A Review of the book Kaleidoscope Eyes, by Chicago Sun-Times rock critic Jim Derogatis
ISBN 1-85702-599-7, published by Fourth Estate Ltd.
This book covers the history of psychedelic music from its beginnings in Haight-Ashbury and London through to the present day. The first chapter begins with a detailed origin of the drug LSD-25 (the twenty-fifth synthesis of lysergic acid diethylamide), starting with the creation of the drug by Sandoz Laboratories chemist Albert Hoffman, with a discussion of Hoffman's first trip on his "White Bicycle", and further discussion of the usage of that ergot derivative by the United States government on test subjects and the drug's discovery by artists and intellectuals.
This material is important as a preface as it sets the stage for the sonic experimentations that are to follow. Hoffman's bicycle trip was later to be immortalized as a song by the band Tomorrow.
The chapter then goes into the origins of the San Francisco scene, where bands such as the Warlocks (later to be the Grateful Dead), the Jefferson Airplane (later Starship), the Quicksilver Messenger Service, and numerous others, got their start, and the London club scene, where groups such as Pink Floyd began, spurred on by such efforts as the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was recorded across the hall from the studio where the Floyd were recording their maiden effort A Saucerful of Secrets.
There are also frequent and entertaining anecdotes from present-day musicians speaking of their inspirations during this period, and sidebars chock-full of important dates in the histroy of psychedelia, from publication dates of books by such as William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Aldous Huxley.
The second chapter discusses in greater detail the psychedelic pioneering efforts of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones, and the impression their creativity and huge record sales figures had upon the audience and upon musicians in general, which is taken up in the third chapter, which has to do with the many "garage bands" that sprang up in their wake, ending up with the Velvet Underground.
Chapter four revolves around the next generation of California bands, such as the Byrds, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Steve Miller Band, and also includes material about the softer English bands and performers such as Donovan, Nick Drake, and the Incredible String Band, which draws the narrative back to the London clubs and a discussion of (the) Pink Floyd in the subsequent chapter.
Following a chapter completely Floydian, Derogatis segues into a discussion of British art-rock bands such as Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, et al, all of which had their psychedelic moments, and follows that with a lengthy meditation on the American third wave, with Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and the Hendrix-influenced early days of Parliament/Funkadelic, with a side of the English group Hawkwind, and then brings the discussion back across the ocean to uncover the roots of synthesizer psychedelia and ambient "rock" by visiting with the works of such as Brian Eno and then trotting across the continent to investigate the German bands Kraftwerk, Can, and Amon Duul II. Eno has an entire chapter devoted to his work, as he is extremely influential upon the modern groups.
Garage bands are then revisited as Derogatis explores the punk-rock phenomenon briefly, touching upon the contributions of such groups as Wire, Pere Ubu, and the little-known The Feelies. This leads to seeing the contributory efforts of such bands as the Psychedelic Furs, The Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, and the Soft Boys in a new light, and Teardrop founding member Julian Cope and Soft Boys guitarist-vocalist Robyn Hitchcock have lengthy sections within this chapter.
The final chapters discuss what the previous bands have inspired in the modern era, and cover certain groups that were not discussed in earlier chapters, such as heavy metal bands.
I found myself going into the hall closet where my lps are kept over and over and over while reading this book, pulling out this and that, hearing things I had owned for a long time with new ears and fresh insight.
While the book is not quite as complete as I would have liked it to be, especially in the connection between the early metal bands and the art-rock bands, which is one of my favorite periods in the history of rock music, it is extremely well-researched, and surpassingly well-written. I would recommend it to any historian of aficionado of psychedelic music in particular and rock music in general.
The author also conducts a weekly radio show, on WXRT-FM in Chicago, where,with cohost Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, he conducts interviews and otherwise entertains and informs the fortunate people of this city about his favorite music. (9-11 pm CST).
