In the rare video above, Quicksilver Messenger Service brings the psychedelic sound of San Francisco's ballrooms to the 1967 Monterey Music Festival. Quicksilver was an unsigned band at that time and they were so tripped out and disorganized they were about the last of the San Francisco bands to put out their first record album. Quicksilver had chronic problems finding a decent vocalist which is abundantly clear from the Monterey video. For those who play close attention to the video you'll see the hyperactive smiling dude toward the front of the audience in the black cowboy hat with a moustache is none other than David Crosby of the Byrds.

Guitarist John Cipollina also became famous for the strange amp stack he toured with, which included six Wurlitzer horns on top. Cipollina had an unusual hand picking guitar style. Cipollina's approach was a unique hybrid of a classical and jazz influences which was miles beyond the usual blues-scale, pentatonic work of many of the other psychedelic-era guitarists. John's trademark was his extensive use the whammy bar that added a spacey feel to his rolling apeggios of guitar notes. As a child Cipollina was a gifted classical pianist who used a lot of those influences when he switched to guitar.

I saw Quicksilver in 1968 when I was a kid with my father who was a local promoter of psychedelic music in St. Louis. Quicksilver was the first psychedelic band that left a lasting impression on me. They performed at a free open air concert at the Forest Park Pavillion on a beautiful autumn day and all 300 hippies in St. Louis were in attendance. I had never heard anything like their long rambling version of Silver and Gold which was a psychedelic rendition of Dave Brubeck's Take Five using an exotic 5/4 jazzed up time signature. They also played Who Do You Love in using Bo Diddley's modified 5/4 blues signature that was his own unique contribution to rock and roll.

Country Joe and the Fish play their tripped out version of Section 43 for unsuspecting music fans at the Monterey festival in 1967. Joe McDonald was an Army veteran who lived in Berekley was involved in Vietnam war protests . The song refers to Section 43 of the Uniform Military Code that details penalties for soldiers who have gone AWOL or deserted the Armed Forces:

You should really check out The Bevis Frond if you like that alot. Very similar (typically very lo-fi) 60's psychedelic jam fest :) Inner Marshland is the name of there (in my opinion) best album.

Beavis Frond was great. You should post a video and write a little blurb for it. I like to see more folks contribute their favorite bands to the thread.

I would, but I plan on putting him in my top 25 album thread. Although I may write a little something here also though ;)

The Deviants deserve a mention here. If you want 60s psych with an experimental/freakish touch, this is it! Their sound actually keeps varying a bit, but the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic :D. Has a bit of punk aesthetics as well. Their singer, Mick Farren, also went on to record a couple of albums with Twink and hawkwind during the 70s, which are well worth a listen.

'Ptooff' still blows me away.

Here are a couple of tracks from it -

I'm Coming Home


Deviation Street


The second track really is random, but well, that's how it is during the entire album.

Can i get that...Pretty pweej :D.

The Beatles have not been really been mentioned so I will talk about them. The thing I noticed their Psychedelic sound is so unlike what anyone else was doing at the time it really for the most part veers towards Art-Rock.

Take "Tomorrow Never Knows" for instance has Tamboura drones, modal tune, backward guitar, tape loops, ADT, mellotron, vocals played through revolving speakers, distortedly close-up miking of instruments, and a psychedelically mystical "outlook.

For the most part early to mid 1966 most of the so-called psychedelic songs I have heard sound more like garage rock with Psych elements.

good stuff, I just checked their last.fm and there are loads of tracks on there so I'm having a bit of a sesh before committing to a download :D

....and Farren's autobiography 'Give The Anarchist a Cigarette' is well worth a read.

So is 'Ptooff!' the album to start with?

My favourite anarchist group: the Edgar Broughton Band. Need a thread for them