Portland Public Library

Into the mystic, the visionary and ecstatic roots of 1960s rock and roll, Christopher Hill

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 278-285) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Into the mystic

bibliography

969439318

Christopher Hill

the visionary and ecstatic roots of 1960s rock and roll

"The 1960s were a time of huge transformation, sustained and amplified by the music of that era: Rock and Roll. During the 19th and 20th centuries visionary and esoteric spiritual traditions influenced first literature, then film. In the 1960s they entered the realm of popular music, catalyzing the ecstatic experiences that empowered a generation. Exploring how 1960s rock and roll music became a school of visionary art, Christopher Hill shows how music raised consciousness on both the individual and collective levels to bring about a transformation of the planet. The author traces how rock and roll rose from the sacred music of the African Diaspora, harnessing its ecstatic power for evoking spiritual experiences through music. He shows how the British Invasion, beginning with the Beatles in the early 1960s, acted as the 'detonator' to explode visionary music into the mainstream. He explains how 60s rock and roll made a direct appeal to the imaginations of young people, giving them a larger set of reference points around which to understand life. Exploring the sources 1960s musicians drew upon to evoke the initiatory experience, he reveals the influence of European folk traditions, medieval Troubadours, and a lost American history of ecstatic politics and shows how a revival of the ancient use of psychedelic substances was the strongest agent of change, causing the ecstatic, mythic, and sacred to enter the consciousness of a generation. The author examines the mythic narratives that underscored the work of the Grateful Dead, the French symbolist poets who inspired Bob Dylan, the hallucinatory England of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, the tale of the Rolling Stones and the Lord of Misrule, Van Morrison's astral journeys, and the dark mysticism of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. Evoking the visionary and apocalyptic atmosphere in which the music of the 1960s was received, the author helps each of us to better understand this transformative era and its mystical roots"--Back cover

An Experience of Power -- The Unsuspected Immigrant and the Invisible Institution -- The Isle Is Full of Noises -- The Meaning of the British Invasion -- The Western Rim -- Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the California Apocalypse -- The Chimes of Freedom -- Bob Dylan, Folk-Rock, and Deep America -- The Vision of the Beloved -- Troubadours, Love Songs, and the Pretty Ballerina -- Earthquake Country -- The Grateful Dead, Acid, and the Mythic Life -- Saving England -- The Beatles and the World of Sgt. Pepper -- My Name Is Called Disturbance -- The Rolling Stones and the Lord of Misrule -- The Sorrowful Mysteries -- Van Morrison and Astral Weeks -- The Proverbs of Hell -- The Journey of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground -- The Vision of Childhood -- The Incredible String Band and British Psychedelia -- An Experience of Power -- Zenta New Year, 1968, the Grande Ballroom, Detroit