I thought I'd share my, and Jon Savage's, ultimate psychedelic comps.

I posted this a couple years ago on the Audio Asylum, but thought some here may be interested in these 100 song psychedelic comps (which could probably be downloaded today in a weekend, sigh). All tracks come from my own collection.

The background, I picked up author Jon Savage's "I Want To Take You Higher" at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In it, Savage made a list of his top 100 psychedelic songs, 65-69, split 50/50 between the US and UK. It took me two years to track down every track on that list, no downloads, and before Rhino's Nuggets UK boxes had been released.

Inspired, after completing his comp, I made my own, with the same breakdown, except I had a few Canadian in with the US and a few Irish in with the UK, plus a track or two outside the timeframe. Also, with mine, I tried to show an evolution from the earliest experimentations to boarderline metal or prog tracks that the seen spawned. Like Savage, I deliberately finished with somewhat disturbing tracks that I feel captured the burnout at the end of the era.



Here are the Savage tracks:
US:
1. Byrds/Eight Miles High alt. version
2. The Charlatans/Alabama Bound
3. Bob Dyaln/Visions of Johanna
4. Jefferson Airplane/Blues from an Airplane
5. Country Joe and the Fish/Section 43
6. The Great Society/Somebody to Love
7. Captain Beefhear and the Magic Band/Electricity
8. The Oxford Circle/Foolish Woman
9. 13th Floor Elevators/Roller Coaster
10. Vejatables/Feel the Music
11. The Count Five/Psychotic Reaction
12. The Misunderstood/Children of the Sun
13. Sons of Adam/Feathered Fish
14. Love/7 and 7 is
15. The Beach Boys/Good Vibrations
16. Sopwith Camel/Frantic Desolation
17. The Doors/The Crystal Ship
18. The Seeds/Mr. Farmer
19. Kaleidoscope/Keep Your Mind Open
20. The Electric Prunes/Get Me To The World On Time
21. The Mystery Trend/Johnny Was a Good Boy
22. Moby Grape/Omaha
23. Third Bardo/I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time
24. Jefferson Airplane/White Rabbit
25. Tim Buckley/Hallucinations
26. The Chocolate Watchband/Are You Going To Be There?(At the Love-In)
27. Big Brother and the Holding Company/Ball and Chain
28. Painted Faces/Anxious Color
29. The Beau Brummels/Magic Hollow
30. Buffalo Springfield/Broken Arrow
31. The Strawberry Alarmclock/Incense and Peppermints
32. Love/The Red Telephone
33. The Byrds/Chage Is Now
34. Otis Redding/(Sittin' On)The Dock of the Bay
35. The Balloon Farm/A Question of Temperature
36. Sly and the Family Stone/Dance to the Musci
37. Quicksilver Messenger Service/Pride of Man
38. The Grateful Dead/That's It For the Other One
39. Iron Butterfly/In-a-gadda-da-vida
40. Steppenwolf/Magic Carpet Ride
41. The Steve Miller Band/Song For Our Ancestors
42. Lothar and the Handpeople/Machines
43. Tommy James and the Shondells/Crimson and Clover
44. White Lightning/William
45. Spirit/Dream Within a Dream
46. Alexander "Skip" Spence/War in Peace
47. The Youngbloods/Darkness, Darkness
48. The Grateful Dead/Mountains of the Moon
49. Kak/The Electric Sailor
50. Jimi Hendrix/The Star Spangled Banner

UK:
1. The Beatles/Tomorrow Never Knows
2. The Rolling Stones/Paint it Black
3. Creation/Making Time
4. Donovan/Season of the Witch
5. The Yardbirds/Happenings Ten Year's Time Ago
6. Cream/I Feel Free
7. The Beatles/Strawberry Fields Forever
8. Pink Floyd/Interstellar Overdrive
9. Smoke/My Friend Jack
10. The Small Faces/Green Circles
11. David McWilliams/Days of Pearly Spencer
12. The Poets/In Your Tower
13. The Move/I Can Here the Grass Grow
14. The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Are You Experienced?
15. The Troggs/Wild Thing
16. Traffic/Paper Sun
17. John's Children/Midsummer Night's Scene
18. The Beatles/It's All Too Much
19. The Attack/Colours of My Mind
20. The Small Faces/Itchycoo Park
21. The Jimi Hendrix Experience/The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice
22. Pink Floyd/Matilda Mother
23. The Rolling Stones/We Love You
24. The Who/Relax
25. Kaleidoscope/Flight From Ashiya
26. The Pretty Things/Deflecting Grey
27. The Herd/From the Underworld
28. The 23rd Turnoff/Michaelangelo
29. The Hollies/King Midas in Reverse
30. Svensk/Dream Magazine
31. The Idle Race/Imposters of Life's Magazine
32. Eric Burdon and the Animals/San Francisco Nights
33. The Troggs/Love Is All Around
34. Tintern Abbey/Vaccuum Cleaner
35. Dantalian's Chariot/Madman Running Through the Fields
36. Simon Dupree and the Big Sound/Kites
37. The Beatles/I Am the Walrus
38. Tomorrow/Revolution
39. Fairport Convention/It's All Right Ma, It's Only Witchcraft
40. Status Quo/Pictures of Matchstick Men
41. The Apple/The Otherside
42. The Mirror/Faster Than Light
43. Nirvana/Rainbow Chaser
44. Big Boy Pete/Cold Turkey
45. Family/Me My Friend
46. Pink Floyd/Jugband Blues
47. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown/Fire
48. The Jimi Hendrix Experience/1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) Moon, Turn the Tides...Gently, Gently Away
49. The Nice/Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon
50. Blind Faith/Can't Find My Way Home

AND NOW MY SELECTIONS:

US:
1. The Charlatans/Codine
2. The Emergency Crew/Caution (Do Not Stop on the Tracks)
3. Ken Kesey w/ Ken Dobbs and the Merry Band of Pranksters/Peggy the Pistol
4. 13th Floor Elevators/Kingdom of Heaven
5. The Association/Along Comes Mary
6. David Blue/It Tastes Like Candy
7. The Leaves/Hey Joe
8. The Great Society/White Rabbit
9. The Beau Brummels/Gentle Wandering Ways
10. The New Tweedy Bros./Somebody's Sleeping
11. The Blues Magoos/(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet
12. The Seeds/Pushing Too Hard
13. Big Brother and the Holding Company/Light Is Faster Than Sound
14. The Monkees/Randy Scouse Git
15. Moby Grape/Hey Grandma
16. The Red Crayola/Freeformfreakout Hurricane Fighter Plane freeformfreakout Transparent Radiation freeformfreakout War Sucks
17. Kaleidoscope/Egyptian Gardens
18. The Beach Boys/Surf's Up (Smile outtake)
19. The Grass Roots/Live For Today
20. The Turtles/Grim Reaper of Love
21. The Electric Prunes/Antique Doll
22. H.P. Lovecraft/It's About Time
23. Country Joe and the Fish/Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
24. The Doors/Strange Days
25. The Byrds/Renaissance Fair
26. The Chocolate Watchband/Dark Side of the Mushroom
27. The Boston Tea Party/In Their Shoes
28. The Lemon Pipers/Green Tambourine
29. The Mothers of Invention/Mom and Dad
30. Jake Holmes/Dazed and Confused
31. The First Edition/Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
32. Blue Cheer/Summertime Blues
33. The Ultimate Spinach/Ego Trip
34. It's A Beautiful Day/White Bird
35. The Steve Miller Band/Children of the Future
36. The Travel Agency/Sorry That You Were Born
37. The Amboy Dukes/Journey to the Center of the Mind
38. Jefferson Airplane/Lather
39. Gandalf/Can You Travel In the Dark Alone
40. Tommy James and the Shondells/Crystal Blue Persuasion
41. The Merry-Go-Round/Time Will Show the Wiser
42. The Chambers Brothers/Time Has Come Today
43. Ronald Dyson and the original cast of Hair/Aquarius
44. The Temptations/Cloud Nine
45. The Nazz/Open My Eyes
46. The Grateful Dead/Dark Star
47. The Bentwind/Riverside
48. Bubble Puppy/Hot Smoke and Sassafrass
49. Genesis/Ten Second Song
50. Quicksilver Messenger Service

UK:
1. Ron Grainger/(Theme from) Dr. Who
2. Donovan/Sunny Goodge Street
3. The Rolling Stones/Mother's Little Helper
4. The Yardbirds/Over, Under, Sideways, Down
5. The Beatles/Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience/Purple Haze
7. The Move/Cherry Blossom Clinic
8. Kaleidoscope/Faintly Blowing
9. The Kinks/I'm Not Like Everybody Else
10. Jeff Beck/Hi-Ho Silver Lining
11. Love Sculpture/In the Land of the Few
12. John's Children/Jagged Time Lapse
13. Procol Harum/Whiter Shade of Pale
14. Fleur de Lys/Going With a Luminous Nose
15. Our Plastic Dream/A Little Bit of Shangrila
16. The Incredible String Band/Painting Box
17. The Bee Gees/Cucumber Castle
18. Pink Floyd/Arnold Lane
19. The Nice/Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack
20. The Hollies/Dear Eloise
21. Traffic/Dear Mr. Fantasy
22. Donovan/Wear Your Love Like Heaven
23. The Who/I Can See For Miles
24. The Rolling Stones/2000 Light Years From Home
25. Manfred Mann/Country Dancing
26. The Jimi Hendrix Experience/All Along the Watchtower
27. The Moody Blues/Legend of a Mind
28. Eric Burdon and the Animals/Year of the Guru
29. Small Faces/Afterglow
30. Cream/White Room
31. Big Boy Pete/Twas Not So Short Ago
32. Tomorrow/My White Bicycle
33. The Ace Kefford Stand/Groovy Booby Jam
34. Nirvana/It Happened Two Sundays Ago
35. Pink Floyd/Paint Box
36. The Pretty Things/Balloon Burning
37. The Yardbirds/Dazed and Confused
38. The Zombies/Time of the Season
39. Bonzo Dog Band/Urban Spaceman
40. Chad & Jeremy/Pipe Dream
41. Them/Walking in the Queen's Garden
42. King Crimson/21st Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors
43. Black Widow/In Ancient Days
44. Mighty Baby/Egyptian Tomb
45. Harvey Mandel/You Can't Tell Me
46. The Uglies/Quiet Explosion
47. Eire Apparent
48. Fleetwood Mac/Green Manalishi
49. Hawkwind/Be Yourself
50. Syd Barrett/Opel

I'm gone for the weekend, so get out your love beads, reminice, and see how many of these you know or have.

 

Which Eire Apparent song did you use? You don't have the title on that one.

There are some great songs here..."Keep Your Mind Open" (Kaleidopscope), "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" (Gandalf), "Ego Trip" (Ultimate Spinach), "War In Peace" (Skip Spence), "Mom and Dad" (Mothers of Invention)...actually, it's hard finding a song here I don't like!

The only thing I may have a gripe with is Moby Grape. Don't get me wrong, I love "Omaha," but why is that always the song that gets picked out of all their great material? I always thought "Motorcycle Irene" was a better example of Skip's writing, and it has some good psychedelic references in the lyrics...very "of the times" with that touch of lunacy that only Skip could give it!

Same thing with Strawberry Alarm Clock. I'd go with something other than "Incense and Peppermints," the only psychedelic song you'll ever hear in a grocery store!

But otherwise this is really cool. I love it!

 

Thanks for...
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sharing.

 

Ah, but Jon Savage used Omaha in HIS comp. I used "Hey Grandma." Ditto with Incense and Peppermints.

My biggest complaint was why did he think a few guitar sound effects make Dock of the Bay a psychedelic song. Great, yes. About San Fran., yes, but psych? No.

The Eire Apparent song I used was "Yes I Need Someone"

I wish someone would make a similar list for prog. I've got a lot of the big Prog albums, but know there was a large European scene that I know nothing about.

 

Not "Revisited"?

 

You also left the title of your Quicksilver Messenger Servive choice, I'd be curious to see what that is. I have about 70% of these tracks . . . nice list!

 

Oops. It was "Joseph's Coat"

The two hardest tracks to find while completing the Savage list were Svensk/Dream Magazine (I had to buy an expensive, original 45) and Big Boy Pete/Cold Turkey which came off a privately produced (i.e. bootleg) compilation album.

 

Killer stuff. For those not aware you can hear a lot of it here:

http://www.techwebsound.com/

 

Totally Far OUT MAN, in the US tracks I was so glad to see #48 by Bubble Puppy!! Both of your top 50 both US and UK songs seem to be what I was hearing on the radio at that time period. I mean both on radio AM and FM as well as on the LP's and what songs bands really were covering to play out also!! GREAT JOB on your lists!!

 

Fantastic List! I'm making a multi-disc comp for my brother and I found a few tracks I forgot to include...

 

I'd include the Holy Modal Rounders "My Mind Capsized" from "The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders". Ouch!

 

another great psych track is Eve by Adam. Is it on any comps? I just have it on 45.
..and the Holy Modal Rounders If You Want To Be A Bird is trippy as well.
That is a great list...I have about 80% of them, a few I don't know and should check out...only a couple I kinda went 'eh'.
...always great to read about psych songs!

 

Wow, I think there's 15 songs in the first UK list that I don't own

I can't wait to get paid so I can go out and buy more Psych!

Great list man!

 

Those are great lists! Thanks for sharing.

As far as US psych tracks to, I was suprised to see no mention of The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band...maybe something from A Child's Guide to Good & Evil would be a groovy additon. I think I'd also add something from Spirit, particularly from The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus.

On the UK side, it seems like I'm always writing about this song, but I'd add The Factory's "Path Through The Forest." I'd also add something from The Smoke (UK).

 

I would include a song on there by an artist that most would not identify in any way with the psychedelic movement. Even so, if you listen to it in the , er, right state of mind, I don't know what else you could call it. The song would be Buck Owens - 'Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass'.

 

My Friend Jack (Smoke) and Dream Within A Dream (Spirit) were on the John Savage lists. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band did not come into my possession until the reissue, which was sometime after I completed this comp.

 

Sorry--I didn't see those tracks in the Savage lists! I read through it twice...my eyes must be going. Thanks!

 

I know you chose "Lucy.." over "Tomorrow" but which version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" would you use? The album version is what I'm guessing but the alternate first version would also work.

I would also add The Buckinghams "Susan" to the US list. Gotta love the freak-out in the middle.

 

Nice work! When I made a psychedlic comp for a friend of mine, my Monkees pick was "Daily Nightly"--it's a freakout, man!

 

Gee, I wonder where Led Zeppelin got the idea for the noisy bit in "Whole Lotta Love"?

 

It's funny you mention The Buckinghams. I was indexing my record collection, and the program jammed while I was trying to enter Kind Of A Drag. So I'm taking a break!

 

Awesome lists...only thing I might recommend (unless I missed it) on the U.S. lists would be "A Question of Temperature" by The Balloon Farm.

 

Lotta fuzz work going on in that song...

 

I looked for that song for years after hearing it on a cooler radio station, but was never able to locate a copy until the Rhino nuggets box came out, which was after I compiled this list.

Is it a question of love...?