Probably the saddest of the acid casualties was the singer and frontman of the 13th Floor Elevators, Roky Erickson. We lost him just over a year ago. He and the other Elevators were open proponents of various psychedelics, deep in the heart of Texas. Roky himself purportedly dropped acid about 300 times. In 1968 he was hospitalized after an episode wherein he began speaking gibberish on stage. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1969 he was busted with a joint. In a move to dodge a 10-year prison term, he pleaded insanity and....um....won, subsequently being committed to a state psychiatric hospital. After several escape attempts, he was transferred to another facility where Nurse Ratched gave him shock therapy and Thorazine treatments. No lobotomy, thankfully, but he was released in 1974, a changed man. From then on, he labored in obscurity, producing a solid four albums worth your attention. Doug Sahm produced his first single release - "Two Headed Dog." CCR's...

Has there ever been a band that has collapsed as quickly as the Beach Boys did in the wake of "Good Vibrations?" Probably not, and they never really recovered, which is unfortunate. They produced some good music in the late '60s that moved them past their origins. For Brian Wilson, the pressure of trying to complete the SMiLE project and his use of psychedelics had brought on or exacerbated an underlying mental illness. Acid casualty #1. In May of 1967, he abandons the project and withdraws from the leadership of the band. The next three albums, Smiley Smile ,  Wild Honey  and Friends were recorded in his home studio. The swimming pool was drained and used for an echo chamber. A detuned piano placed in a sandbox in the living room (so he could twiddle his toes in it as he played). The cat did what cats do in sand. Gone are the songs about sun, fun, surfing and cars. The sound is stripped down and low-fi. With 1968's Friends , drummer brother Dennis emerges as no...

In June 1967 Moby Grape issued their debut album. It is one of the best albums you've never heard. They were a San Francisco band, usually discussed in conjunction with the Grateful Dead or Jefferson Airplane. If you like "Golden Road" or "Cream Puff War" from the Dead's first album, you'll probably like this one. Why haven't you heard it? It's complicated. The band began when Jefferson Airplane dismissed their manager and drummer, Skip Spence. The pair found Bob Mosley from a San Diego outfit called the Misfits to play bass, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson from Seatle band, the Frantics, on lead guitar and drums, Peter Lewis, a Hollywood kid and guitarist for the Cornells  was recruited and Spence moved over to guitar. All five members sang and wrote. The band was a hit in San Fransisco and got a good record deal, but then things went wrong. For starters, 10 of the album's 13 songs were simultaneously issued as the A and B-sides of ...

Or, if you like,  British (and Aussie) Skinny Tie, 1975-82 : guitar-driven power pop, late pub rock, proto and post-punk.  In some cases, the guitars are crunchier than the American variant, the lyrics dour. There is likely more keyboard or quirkier music. It's great for a drive, and at 8 hours, this one will take you 500 miles while the roads are still open, gas is cheap, and the BnB rooms still empty and discounted. Don't like a song? Wait two and a half minutes for the next.

June 5, 1975....45 years ago, Syd Barrett showed up in the studio, unannounced, during the recording of Wish You Were Here   announcing he was ready to do his bit. The band hadn't seen him in five or six years. He had shaved his head (like Pink in The Wall film) and put on a lot of weight. They didn't recognize him at first. He also brought a toothbrush and brushed his teeth while jumping up and down. It is one of the last sad, crazy Syd stories. After writing most of the first album, Syd only wrote one song to the follow-up and added some Zippo slide guitar to two of the others. After that, he made two solo albums. The Madcap Laughs , took over a year and three sets of sessions, produced, by Malcolm Jones, Peter Jones, and the last by Waters and Gilmore. The second, Barrett , was produced by Gilmore and Wright. Malcolm Jones tells a story of a lucid Syd, able to nail songs in one take. He expressed disbelief in the chaotic nature of parts of the album, insinuating tha...