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SUBCULTURE DETERMINISM AND THE BEATLES INFLUENCE ON PSYCHEDELIC CULTURE

by

Christopher A. McDow

(706) 575-1562

[email protected]

History 3125, Spring 2010

Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

11 May 2010

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Chris McDow

SUBCULTURE DETERMINISM AND THE BEATLES INLUENCE ON PSYCHEDLIC CULTURE

At the mention of psychedelia, images of sunburst colors, elongated, distorted guitar solos, and hazy

drug scenes come to the forefront of recollection. While these symbolic notions have some credibility, the

origin of these images is far more unique than their overall implications. In contemporary youth subculture

study, popularized by Stanley Cohen, it is argued that through labeling and collaboration of a majority culture,

primarily through media, that youth subcultures find definition. It is through the separation, exaggeration, and

forecasting of “deviant” behaviors, Cohen argues, that a subculture will find definition, making subculture

identification primarily dependent on traits based off of a larger social classification (Cohen 44).

While this theory certainly explains many of the interactions between a social subset and the majority

collective, it does not allow for the capacity of self-identification and self-articulated characteristics that a

subculture may cultivate. A particularly effective example of this can be found in the popularity and adherence

to the emergence of psychedelic notions first presented in the lyrics, instrumentation, and album art of the

Beatles. The unique concepts presented in the Beatles albums Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts

Club Band (1967) and Magical Mystery Tour (1967) became the standard for the perception and identification

of those associated with psychedelia. By comparing the perceptions of the fledgling psychedelic culture before

and after these albums, it is shown that the values, imagery, and politicization related with psychedelic culture

are not based on the recognition by the primary culture but by self-determined acknowledgment.

Psychological hallucinogenic drugs, nitrous oxide in particular, were first being used in the late 1770s as

a fleeting elitist pastime. However, it was being tested for medical viability by the 1840s. Between this time and

the late 1950‟s, there were inconsistent attempts to explain the hallucinogenic experience in social or cultural

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terms, such as with Paul Blood‟s 1874 pamphlet The Anesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy,

however, these writings were confined to a small and socially confined collective. While there were these few

isolated experiences, there was no large scale social model to promote “ideologies and models of organization”

for early psychodysleptic users until the emergence to the 1960s drug revolution (Grinspoon and Bakalar 57).

The discovery and synthesizing of LSD, by Albert Hofman in 1938, allowed for the greater access of

psychoactive drugs by the medical community. The increased accessibility of LSD permitted for the quick shift

of the substance from a medical instrument to a drug used for recreational purposes. The spread of the use

among the general public led to the development of a subsequent culture, not yet distinct and derivative from

cannabis culture.

The earliest recreational users of LSD were Caucasian college students, who were to become the core of

the hippie subculture in America. In its earliest stages, this cultural movement was viewed as a revitalization of

American Indian peyote culture, idealizing concepts such as guidance and liberation through visions

experienced in drug induced hazes. The cannabis-based hippie culture, the ancestor of the Beat generation,

viewed drug usage primarily as recreational activity, but also as a source of self-exploration, community, and

revolt against main culture sensibilities. The central theme of the developing drug culture was finding purpose

outside of the dominant culture via rejection of orthodox ideology, favoring individualistic philosophies.

However, the marijuana scene was primarily about “having a good time” and the “Be Here Now” philosophy

(MacDonald 18), relative to later self-exploring, mind expanding attempts of the psychedelic culture.

Psychedelic views such as this found vocalization (and personification in some instances) through the advocacy

of individuals such Harvard professor Timothy Leary (1920-1966) and British writer Aldous Huxley. Timothy

Leary, a self-described prophet of the drug “religion”, encouraged the use of the mind altering drugs in order to

achieve “metaphysical revelation” (Grinspoon and Bakalar 58), a concept inspired by Huxley. The Beatles later

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developed close ties to Leary, eventually writing music for his California governor campaign and receiving

praise from him concerning their progressive nature (MacDonald 17).

The difference between cannabis culture and psychedelic culture are often difficult to determine,

however, it is essential to understand these differences in order to express the importance of the drug culture

shift following the Beatles introduction of acid rock. The preceding drug culture found its musical voice in folk

artists of the time such as Bob Dylan, the early Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane, all of who were still

central to cannabis culture and had yet to concrete their concepts of psychedelia. The Grateful Dead, later

known as one of the quintessential psychedelic bands, were still uncertain of the psychedelic culture

iconography in 1967 (the same year as Sgt. Pepper’s release). This is evidenced by the earth toned cannabis-

centric art (Appendix A) and folk based lyricism found in their self-titled debut album. The lyrics found in the

few original songs from this first album still focus on the Romantic, recreational based drug usage that

dominates marijuana culture. An example of this can be found in a few of the following lines from “The Golden

Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”: “…everybody‟s dancing in a ring around the sun…”, “Take off your shoes,

take off your hat…”, and “Summer‟s coming on in, and going out of style. Well, lie down smoking, honey…”

The purpose of the drugs in this instance is not for self-realization; it is aimed at allowing communion with

nature and others. This admiration for nature (referencing the earlier, broader Romantic movement of the

eighteenth-century) as a source of outside inspiration is one of the central social characteristics of the hippy

cannabis culture, opposed the near paradoxical self-consumed self-denial of the derivative psychedelic culture.

The Grateful Dead psychedelic presence is not demonstrated until the 1969 Live/Dead live album, later to be

fully realized in the band-defining album, 1970‟s American Beauty.

According to Cohen, the characteristics of this cannabis culture, while obviously originating from self-

direction in the principles of counterculture, would finally find social solidification from the acknowledgment

of the accepted media. Indeed, major news outlets of the time, such as the New York Times, often portrayed the

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cannabis culture as lazy, uninspired, and inconsequential.1 The greatest contributor to the cannabis culture had

been the preceding Beat movement, which had already been vilified and structured according imposed

perceptions by the majority construct.2 Thus, many of the media imposed critiques of the cannabis culture were

simple duplications, or continuations, of the outlook regarding the originating subculture. This is important to

consider, as it would indicate that basis of psychedelic culture, due to its relation to cannabis and Beat culture,

should, in many ways be very closely related in general perception, as they are all in a sub cultural setting

(youth drug culture.) However, the differences in the psychedelic culture from its predecessors is so different, it

stands to say that the psychedelic culture had managed to find a way to at least present their values in a broad

general manner outside the media based filtration system that Cohen proposes. This is obtained through the

creative, intensely driven, and controlled music of the Beatles.

Up to 1966, the music of the Beatles had certainly been progressive in its own right. Several aspects,

such as the appearance of implied sexual lyrics, the concept of a band with no leader yet with strong, balanced

individualism (or collective individualism), new studio techniques, and the emergence of Mersey beat music as

a viable pop genre, all contributed to the massive innovations of the Liverpool foursome. With the expansion of

commercialism, the Beatles helped push music to forefront of expression for the new, consumption hungry

youth in the early 1960‟s, furthering the success of such innovators such as Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.

However, by 1965, the Beatles had begun to grow weary of being the epicenter of this idol driven consumerism.

Indeed, even as they had spent much of their money, starting with their successes in 1962, on cars and houses,

the group began railing against high consumption and exploitation by authority in their personal and

1 Stephen Golden, “Unshod Hippies Freed by Judge” New York Times, July 1, 1967 and Stephen Golden, “Hippies Find

Ways to Avoid Work” New York Times, August 27, 1967. These articles are just two examples of the presentation of counterculture

youth as being “bums…receiving handouts” and “unwashed, unshod, unkempt, and uninhibited”.

2“„Beat‟ – Or Not?” New York Times, November 30, 1952, SM78

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professional lives. By late 1965, they angrily decided to stop touring in favor of studio recording, opening up a

whole new chapter in the band‟s development. Also, it is during this time that some of members began their

first experimentation with LSD1, later turning into a dependency for Lennon.

It was this time that the appearance of their fondness for eastern musical principles and instruments,

nonsensical lyrics, intricate studio effects, tone poem atmospheres, and Mellotron (an early, tape based

keyboard sampler). These qualities are now the basis or definition of the term „psychedelic rock‟. Most of this

emerges in the mid 1966 album Revolver. While Harrison had already to expressed his affinity for the sitar and

Lennon for tonal soundscapes in 1965‟s Rubber Soul (“Norwegian Wood”/ “Girl”), the effect was one of

control and only mild self-expression, relative to the following album‟s eruption towards psychedelic. In

Revolver, the listener found a deep understanding of mystic eastern musical notions in Harrison (“Tomorrow

Never Knows”/ “Love You To”), later evolving in Sgt. Peppers (“Within You without You”). Also, there came

a heavy nod to Leary and the principles of self-realization through Lennon. “Tomorrow Never Knows” takes

majority of it‟s lyrics from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the basis of Leary‟s psychotherapy via psychoactive

drugs. In this song, there is a key shift from self identity of the individual in context of a larger social collective

or movement (as with cannabis culture) to a petition to find obscurity in “the Void”. This concept of a loss of

self identity becomes the emphasis of the LSD movement, leading to the realization that one is only a subset of

a larger body or totality.

The drastic shift from self-identification to lack of self-identity has a very important impact on the

whole of youth culture: the movement towards politicization and militarization. One key aspect that comes to

1Albert Goldman, The Lives of John Lennon (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1988), p. 197-8. Also, The Independent,

“Revealed: Dentist Who Introduced Beatles to LSD” http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/revealed-dentist-

who-introduced-beatles-to-lsd-415230.html (accessed March 23, 2010).

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define LSD culture is the potential for the psychedelic to appear both as a “child of nature”, then a “gun-

brandishing urban guerilla” (MacDonald 17). In Revolver, you find the first murmurings of the political

consciousness slowly gaining momentum within the drug culture in such songs as “Taxman”, and “She Said

She Said”. By 1967, with the release of Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles have made a fairly drastic shift

towards the political/drug collage songs with “I Am the Walrus”, “Baby, You‟re A Rich Man”, and “All You

Need Is Love”. “Taxman”, the earliest of these politicized songs also is considered one of the bluntest. The lead

track on the album, it explicitly names two popular British figures of the time, Harold Wilson, the British Labor

Prime Minister and Edward Heath, the Conservative Leader of the Opposition. (Riley 183.) The lyrics become

an obvious and heavy handed divergence from the earlier, politically neutral compositions. While Bob Dylan

had used his folk music influence to present political issues in a poetic manner, the Beatles were one of the first

bands to vocalize a clear, ambitious agenda. A song such as this becomes the origin for many of the candidly

political material, such as “Revolution” on 1968‟s The Beatles, and Lennon‟s later works. The presentation of

such material to an expansive market, previously uncharted by artists like Dylan, introduced the world to the

use of rock as unapologetic political and social commentary.

Revolver also contributed immensely to the definition of psychedelic art. Designed by artist and friend

of the band Klaus Voorman, the cover is the first real demonstration of the surrealism within a psychedelic

context (Riley 182). While emerging psychedelic artists such as Stanley Mouse and Rick Griffin were still

emulating Art Noveau painters like Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), Voormans use of surrealism within a

psychedelic medium was distinct. The distorted sketching of the Beatles, surrounding the photographic collage

of the different aspects of the band members implies a more contortionist perspective than previously seen in

psychedelic art (Appendix B). The art that emerges in late 1966, such as the Fillmore Posters (Appendix C),

begins to use the more LSD influenced surrealism opposed to the earlier, subconscious-dream inspired pieces.

In the following year, the Beatles also issue another psychedelic-inspiring album cover with Sgt. Peppers

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Lonely Hearts Club Band (Appendix D). While not contortionist, it is an intellectually distorted look at the band

as the localized concept band. What the album art does do that is unique at the time is the use of highly

contrasting colors, evidenced by the day-glo uniforms and vivid scenery. This aspect of psychedelic art, while

not entirely original to artist Peter Blake, was new to the psychedelic scene. This type of surrealistic color-

contrasting art form became very popular after appearing on the Beatles covers. By the release of the

epitomizing psychedelic album art on Magical Mystery Tour (Appendix E), psychedelic art had a fully

established artistic style.

The drug culture that emerged after the release of Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, and Magical Mystery Tour

was one that was discernibly changed. By the end of 1966 with the success of Revolver, psychedelic rock was

an established form of modern music, distinctly different from its‟ folk and rock origins. With the expansion of

elongated, distorted electric guitar solos came the popularity of Jimi Hendrix, often argued as one of the most

ingenious guitar players ever.1 With the revolution caused by the Beatles intricate studio effects on songs like

“Tomorrow Never Knows” came the emergence of the early progressive rock groups like Pink Floyd. The

incorporation of surreal and whimsical lyrics in songs such as “I‟m Only Sleeping” and “Yellow Submarine”

helped create a larger musical audience for bands like The Grateful Dead. The implications of these albums was

not restricted to music, as the popularity of psychedelic painters, like Mouse and Griffin, grew in the late 1960s

until the art style eventually featured in a national forum.2 By 1968, psychedelic art was being featured on

national marketing channels, including NBC and CBS. The Beatles movement towards politically motivated

songs also greatly contributed to the emergence of a bluntly political youth counterculture, influencing such

1 Hendrix was heavily influenced by, and admired, the Beatles. Only two days after Sgt. Peppers release, the Beatles attended

the Monterey Festival, where Hendrix had already learned and masterfully performed the title track (MacDonald 185).

2 New York artist Peter Max is recognized as the first nationally recognized psychedelic artist through his work on General

Electric produced clocks.

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bands as Black Sabbath and The Sex Pistols. The political unrest demonstrated in the music of the subculture

had never been so apparent until after the politicization of the Beatles.

All of these abrupt changes in the characteristics of the youth subculture after the release of three albums

over a two year period indicate an important shift in psychedelic culture from within, not from an extrinsic

social source. The deviance from Cohen‟s theory is illustrated by how much impact even one Beatles album

had on the emerging subculture, none of which was derived from the media interactions with the dominant

culture. The shifts in music, art, and social conceptualization came not from the defamation or exaggeration of

the youth culture, but from acknowledged attributes by the youth themselves. While they do not disprove

Stanley Cohen‟s theory of forecasted deviant behavior, the Beatles and their influence on youth subculture do

create a need for a greater consideration for the self-defining initiative in the study of youth subcultures.

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Appendix

A) Stanley Mouse, The Grateful Dead album cover (1967)

B) Klaus Voorman, Revolver album cover (1966)

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Appendix (cont.)

C) Wes Wilson, Jefferson Airplane, Muddy Waters concert poster (1966)

D) Peter Blake, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover (1967)

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Appendix (cont.)

E) Artist Unknown, Magical Mystery Tour album cover (1967)