| Acid rock | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Psychedelic rock |
| Cultural origins | Late 1960s United States |
| Typical instruments | Electric guitar (usually with guitar effects - distortion, fuzzbox, phaser, etc.) - bass guitar - electronic organ - drums |
| Mainstream popularity | Peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s. |
| Derivative forms | Heavy metal, space rock, stoner rock |
| Regional scenes | |
| San Francisco, California | |
Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few (if any) lyrics and musical improvisation.[1] Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream, The Velvet Underground, Jefferson Airplane, Ultimate Spinach, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Blue Cheer, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Great Society, Stone Garden and the Grateful Dead as "acid rock" in his book about Ken Kesey and the Acid Tests, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.[2]
"Acid rock" also refers to the subset of psychedelic rock bands that were part of, or were influenced by, the San Francisco Sound,[3] and which played loud, "heavy" music featuring long improvised solos.[4]
Acid rock got its name because it served as "background" music for acid trips in underground parties in the 1960s (e.g. the Merry Pranksters' "Acid Tests").[2] ("Acid" is a slang term for LSD.) In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jerry Garcia quoted Grateful Dead band member Phil Lesh stating, "acid rock is what you listen to when you are high on acid." Garcia further stated there is no real psychedelic rock and that it is Indian classical music and some Tibetan music that are examples of music "designed to expand consciousness."[5] The term "acid rock" is generally equivalent to psychedelic rock. Rolling Stone magazine includes early Pink Floyd as "acid-rock".[6] In June 1967 Time Magazine wrote "From jukeboxes and transistors across the nation pulses the turned-on sound of acid-rock groups: the Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Moby Grape".[7] In 1968 Life magazine referred to The Doors as the "Kings of Acid Rock".[8]
The term was much used in its heyday of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but has fallen into disuse; it is now only used as a means of putting this music into historical perspective.
When hard rock and heavy metal became prominent in the early and mid 1970s, the phrase "acid rock" was sometimes mistakenly applied to these genres. Over time, these bands fell in under the term "heavy metal" which replaced "acid rock" for these styles of music. Examples of hard rock bands once commonly called "acid rock" are Alice Cooper,[9] Vanilla Fudge, and Deep Purple.[10]
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