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Wed 22 October 2025 18:30, UK
In 1966, The Beatles were presented with a very clear fork in the road.
It was either stay somewhat on course, and continue to write pop-tinged rock hits that would keep them in the good graces of music fans the world over. Or it was to take a quick step change to the left, embracing their curiosity for psychadelia, as fuelled by their new found love of LSD.
As we all know, they chose the latter and much to the benefit of music. With one swift consumption of an LSD tab, the boys from Liverpool delivered a run of records that will simply never be matched. Partly because the music was absolutely brilliant, and partly because they were The Beatles, the perennially charming boys next door, they got away with it.
Donning outrageously large moustaches and colourful flares, they became the poster boys for psychedelia, as opposed to warning signs for drug-induced chaos. Sure, they may have sparked fits of jealous rage among some musicians, who wouldn’t have been afforded the same grace, but ultimately, it was a net positive.
Because a cohort of open minded bands could follow in the slipstream and embrace the kaleidoscopic worlds of psychedelic music. And one band who epitomized that better than no other, was The Grateful Dead. While Jerry Garcia would be hesitant to admit their role in forging a path for future artists, given his rather indifferent feeling towards their music, the fact is they soften the blow of psychedelia to the world and harvested an appetite for music like Garcia’s.
But despite The Beatles paving a very wide path for them to follow, Paul McCartney never expected them to become quite as big as they were, largely down to their somewhat cliche representation of their style.
He explained, “My own personal thing was that seeing The Grateful Dead become so popular over the last few years because you know I’ve got like young nephews and their friends and stuff in America particularly and I’ve seen them grow up and it’s strange to see these kids coming around you know with headbands on, Dead t-shirts, you know well into Jerry and the gang you know.”
But he was ultimately pleased to see it was the case, for it confirmed to him that youthful rebellion was not rooted in anything other than the genuine appeal of the music.
He added, “So I think, you know, when you think, well, hell, I mean, it does mean there isn’t really a youth factor. It’s more a music factor. And I do think kids are getting more into, like, 60s music. My kids are certainly into, like, Otis Redding, James Brown, Traffic, Jimi Hendrix.”
Even recently, as Dead heads descended upon Las Vegas’ The Sphere, for the band’s residency there, a whole host of new fans joined in the celebration of psychedelia to prove the timelessness of Garcia and his work. Then again, should we be surprised when a band like King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard are playing the Royal Albert Hall?
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