Acid Rock Music Guide: 4 Characteristics of Acid Rock

Acid rock is a subgenre of rock ‘n’ roll music that took hold in the psychedelic era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The music took its name from the LSD subculture that revolved around group parties called acid tests.

The term “acid rock” is sometimes applied to psychedelic rock bands from London (Pink Floyd, the Jimi Hendrix Experience), New York (the Blues Magoos), and Texas (13th Floor Elevators). However, San Francisco served as the epicenter of acid rock and psychedelic music in general.

Acid rock's time in the spotlight was brief, but the movement birthed multiple mainstream rock acts.

• Born out of psychedelia: Beginning with the Beatles in the mid-1960s, classic rock 'n' roll drew inspiration from psychedelic audio experiments. You can hear this experimentation in psychedelic rock albums like the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), the Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967), and the Byrds' Fifth Dimension (1966). Rock music also became intertwined with a pervasive drug scene, exemplified by the "acid test" parties led by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. Rock musicians and self-described hippies made LSD and sonic experimentation key elements of their art.
• The San Francisco sound: The epicenter of late 1960s psychedelia was the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It was home to acts like the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, Blue Cheer, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Big Brother and the Holding Company (fronted by Janis Joplin). The San Francisco sound favored improvisation, noisy guitar effects, propulsive drum beats, and psychedelic lyrics inspired by acid trips. This style of music effectively became acid rock.
• A sister scene in London: Acid rock was not confined to American shores. In London, groups like Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Cream played a mixture of blues rock and heavy psych rock that mimicked the trends in San Francisco. Even the Beatles and the Rolling Stones spent the late 1960s exploring the boundaries of psychedelic music. One of London's most famous acid rockers was an American: Jimi Hendrix. A native of Seattle, Washington, Hendrix formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience with English bandmates.
• Smaller scenes in New York and Los Angeles: New York and Los Angeles were American recording capitals that featured all styles of music. While acid rock did not dominate either city like it did in San Francisco, several notable bands hailed from these regions. New York was home to Vanilla Fudge (famous for their slow, sludgy cover of "You Keep Me Hanging On" by the Supremes). Los Angeles was home to the Doors, Love, Steppenwolf, and Iron Butterfly.
• Giving way to stoner rock and heavy metal: As the 1970s unfolded, the psychedelic sounds of acid rock gave way to heavier, bluesier music. Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were never categorized as acid rock, but their penchant for mystical lyrics, improvisation, and sonic experiments showed a clear debt to their acid-loving forebears.

A few key characteristics unified the acid rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

1. 1. Inspiration from LSD: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was a popular psychedelic drug favored by many rock stars of the 1960s. The culture around LSD featured events—like the "acid tests" led by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters—that attracted musicians. San Francisco rock luminaries like Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin found inspiration from LSD and used it to make music.
2. 2. Garage rock energy: Acid rock stems from the garage rock that swept through the United States in the 1960s. Novice musicians picked up guitars, basses, and drum kits, and then rehearsed in literal garages. Without formal training, they learned by doing, and this adventurous spirit inspired the acid rock culture that followed.
3. 3. Blues rock improvisation: Most acid rock music is based in blues tonalities. Long jams on blues progressions became standard for acid rockers like Iron Butterfly, Cream, and the Doors. The San Francisco jam scene would eventually evolve beyond acid rock, adding world music elements and producing seminal acts like Santana.
4. 4. Psychedelic lyrics: Acid rock lyrics evoke drug trips. For example the words to "White Rabbit,” written by Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick, and "Slip Inside This House" by the 13th Floor Elevators’ frontman Roky Erickson both allude to the use of psychedelic drugs.

The acid rock music scene produced some of the more iconic names in rock 'n' roll history.

1. 1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: The Jimi Hendrix Experience combined blues, hard rock, and psychedelia into a single package. Hendrix, an American who found his greatest success in London, revolutionized the electric guitar with his psychedelic soloing on songs like "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)."
2. 2. The Grateful Dead: The brainchild of guitarist Jerry Garcia and the central band in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury scene, The Grateful Dead was known for extended improvisational riffs and trippy lyrics inspired by LSD use.
3. 3. Iron Butterfly: Formed in San Diego but based in Los Angeles, Iron Butterfly exemplified acid rock with their meandering 17-minute epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," famous for a seemingly endless organ solo.
4. 4. Pink Floyd: Before Pink Floyd became known for heady concept albums penned by bassist Roger Waters, they were a psychedelic band led by the singer and guitarist Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd's debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is a strong example of the British acid rock scene in the late 1960s.

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