ABSTRACT
Rock and roll initially drew its audience from the 1950s teen culture. By the 1960s a more mature form of rock music was a fundamental part of the rising counterculture. In significant numbers, members of this youth-oriented movement sought alternatives to the mainstream establishment, often through consumption of mind-altering drugs. Hallucinogenic drugs inspired psychedelic music, which tried to replicate an LSD experience or help create an environment for taking those “acid trips.” The illegality and unknown impact of many of the drugs of choice led to concerns both valid and hysterical. The counterculture’s quest for alternatives was not by definition a threat to the existing society. It could at times be thrilling and terrifying, liberating and confining. Its consequences were not always predictable. As writer Herbert London concludes, “some did discover an inner peace; others wandered so far from life that they could not find their way home again.” 1
