The Psychedelic Drug Of Choice Essay

In 1967, The Beatles released and the album that would change the way people looked at them as a band and as music as a whole. ‘ 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band ' ' was The Beatles eighth studio album and took them 5 months to complete. At the time of the release, hippie culture was prevailing and this year is widely remembered as the summer of love. Long hair, recreational drug use, and psychedelic rock music come to mind when quizzed on stereotypes of the decade, but was it all flowers and peace – or did the ‘Summer of Love ' have a dark side? The group battled with inquisitions about their usage of the drug LSD, which seemed

LSD, Psilocybin, DMT, MDMA, Ketamine and Adrenochrome… what do they all have in common? They are all psychedelic drugs. Psychedelic drugs are drugs that cause hallucinations and apparent expansion of consciousness. There are many unanswered questions about the drug, what exactly is a psychedelic and what defines it also, what is the purpose of a psychedelic drug? Psychedelics are usually thought of as one of the most profound times in your life or one of the worst decisions you have ever made, but either way it is a life changing experience. Another aspect of psychedelic drugs is the myths and misconceptions about the different types, some are exponentially more dangerous than the others and in the end each drug has a different effect on whomever

The Beatles were a very well-known and popular band in the sixties. The use of LSD and other drugs heavily influenced two of their albums, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Their first experience with the drug within the band was when John Lennon and George Harrison accidentally took acid in 1965. After their eye opening incident, Lennon and Harrison decided that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr needed to try it as well because they found that “[they] couldn't relate to them any more. Not just on the one

Drugs were often promoted in songs during the 1960’s. Many artists experimented with drugs in order to become more creative and influential. The most popular example is the Beatles. At the beginning of their career, the Beatles were more of a rock band then any other genre; however, after Bob Dylan introduced them to the drug Cannabis in 1964, their music began to become more mellow and contemplative. John Lennon admitted in an interview that the Song “Strawberry Fields Forever” (Document F), was affected by drug use even though there were not any specific references to the use of drugs in them. The Beatles released more songs were drug use was more evident. Lyrics used in Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds (Document H) were prime examples of this. A woman having “kaleidoscope eyes” and a place “where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies” are clear examples of the effects of drugs on individuals. Drug use was also evident in the music videos the Beatles created. A Day

Everyone, Americans and Europeans alike, have heard-of, if not grown off of, a generation and culture started by an ensemble of four shaggy-haired Liverpool musicians that the world went mad over; no one can deny that no greater event impacted today's pop culture than "Beatlemania". But not everyone has heard the story behind the Beatles, who were they? How did they become the band and how did they make it big? What's the story of their struggle?

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

These substances are in turn broken down in the body into a great many more

Have you ever wondered if the Beatles ever jumped on the bandwagon of drug use in the 60s? Well the Beatles were fond of certain drugs for years before the famous trip in 1964 that brought them to the Ed Sullivan studio.

     From the sounds of Elvis many other important bands of the sixties were inspired, even people a thousand miles away from America. One of these important bands was the Beatles. The Beatles took the rock sound and added more lyrical and musical complexity to the sound. The Beatles were the starters of the “British Invasion” in 1963 when they released “I want to Hold Your Hand” (Kallen, 2012, 31). After their first single they had immense success with other hits such as “She Loves You” and “Woooo!” The Beatles continued to reinvent their music on the various other albums throughout the sixties delving into complex, heavy existential concepts and psychedelic elements, becoming the most relevant influence for modern rock.

The Beatles started as an English skiffle group in the late 1950s. By the time they reached their peak popularity, the term “Beatlemania” was coined to explain the frenzied obsession with the group. A former associate editor from Rolling Stone drew a comparison between the Beatles and Picasso, calling them “artists that broke through their time period to come up with something that was unique and original.” Throughout their discography, the Beatles have time and time again released music that both broke musical trends and engrossed the masses. They have held an “unprecedented top five spots on the

For thousands of years, music has been influencing people in extraordinary ways. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band should not be mistaken as an ordinary album. Without a doubt, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an incredibly innovative album, stands as the most influential album of all time; it stands as a true masterpiece. People all around, especially artists, were influenced greatly by the innovations the album brought to the world of music. Many people have said that from the moment they heard the first track of the album, it was life changing. Like the first falling domino tile of a domino show, June 1, 1967, would mark the start of the influence of many generations of music to come. The album helped popularize concept albums, in which songs are connected to a theme, which would inspire many musicians to do the same. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a psychedelic rock album; a manifestation of life in the 1960’s. This genre of rock is home to the work of numerous artists who were influenced by the album’s use of this style of rock. The hours of work put into by the Beatles to create this album surpassed those of any of their albums. Not only that, it altered the way music was recorded by creating their own recording techniques. Surely, these recording techniques and tactics were used by future artists in their work which then led to the creation of legendary music. Sgt. Pepper’s opened the gate to innovation; an album whose impact on

In the early wave, the Beatles created a frenzy that was never seen before in America. “In early August 1964, Beatlemania had become a full blown epidemic. Teenage girls jammed the theaters, singing along with the songs, shrieking and crying as each of the lovable mop tops did his star turn” (Ward, 279). Teenage girls were acting way out of line according to previous etiquette established in earlier decades. This started a gradual trend of major change from this point on. We could even say that the Beatles were the most influential entity on American behavior in the last forty years. In the second wave, a sort of “drug culture” emerged; headed by such bands as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd and others. While the Beatles and the Stones (more so in the early years) had a clean-cut look, these bands were openly on acid, and it was well known that it was considered one of their main sources of creativity. “Held at Alexandra Palace…inside the cavernous structure, there were bands (often two at once, playing from full volume from opposite ends of the hall), an unending display of film and lights…about dawn, as the walls of Ally Pally began to turn pink, Pink Floyd finally came on…everyone had been waiting for them and everybody was on acid” (Ward, 355). This quote shows the elaborate performances that these “acid bands” put on, and how the audience was so high that the spectacle before them just added to the experience. This particular

A Swiss chemist named Dr. Albert Hoffman first produced lysergic acid Diethylmide –or best known as LSD in 1938 (Dye, 1992, p. 2). Hoffman discovered the drug while trying to synthesize a new drug for the treatment of headaches. He obtained the lysergic acid from the parasitic fungus that grows on rye plants known as ergot. From the lysergic acid, he synthesized the compound LSD. He used the compound to test for its pain killing properties on laboratory animals. Being that appeared totally ineffective, the bottle of LSD was placed on a shelf and remained untouched for five years.

Psychedelic drug use has been present in both traditions and used recreationally for millennia. Their use can be seen in all corners of the planet by many sects of religions and indigenous peoples. Reasons for usage vary from religious or medical purposes, hunting, war, and spirituality. The drug use was viewed with much less of a negative stigma than it is today.

Psychedelics are widely believed by the scientific community to be the oldest substances to be used by human ancestors. Ancient cultures from almost every corner of the world have some form of history with psychedelic drugs. Associate Professor Emeritus at Harvard Medical School Dr. Lester Grinspoon has claimed that there is overwhelming archeological evidence supporting the notion that humans have used psychedelics for thousands of years as part of religious ceremonies (Grinspoon and Bakalar 1983: 16-23). Mescaline-containing cacti found in 2005 by archeologists and carbon dated to 3780 BC (El-Seedi et al. 238-242) suggest that Native Americans valued peyote’s naturally produced psychedelic, mescaline. There is also an abundance of literature