ABSTRACT
In contrast to several of the other genres covered in this chapter, psychedelia was, in the main, contained within a relatively short historical period. In broad terms, psychedelia and the psychedelic era stretched between 1966 and 1969. Equally significant to the pre-history of psychedelia were contextual, social and political shifts, many of which will be explored in the following section. In America, psychedelia mattered: although in Britain it let loose the imagination, it was a style, part of our mad parade. It is important to emphasise that the relationship between popular music tracks and psychedelia was one of differing degree and intensity, both in terms of the techniques employed, the overall rationale and the intended outcome. The authors would argue that progressive, as a named genre rather than as a value-based adjective, does exhibit significant distinctions from psychedelia.
