Are You Ready for the Acid Test? Quiz

Answer: Grateful Dead

Ken Kesey (who wrote "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"), along with his "Merry Pranksters", spent part of the '60s sponsoring parties (calling them 'Acid Tests') featuring psychoactive drugs in the San Francisco, California area. The parties included music by bands like the Warlocks, who renamed themselves the Grateful Dead; that's the answer to the question.

The Psychedelic Era took on its own identity in the 'Summer of Love' in 1967, particularly in the San Francisco area, and the Grateful Dead were at the heart of it. As the years went by, the Dead were referred to as a psychedelic jug band, worn out hippies and other pejoratives but they outlasted the other bands, spawning imagery such as the doodah man and "China Cat Sunflower" along the way. It took the death of their leader, Jerry Garcia, in 1995, to finally bring the band to a halt, although band members still tour.

Answer: White Rabbit

"White Rabbit" was from Jefferson Airplane's second album, "Surrealistic Pillow", released in early 1967. It was the album that gave them international recognition. Written by lead singer Grace Slick, "White Rabbit" was a top ten hit record and one of the first to get drug references past radio censors. Slick was the second female vocalist for the band; her expressive voice set the Jefferson Airplane apart from many of the other groups.

Answer: thinking

The Moody Blues determined on their "In Search of the Lost Chord" album that thinking was the best way to travel. The progressive rock band recorded concept albums that were tightly interwoven. Before beginning work on the "Lost Chord" album, some of the band members experimented with LSD. "The Best Way to Travel" was heavy on special effects (like panning a held-note from right to left and back) and could be why "Legend of a Mind", a song about LSD guru Timothy Leary, made its way onto the album.

Answer: Donovan

Donovan (Donovan Leitch) began his musical career as a folk singer in an early Bob Dylan style. Then, something changed! He first used an electric guitar on "Season of the Witch", a song of paranoia and skepticism, which was released in September, 1966. Radio listeners wanted to hear it, so the stations had to find time to include it in their playlists. Among his other psychedelic songs were "Hurdy Gurdy Man", "Mellow Yellow" and "There Is A Mountain".

Answer: Tomorrow Never Knows

It seems like the Beatles controlled most of the money in rock music in the mid- to late-sixties. They experimented with different instruments and sounds, toured the world just to experience it, had little movies made for their songs (we would now call them music videos) and by their own admission, experimented with drugs. "Tomorrow Never Knows" was written primarily by John Lennon after he bought a copy of "The Psychedelic Experience..." by Timothy Leary, et al, read it and took LSD.

Many of their later works had Asian influences and drug references; some were just so wildly different from the usual rock songs that we knew they had to be 'psychedelic'.

Answer: The Status Quo

"Pictures of Matchstick Men" was written by Francis Rossi, a founder of the group The Status Quo. It refers to the "matchstick men" figures in some of the paintings of English artist L.S. Lowry, who also painted mysterious, brooding landscapes and portraits. The Status Quo produced musical effects by using a wah-wah pedal attached to a guitar to alter the tone (known to recording engineers as a spectral glide). Basically one-hit wonders in the U.S., they were more successful in Europe.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones (which is the answer to this question) always seemed to be one album behind the Beatles. "2000 Light Years From Home" was a song on the Stones' "Their Satanic Majesties Request" album, sometimes referred to as their psychedelic album, which was released a few months after "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles.

The Beatles used a Leslie Speaker (also known as a Leslie Horn) in some of their songs to produce a doppler effect (they also used many other effects), The Status Quo and other bands used wah-wah pedals, the Stones used a mellotron, an electronic keyboard instrument and reversal of one of the recording tracks, all orchestrated by band member Brian Jones. Finally tiring of chasing the Beatles, Jones suggested in 1968 that they go back to their roots as a blues-rock band; "Beggars Banquet", a decidedly non-psychedelic album was the result and heralded the Stones' musical direction for most of the 1970s.

Answer: Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes were a group that wanted to experiment with psychedelic music. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" (1966) was their biggest hit. There were many iterations of the group over the years; one included Kenny Loggins, who went on to success with Jim Messina. Because of dealings between their manager and a record producer the Prunes lost most of the control of their music. An album credited to them, "The Mass in F Minor" was actually recorded by studio musicians. The song "Kyrie Eleison" from the album was used in the movie "Easy Rider".

Answer: Traffic

"Dear Mr. Fantasy" was a song from Traffic's 1967 album "Mr. Fantasy". Not released as a single, the emerging album-oriented radio stations picked it from the album and gave it significant airplay. After disbanding and regrouping, their critically acclaimed album, "John Barleycorn Must Die" was released in 1970. While they were successful as a group, the members: Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason, played with and influenced many of the recording giants of the day, including Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison and Fleetwood Mac.

Answer: The Byrds

The Byrds released "Eight Miles High" in March, 1966. An influential radio journal, the "Gavin Report" called attention to perceived drug references in the song, causing U.S. stations to shy away from the song for a while. The Byrds were instrumental in launching the folk rock music genre and also in experimentation with psychedelic lyrics and musical styles. The band members said the song was actually about their 1965 tour of Great Britain.