When the truth is found to be lies… | JSG | Tottenham Hotspur Blog, Forum, Wallpapers, and Videos

August 25, 2008 | Written by fifthhorseman

When the truth is found to be lies - JSGSpurs

“Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a main era… The kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something, maybe not, in the long run. But no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time in the world. Whatever it meant. There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. “

Hunter S. Thompson - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

Psychedelic Rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that attempts to replicate the mind-altering experiences of hallucinogenic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among garage and folk rock bands in Britain and the United States. Psychedelic rock is a bridge from early blues-based rock to progressive rock and heavy metal, but it also drew on non-Western sources such as Indian music’s ragas and sitars.

While the first contemporary musicians to be influenced by psychedelic drugs were in the jazz and folk scenes, the first use of the term “psychedelic” in popular music was by the “acid-folk” group The Holy Modal Rounders in 1964, with the song “Hesitation Blues.” The first use of the word “psychedelic” in a rock music context is usually credited to The Deep, and the earliest known appearance of this usage of the word in print is in the title of their 1966 album The Psychedelic Moods of the Deep. Roky Erickson, lead singer of The 13th Floor Elevators, coined the term ‘psychedelic rock’ in a 1966 interview.

In 1962, British rock embarked on a frenetic race of ideas that spread back to the U.S. with the British Invasion. The folk music scene also experimented with outside influences. In the tradition of Jazz and blues many musicians began to take drugs, and include drug references in their songs. Beat Generation writers like William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and especially the new exponents of consciousness expansion such as Timothy Leary, Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley profoundly influenced the thinking of the new generation. In late 1965, The Beatles unveiled their brand of psychedelia on the Rubber Soul album, which featured John Lennon’s first paean to universal love (”The Word”) and a sitar-laden tale of attempted hippy hedonism (”Norwegian Wood”, written by John Lennon). The British rock act The Yardbirds recorded the single “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” in 1966, another track frequently cited as the first psychedelic song, this one due to its frantic evocation of drug-induced paranoia.

Acid Rock

Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few (if any) lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jefferson Airplane, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Grateful Dead as “acid rock” in his book about Ken Kesey and the Acid Tests, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

“Acid rock” also refers to the subset of psychedelic rock bands that were part of, or were influenced by, the San Francisco Sound, and which played loud, “heavy” music featuring long improvised solos.

Acid rock got its name (which is a slang term for LSD) because it served as a “background” music for acid trips in underground parties in the 1960s (e.g. the Merry Pranksters’ “Acid Tests”).

The term was much used in its heyday of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but has fallen into disuse except for putting this music into its historical perspective.

The music is a cd-length mix of psych tunes…

download

Are you sitting comfortably, then I shall begin…

Spring of 1991

I was 15 going on 16, I was a shy, awkward youth, bullied for excess pounds that I carried, I had friends, not many close friends, although those that were counted for most of my insecurities. Personally I was about to lose the strongest role model I ever had, My Gran, a tall Scottish lady, I was raised at her knee, when my parents were running pubs, the school had a raffle, the top sellers would get a free trip to Chessingtons World of Adventure, my Gran bought all my tickets and so I went in the spring.

I turned up to the coach, I immediately sat near the back, a casual acquaintance, Scott next to me, we decided to make the day as rock and roll as possible, we opened our bags to the collection of bottles of alcohol we had stashed at the bottom, unscrewed the Whiskey bottle, took it to our lips, the fire reacting, making us cough… a mixer was added, more palatable now. The film of the doors was about to open, someone put the soundtrack on, the dirge of the end played through the coach speakers, it spoke to me, I found another avenue of music to explore…

Scott had another little thing to me, he knew I smoked pot, he wanted me to try something else. He gave me a small pill, “it’s a microdot”… Acid

I took it, I’ve never shied away from new experiences, The Coach pulled in, we were given our instructions to meet back, Scott looked at me, we were drunk, about to enter into a world of adventure with acid coursing through our veins.

I didn’t notice at first any difference, it certainly wasn’t like anything I had seen on TV or in Film, no swirling patterns, no vivid hallucinations, I noticed more, I was more aware of everything, and I was happy, truly happy, if I had to pick one place to be forever, that afternoon would be one of my top 5 places to spend eternity.

Running around the park, trying the rides, I found what Buddhists would call Nirvana, professor burps bubble works, a gentle ride themed around making drinks. I stayed on that ride with its vivid smell and theme song most of the day, I remember animatronics, but that may have been the acid.

I realised after a while I was alone, the sky had clouded over, it grew cold, I remember a gentle rain, I remember talking to some penguins, I wandered, my mind racing, paranoia seeping in, what if they had left me, what if it all been planned, what if, what if, what if.

I reached into my bag, and searched for something to snap me out of this, I knew what I thought wasn’t real, I found some pot, I looked for somewhere private, a kids ride, some cars going round a pre-designed circuit, I saw someone I knew, I offered a spliff for some company, she gave me some of her mars bar, we sat and talked, she brought me down back to something that approached normality.

Everything appeared sparkling, and I felt safe with my companion, on my journey pre-destined with no surprises… I was collected, put on the coach, sent home, I didn’t get there, I went to one of my favourite places by the sea, lit a fire and danced to the music in my head… hidden from everyone, just me & the flames.

I found some solitude and peace, I was happy.

Madlove

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fifthhorseman on August 25th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

opening ceremony/porpoise song - the monkees
a path through the forest - Beyond The Wizards Sleev
You’re Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators
Psychotic Reaction - Count 5
Walkin With Jesus - Spacemen 3
King of Fuh - Brute Force
Superbird - Country Joe & The Fish
8 Mile High - The Byrds
Dig It - The Monkees (Beyond the wizard sleeve re-edit)
White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
Omaha - Moby Grape
Losing The Will To Survive - Findlay Brown (BTWS re-work)
I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) - Electric Prunes
Children of The Sun = The Misunderstood
Careful with that axe, Euguene - Pink Floyd
Time Has Come Today - The Chamber Brothers
House is Not A Motel - Love (BTWS re-edit)
I’m Your Witchdoctor - John Mayalls Bluesbreakers
She’s A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

Mix Tracklist.