what makes the early dead stuff psychedelic

just curious, i enjoy stuff like aoxomoxa, anthem of the sun,live/dead etc, but i don't really see the psychedelic-ness of it. to me, it is just euphoric, feel good sounding jam music with country/folk influences. Nothing trippy/dreamy about it. so what does make it psychedelic?

I don't really consider the early Dead psychedelic. Its definitely more rootsy/folky. They didn't really become a psychedelic band until they participated in all the acid tests and traveled around with the Merry Pranksters a bit.

Originally Posted by Meliai

I don't really consider the early Dead psychedelic. Its definitely more rootsy/folky. They didn't really become a psychedelic band until they participated in all the acid tests and traveled around with the Merry Pranksters a bit.

wasn't that their early years and their first albums? i generally mean anthem of the sun-aoxomoxoa-live/dead era.

Originally Posted by HumanBeingIntellect

wasn't that their early years and their first albums? i generally mean anthem of the sun-aoxomoxoa-live/dead era.

yeah you're right. I was half asleep when I wrote that, I wasn't considering the fact that the acid tests occurred in the mid 60s. duh meliai.

I still do agree that their earlier stuff isn't neccessarily psychedelic, although I guess that is when they began exploring a more psychedelic style.

Depends on your conceptions of what "psychedelic" should sound like. Anthem of the Sun is quite psychedelic IMO, and look at these lyrics from St Stephen:

Lady finger, dipped in moonlight, writing "What for?" across the morning sky.
Sunlight splatters dawn with answer, darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye.

Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow,
What a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned.
Several seasons with their treasons,
Wrap the babe in scarlet colors, call it your own.
Did he doubt or did he try? Answers aplenty in the bye and bye,
Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills,
One man gathers what another man spills.

have you done psychedelics?

Originally Posted by Mr.Writer

Depends on your conceptions of what "psychedelic" should sound like. Anthem of the Sun is quite psychedelic IMO, and look at these lyrics from St Stephen:




have you done psychedelics?

I have only smoked cannabis.. I actually ask this question because I am trying to figure out psychedelic music, basically... I am in a band and we wanna play this style, but don't really necessarily know how exactly to write psychedelic music. So, the first step would be to find out what makes something psychedelic, which is what i'm trying to figure out with the dead. I suppose Anthem of the Dead could be psychedelic but it definitely doesn't have a trippy vibe.

Originally Posted by HumanBeingIntellect

I have only smoked cannabis.. I actually ask this question because I am trying to figure out psychedelic music, basically... I am in a band and we wanna play this style, but don't really necessarily know how exactly to write psychedelic music. So, the first step would be to find out what makes something psychedelic, which is what i'm trying to figure out with the dead. I suppose Anthem of the Dead could be psychedelic but it definitely doesn't have a trippy vibe.

you're going to have to trip before you can start making psychedelic music. Seriously, its not really something you can learn from listening to other musicians. You'll never get a complete understanding of it until the most inner workings of your mind understands it.

what makes it psychedelic..? They were the soundtrack to the acid test, they were all on acid, and it was feel good, explorative dance music. They were literally the first acid band. They were part of an extreme multimedia experience, where oil and dye light shows, bizarre audio electronic setups, and black light painting with dayglo colors turned into an orgiastic melange of senses.

what's not psychedelic, is the question?

you tell me
http://www.archive.org/details/gd196...shaw.5413.shnf

and to better understand the Dead's music gotta listen to it trippin on the Dead acid. its the best thing ive ever done

Yep, trippin while listening is a must. I hear things in the songs (live shows) that I probably wouldn't hear unless I'm really concentrating and have a great sound system. I find psychedelic music in songs where the band is really grooving. When they're tight and really playing off each other. Usually its Jerry's guitar. He'll go into a corner of the song and play loopy, roller coaster guitar. Jumping back into the song. But like i said, you have to really be focused on the musician and not just listening to the whole song. Although many times the band would be playing weird things around each other. I can hear this easily while trippin not so much just listening as background music.
I've always considered Aoxomoxa, and Anthem somewhat experimental music.
I dont think they ever capturing their psycedilic freakiness on studio records. And not every show had those magic moments. But when they were in that groove the crowd went crazy.