ABSTRACT
Although it would be a sweeping generalisation to say that the British record charts of 1967 were totally dominated by flower power hits, there was nevertheless a strong move towards songs combining a heady infusion of love and acid. In January 1967 Donovan set the mood with SunshineSuperman which had moved up to No. 3 on the charts, and this was quickly followed up by Mellow Yellow and the Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever, a key hallucinatory track. The Jimi Hendrix Experience released PurpleHaze and The Wind Cries Mary; Procol Harum A Whiter Shade of Pale and the Kinks, Waterloo Sunset. July continued the trend, with Cream’s release of Strange Brew, but by this time the emphasis was moving increasingly towards love and sentimentality, a possible reaction to an acid experience.1 This was encapsulated by the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love and the Stones’ somewhat untypical We Love You. Of even greater significance was the release of the Beatles’ pivotal concept album, Sgt.Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and its dark counterpart, the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request, both of which encoded the acid experience through multi-layered esoteric references.2 At the same time, the West Coast scene moved into focus with Scott McKenzie’s San Francisco, which was immediately followed up by the Flowerpot Men’s Let’s Go to SanFrancisco.3
