PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC | 1960s | LISTICLE

60s Music: The Top 10 Psychedelic Rock Acts

Here are the best psychedelic bands, albums, and songs to emerge from the 1960s

The Doors, 1967. JustRadley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Before listing the best psychedelic rock acts, one probably should start by defining psychedelic music. Psychedelic rock is a subgenre that emerged in the mid-1960s consisting of experimental music, with distorted guitar effects, drawn out jams, and often centered around psychedelic drug use.

Although the bands and the level of influence that drugs had on the music varied, there are many musical acts that could be considered psychedelic rock bands. Some certainly fit in other genres as well, but every band on this list released at least one psychedelic album.

Here are the top ten psychedelic bands that emerged from the 60s, ranked from trippy to trippiest.

10. The Yardbirds

The Yardbirds were formed in London, England, in 1963. The band launched the careers of some of rock’s greatest guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. The three legends, however, were never in the band at the same time.

Eric Clapton was a founding member but was replaced by Jeff Beck in 1965. Without Clapton’s blues influence, the band became more progressive. It was while Jeff Beck was with the band that they released the great psychedelic album Roger the Engineer in 1966.

Although the studio album had some classic bluesy songs, the experimental tracks “Hot House of Omagararshid” and “Turn into Earth” gave the album a psychedelic sound and landed the band on this list.

Jeff Beck’s tenure with the band was short-lived. He was replaced by Jimmy Page shortly after releasing Roger the Engineer.

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9. Cream

After leaving the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton formed Cream in 1966 with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. Together, the trio blended blues and hard rock to produce a psychedelic sound.

Their debut 1967 album, Disraeli Gears, was heavy in blues-rock but had some experimental, psychedelic songs like “Tales of Brave Ulysess” and “SWLABR.”

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8. Country Joe and the Fish

A combination of folk and psychedelic rock, Country Joe and the Fish rose out of the mid-60s counterculture happening around Berkeley, California.

Their protest lyrics blended traditional folk and blues with electric guitar riffs and distortion often giving them a definite psychedelic sound.

With fuzzy-guitar tones and rambling instrumentals, their 1967 debut album, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, was probably their most psychedelic album.

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7. The Byrds

Like Country Joe, the Byrds was another 60s musical pioneer that bridged the gap between folk rock and psychedelic rock.

The Byrds’ third album, Fifth Dimension, was their most psychedelic album. They released it in 1966. It was one of the earliest full psychedelic rock records. Songs like “What’s Happening?!?!” “I See You,” and “Eight Miles High” set the standard for psychedelic music.

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6. Jefferson Airplane

60s California counterculture and psychedelic rock go hand in hand.

Jefferson Airplane was an important part of the evolution of rock during that decade. Already a solid band before her, the addition of Grace Slick pushed the band further in the psychedelic direction.

In particular, she brought with her the song “White Rabbit” from a previous band, which appeared on the 1967 psychedelic album Surrealistic Pillow.

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5. Grateful Dead

You can’t think of experimental rock and long, sprawling jam sessions without thinking of the Grateful Dead. They certainly released plenty of psychedelic rock music.

Another psychedelic act to be formed in the mid-60s in California, the Grateful Dead borrowed from many genres of music including jazz, blues, folk, and, of course, rock. Their instrumental jams are legendary.

As “deadheads” will attest, listening to the Grateful Dead’s recorded albums, and seeing them live were completely different experiences. Their 1969 album Live/Dead is the closest that we can get to that experience without actually having been there.

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4. Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd is one of the most unique rock bands of all time.

Their music could fit in a category all its own. Their progressive instrumentals, compelling lyrics, and haunting vocals certainly give the band a psychedelic sound.

Where albums such as The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon are masterful rock albums, to hear a more psychedelic sound from Pink Floyd, listen to the 1967 album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The 10-minute long “Interstellar Overdrive” will certainly convince you of the psychedelic nature to their music.

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3. The Doors

Another California band considered a quintessential psychedelic rock band was the Doors, formed in 1965.

Frontman Jim Morrison, Ray Manazarek on keyboard, Robby Krieger on lead guitar, and John Densmore behind the drum set presented a band not afraid to experiment and take chances.

Their self-titled 1967 debut album is probably one of the greatest psychedelic albums of all time. “Light My Fire,” “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” and “The End” helped define the genre.

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2. Jimi Hendrix Experience

So many of the bands on this list formed in 1965 and 1966. That part of the decade was a transformative time for rock music.

One of the greatest psychedelic acts of all time formed in London in 1966 was the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was fronted, of course, by the legendary left-handed guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Their 1967 Are You Experienced blended rock, blues, jazz, and pop into one glorious psychedelic sound. The band then immediately followed that album up with two more psychedelic albums, Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968).

“Purple Haze” from Hendrix’s Are You Experienced was his most famous psychedelic song.

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1. The Beatles

The very fact that the Beatles could fit into about a dozen different genres of rock speaks to their greatness. They would top the list of almost every rock genre one can make from the era. They had a total of 20 hits that went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 lists.

Perhaps there will be some that do not think that the Beatles belong at the top of a list of psychedelic rock, but they did release what was probably the greatest psychedelic album of all time, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, in 1967.

The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1968, and contained so many hits, but none were more psychedelic than “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

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I know that there will be some disagreement about some of the bands that I called psychedelic acts. Certainly, most bands cross genres at some point in their careers.

I stand behind the fact that all of the above bands released some psychedelic songs, if not entire albums.

What are your favorite bands that fit in the genre of psychedelic rock? What about specific psychedelic albums? Feel free to include your thoughts in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading!

If you like my listicles, you can find the complete list of them here, organized by subject: The Unabridged List of All of my Listicles

For other music lists by Curt: Movie Vault: 10 Iconic Fictional Bands The Top 10 One-Hit Wonders from the 1970s The 10 Year-End Billboard Best Pop Albums from Each Year of the 1960s 8 Popular Songs Based on Classic Poetry 18 Great Debut Albums That Made Music History