Origins in Folk Rock, Garage Rock  & Surf Rock

The music at the time that the psychedelic age had begun was folk rock moderately paced and a smooth, peaceful sound which was compatible with marijuana smoking and acid dropping.  Then there was garage rock or early hard rock that was still popular as well as soul music which peaked during the mid-sixties.

Just like with other sub-genres the Beatles had something to do with the creation of the sub-genre known as “Psychedelic Rock”.

Lennon started the experimentations with folk songs like “Norwegian Wood”,” You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and “Ticket to Ride”, now he took it one step further with recording instruments backwards on tape creating very eerie and uncommon sounds to give a surreal effect is evident of the song “Rain”. This is the beginning of art in rock and roll. Much of Lennon’s music in the mid-sixties was influenced by the then-current sounds of music going on in America. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and the San Franciscan scene influenced the Beatles to have been folkier in 1965. There then developed a back and forth competition as to who could come up with the more innovative sound.

The Beatles sound clearly had started to change from straight-up rock & roll to a more folk rock and country mix manifested on albums like “Beatles 65′”, “Help”, “Beatles VI” and the masterful “Rubber Soul”, this was reciprocated with America’s Byrds albums “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Turn, Turn, Turn!”, “The Fifth Dimension” and “Younger Than Yesterday” and Bob Dylan’s triumvirate of albums “Bringing It All Back Home”, “Highway 61” and 1966’s “Blonde on Blonde” which are all key albums in folk rock.