Psychedelics - The Birth of the Psychedelic Era

Birth and controversies of the Psychedelic Era  

The music and culture of the 1960s was majorly impacted by the use of psychedelics, in particular LSD (or “acid”). But before it inspired musicians such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix and so many more, its use was arguably questionable.

Albert Hoffman, the father of LSD

 LSD was created in 1938 by chemist Albert Hoffman, who accidently tested it on himself on the 16^th of April 1943, it then took about ten years for the drug to be used in psychiatric research. Before it became a recreational drug, LSD was used with relative success to cure alcoholism from the 1950s onwards. As much as 40.000 people were given the drug (between 1950 and 1965), but out of those, only a small fraction was warranted. Patients suffering from schizophrenia, neurosis or even autism (especially children) were subjected to those experiments, with negative results swept under the rug, so much so that data is hard to find on those events. One of the more questionable use of the drug was an experiment led by the CIA and US Military from the late 1950s; it involved giving LSD to prisoners to see if it could be used as a “truth drug”. The life-changing experiment on criminal Whitey Bulger (portrayed by Johnny Depp in the movie Black Mass) is one of its most famous cases due to its public nature. Sent to prison in the mid-1950s for armed robbery, Bulger was subjected to the MK-Ultra program. Him and his fellow inmates were told that the research would go towards “curing schizophrenia” which of course was a lie. Coming out of prison in the mid-1960s, Bulger went on to become one of Boston’s most violent gangsters and it’s argued today that this switch from his early crimes was caused by his experience in prison. Bulger was dosed 50 times and suffered his whole life from “auditory and visual hallucinations and violent nightmares”, during those experiments Bulger was set in front of monitors and repeatedly asked “Would you ever kill anyone?” and other leading questions. Looking at this, it’s easy to see why George Harrison claimed that "so much paranoia [was] created around the drug" during an interview on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971.

 

Sketch of Whitey Bulger at his trial, 2013

But it was in the early 1960s that the true Psychedelic Era started. The use of LSD exploded among hippie groups and became part of the 1960s counterculture, especially as it became illegal in 1966, giving yet another way to go against the government. Artists did not shy away from their use of acid, as psychedelic sounds and album covers became the norm, leading to the birth of “acid rock”. Looking at the Beatles, the switch between Help! (1965) and Revolver (1966) is obvious. The difference in sound and lyrics between the tracks, going from classic songs such as ‘Ticket to Ride’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHsN9d4FTVI0) with fairly innocent lyrics to ones such as ‘Love You Too’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1X-q7MweIc&list=PLMhU9Z43N_1hu2525DEB50mvC-cioI85w&index=6) with the lyrics “Make love all day long, Make love singing songs”, is a good indicator of the start of the Psychedelic Era.

      

Henri Crépin-Leblond