music in 1967 was no more than a part of the evolution of rock, albeit at a dizzying pace. Less than four years had taken us from 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' to 'Purple Haze', from the total and absolute power of the hit single to the untapped medium of the conceptual album. In 1967, musicians, for the first time, felt they were in full control of their own destinies.
Then suddenly had a perspective of rock'n'roll, of how it had evolved and how it could be used in the future. All the stray ends were being fused together -  rock was defining itself into the form we know it today — where almost any style can co-exist harmoniously with another.  An articulate rock press had arisen to give focus to this sense of maturity, and to applaud those beacons of the new age who now enlightened as well as entertained.
For nothing changed quite as much as those who were buying the records, the post-war baby boom kids who were now entering university and developing political attitudes. Three years before, they had screamed at Beat Boom  purveyors; now, still loyal to rock, they expected it to reflect different attitudes, to express more complex emotional states.

The changes were not only in the philosophies being expressed. George Martin and The Beatles had demonstrated the potential of sound experimentation, via reverse tape tape loops and extraneous farmyard noises. Technology was unleashed - wah wah pedals, fuzz boxes, advanced multi-track recording, the technique of phasing (minutely delaying one side of a stereo signal, as demonstrated superbly by Itchycoo Park), Marshall amplifier stacks, exotic instruments fed through electronic effect units...anything and everything that a fertile imagination could conceive and implement.

The music on this mind-blowing double album takes us from the mystical year of 1967 to the present day, presenting original and revivalist purveyors of psychedelic music. British, American, and Australian psychedelia comes together within this package, which, although it makes no pretense of being an any way comprehensive, is almost certainly the first anthology of its kind to be released. So be prepared to be sucked into a strange and sensational whirlpool as you lay stylus to vinyl and go tripping into the Summer Of Love. May you never return. [Linear notes by: Glenn A. Baker (Honorary Guru)].
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I've always had a thing for the Psychedelia era, and its association with 'Flower Power' and feel that it reached its pinnacle with Woodstock. I love the music, the clothes and the imagery that is also associated with the era, and most bands featured on this album constitute a major part of my record collection. This compilation is therefore a favourite of mine and gets played quite often.

The post itself consists of a rip from cassette tape for Sides 1 & 2 and a rip from Vinyl for Sides 3 & 4. The reason for the tape rip is because my vinyl copy (record 1) has seen better days, and I wanted to offer the best rip possible.  All tracks are in MP3 format (320kps) and full album artwork is included.
So, get those paisley shirts out of your wardrobe, put ya rose coloured glasses on, dimm the lights and if you've still got a stash tucked away, light up and let the music take to away to a far away place where Strawberry fields and Purple haze are something you can almost touch!
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Track listing
CD1
1. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown: Fire [2:53]

2. Jimi Hendrix Experience: Purple Haze [2:45]
3. Cream: Strange Brew  [2:45]
4. Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit  [2:27]
5. Fever Tree : San Francisco Girls  [3:58]
6. Tomorrow: Revolution  [3:45]
7. Small Faces : Itchycoo Park  [2:47]
8. The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations  [3:35] 
9. The Masters Apprentices: Living In A Child's Dream [2:28]
10. Strawberry Alarm Clock: Incense & Peppermints  [2:46] 
11. Status Quo: Pictures Of Matchstick Men [3:15] 
12. The Twilights: Comin' On Down  [2:19]
13. The Easybeats: Peculiar Hole In The Sky [2:48]
14. Bobby & Laurie: Every Second Day  [2:39]
15. The Flower Pot Men: Let's Go To San Francisco (Parts 1 & 2) [6:38]
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CD2
1. Eric Burdon & The Animals: San Franciscan Nights [3:20]

2. Country Joe & The Fish: Flying High  [2:45]
3. John's Children [with Marc Bolan]: Midsummer Night's Scene  [2:32]
4. The Accent: Red Sky At Night [3:09]
5. The Misunderstood : Children Of The Sun [2:47]
6. Electric Banana: Blow Your Mind [3:35]
7. Russell Morris : The Real Thing [6:20]
8. Steppenwolf: Magic Carpet Ride [2:41]
9. The Lemon Pipers: Green Tambourine [2:25] 
10. North 2 Alaskans: Crimson & Clover/Incense [4:43] 
11. Kim Fowley: The Trip [1:55]
12. The United States Of Existence : Return To The Psychedelic [2:41]
13. The Temptations: Psychedelic Shack [3:53]
14. Eric Burdon & The Animals : Monterey [4:35]
15. The Cowsills: Hair [3:30]   
Outro - Vox Wah Wah Pedal Ad.
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Songs From A Psychedelic Age Link (238Mb) New Link 20/07/2022
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