At this session, Art Linkletter – a popular TV personality known throughout the nation for his “Kids Say Anything” TV shows and a staunch Nixon campaign supporter – was one of those addressing the group. In April 1970, Grace Slick had designs on “slipping a mickey” into President Richard Nixon’s tea at a White House reception – the mickey, in this case, a tiny pill of LSD. The President’s daughter, Tricia Nixon, had planned a tea party for alumni of Finch College, the New York girls’ finishing school she had attended. Tricia had invited all of the Finch alumni to the White House tea party, and Grace Slick received an invitation. Grace Slick, for one, was no shrinking violet (no Alice pun intended) — an independent soul who spoke her mind. In fact, Slick would revel in her anti-authority role with the Jefferson Airplane, made larger by the group’s rising fame.
The Darker Side Of 1960s Music Scene
On the East Coast, the Velvet Underground symbolized a nihilistic cool version of psychedelia, picking up on its sonic techniques yet distancing themselves from the more playful “flower power” culture. 1960s counterculture, a broad-ranging social movement in the United States, Canada, and western Europe that rejected conventional mores and traditional authorities and whose members variously advocated peace, love, social justice, and revolution. From the beginning of the «Acid Tests» held at the Kesey ranch and in Haight-Ashbury, hippies had been looking for and inventing music that fit their unique approach to life. When he bought some musical instruments and gave them to Jerry Garcia and members of his band, known as the Grateful Dead, new music began to emerge. The Dead, as they were known, combined rock, folk, and jazz in long, rambling «jams» that contained wandering instrumental solos and references to drug use. The new style of music that these musicians invented came to be known as psychedelic or acid rock.
Beat Visions and the Counterculture
Psychedelic rock music was the first element of hippie culture to be mass marketed to the rest of the United States and then to the world. Thanks perhaps to the influence of the Beatles and their enormous fan base, rock music radio stations played psychedelic music and fans loved it. The music could be played on the radio because the references to drug use were always coded in obscure language. When the Beatles, for example, sang about «Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,» the innocent could enjoy the lovely image while drug users knew that the initials of the song title stood for LSD. Similarly, Jefferson Airplane’s song «White Rabbit»—with its lyric «one pill makes you larger, one pill makes you small»—could be an interpretation of the children’s story Alice in Wonderland or a description of a drug trip.
- Many people became hippies after having an experience, often under the influence of LSD, that converted them to a new set of beliefs or philosophy of life.
- The Dead, as they were known, combined rock, folk, and jazz in long, rambling «jams» that contained wandering instrumental solos and references to drug use.
- Agnew stated that certain rock songs and their lyrics, along with some Hollywood films, books, and underground newspapers, were among the chief culprits in the rising national drug problem.
- Intelligent but mentally disturbed, Manson saw himself as the messiah in a religion that combined the hippie fondness for «peace» and «love» with a strange mixture of biblical prophecy and Scientology.
The hippies sympathized with the political positions of their fellow dissenters yet rarely used politics as a means of expressing their rejection mainstream values. Politics, they claimed, was the game played by conventional adults, and they wanted no part of elections, lobbying, protests, and other common ways to bring about social change. In fact, they wanted no part of what they called «establishment» culture at all, believing that permanent legal and civil organizations were too concerned with material goods, too competitive, and too dominated by anxiety and corruption. Members of the hippie counter-culture expressed their dissent through personal expression—they dressed differently, wore their hair differently, listened to different music, talked differently, and used different drugs than their parents. Some hippies formed small groups and lived together in various kinds of small, self-supporting communities called communes. This is a question that looks at drug culture and music in the 60s and compares that to music today.
Grace Slick, meanwhile, declined to attend once her “bodyguard” was refused entry. President Nixon, in any event, was not at the tea that day, and had gone to Camp David. In addition to the Alice in Wonderland elements of the “White Rabbit” song, another influence on its construction was the music of jazz musicians Miles Davis and Gil Evans, and in particular, their 1960 album Sketches of Spain.
Discussions and debates about songs referencing drug use
And as the group’s songs rose on the charts, Jefferson Airplane’s fortunes began to soar. Psychedelic research began in the early 20th century, with substances like psilocybin and LSD capturing the interest of scientists for their profound effects on consciousness. Albert Hofmann’s 1938 synthesis of LSD-25 led to the first documented acid trip when he inadvertently absorbed a small amount through his skin. This discovery prompted further investigation into LSD’s psychological effects, with Hofmann recognizing its potential for profound therapeutic applications.
He later became friendly with Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, connecting the Beats with the “turned-on” psychedelic youth culture of the 1960s. William S. Burroughs struggled with a longtime heroin addiction that became the subject of much of his writing; he also dispassionately explored the short- and long-term effects of a vast range of drugs. One of the defining moments of the year was the «Human Be-In,» a strange festival of the hippie experience. The counterculture movement was not expressly religious, at least not in conventional terms, but for many of its participants, life as a hippie was in some ways like belonging to a religion. Many people became hippies after having an experience, often under the influence of LSD, that converted them to a new set of beliefs or philosophy of life.
Psychedelic era
Despite facing backlash, they continued to assert their sexuality through iconic songs like “You Don’t Own Me” and “Heat Wave.” While societal double standards persisted, these artists paved the way for future generations, empowering women in the music industry. By the mid-1960s, researchers were investigating psychedelics for their ability to treat mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and addiction. Influential figures like Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Stanislav Grof emerged, advocating for the transformative potential of these substances, with initial results suggesting deep psychological breakthroughs and lasting behavioral changes. Richard Alpert, originally a prominent Harvard psychologist, transitioned from academia to spiritual guru after profound experiences with psychedelics alongside Leary. He renamed himself Ram Dass, embraced Eastern spirituality and became a renowned teacher, author and countercultural icon, especially for psychonauts. Another organization, Weatherman, later known as Weather Underground, made up of young white militants, advocated communism and the overthrow of the U.S. government through violent revolution.
His widely publicized accounts introduced these sacred fungi to a global audience, but the resulting tourism — including famous musicians like John Lennon and Bob Dylan — had devastating consequences for the Mazatec tribe, leading to exploitation and cultural erosion. There are many music types and locations that may have an immediate association with drugs. For example, » there was also a perceived association between EDM (electronic dance music) and drug culture,…».46 There are very heavy stigma and stereotypes surrounding music like this, mainly at the locations they are held, such as a club or concert venue. Hoffman had been cleaned up a bit, dressed in a respectable suit and tie with well groomed hair. Grace too, appeared reasonably dressed, though sporting a see-through fish net blouse beneath her coat. The tea party, however, was billed as an “all ladies” event, which made Hoffman, waiting on line that day, immediately suspect.
Haight-Ashbury: Birthplace of the hippies
- This, coupled with the counterculture’s embrace of psychedelics, led to a perception shift — from a tool for scientific exploration to a dangerous societal threat.
- Nixon had campaigned as a law-and-order candidate, also blaming the Democrats for a reign of permissiveness in the 1960s – or as some characterized it, an explosion of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll.
- A generation of scientists lost the chance to gather long-term data on the therapeutic impact of psychedelics.
- Prior to Slick’s writing “White Rabbitt,” she had listened to the Davis / Evans album for hours, later saying that the bolero they used in parts of their music – a form of slow, crescendo-building Latin/Spanish dance music – was especially appealing.
Nixon had campaigned as a law-and-order candidate, also blaming the Democrats for a reign of permissiveness in the 1960s – or as some characterized it, an explosion of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. The Beatles, for instance, famously used LSD, which profoundly impacted their creativity and music, resulting in groundbreaking albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Pioneering artists like Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix mirrored the mind-altering effects of LSD in their music, creating sounds that encapsulated the psychedelic experience and solidified the drug’s place in the counterculture movement. To the hippies themselves, of course, their lifestyle was quite meaningful—at least for a time. Some important parts of their lifestyle were drug use, a new form of spirituality, and unconventional music.
Moreover, psychedelic rock’s influence was evident in later genres, from punk to rap to trip-hop, a 1990s mixture of hip-hop and contemporary psychedelia. Still, the Agnew-Linkletter-Nixon attack on rock music had a bit of a chilling effect on the airing of songs perceived to be lauding drug use. It is not uncommon for young people in the United States, or elsewhere, to question and criticize the values of their parents. In fact, rejection of parents’ values is widely understood to be an ordinary developmental stage in maturing toward adulthood.
Invented in 1938 by a Swiss scientist, it was thought to have potential as a treatment for mental illness, and both the federal government and many universities conducted studies with the drug 1960s Music and Drugs in the 1950s. Participants in these experiments reported on the powerful hallucinations they experienced while on the drug. Others were willing to experiment with a drug that was said to expand a person’s consciousness.
Drug use in music
In his first few months as president in 1969, Nixon proposed toughening drug enforcement laws, with legislation sent to Congress for review and hearings. In August 1969 the giant Woodstock musical festival was held in upstate New York, where many famous rock musicians performed, including Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and dozens of others. In the 1960s, the psychedelic music scene exploded, with bands like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, bringing psychedelics like LSD into the public discourse. Their music, infused with experimental sounds and mind-altering lyrics, was inspired by their well-documented use of psychedelics like acid and psilocybin mushrooms. Remnants of hippie culture have echoed through American culture ever since the 1960s ended.
At the ranch, Manson’s teachings grew increasingly bizarre, yet his followers grew to nearly fifty people. He prophesied that the world was about to experience a disaster that would kill most humans and that he and the Family would rise up from the desert to rule over the remains of the human race. In August of 1969 Manson convinced several of his followers to go on a string of killings.
Looking at musical genres and subgenres, multiple hard rock and heavy metal influenced groups have attracted the label of ‘stoner rock’ for frank references to ‘bongs’, ‘pot’, ‘toking’, ‘weed’, et cetera while avoiding mentioning other drugs in the same manner. In fact, when Slick wrote “White Rabbit” in 1965, the music scene in San Francisco had become something of an epicenter of cultural change. A major youth movement and counterculture was underway, with music and drugs at its center, including experimentation with “magic mushrooms” and hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. The resulting research shutdown prevented the advancement of our scientific understanding of psychedelics for several decades. A generation of scientists lost the chance to gather long-term data on the therapeutic impact of psychedelics.