Mid-Week Anniversary & Remembrance Songs

The '60s were a time of intense musical experimentation and discovery, with musical genres seeming to mix and regenerate. One American band on the cutting edge of much of the innovation was The Byrds, who 50 years ago (!) this week released the iconic "Eight Miles High." Viewed by many to be the first psychedelic rock song, the complex, free-form guitar break is actually heavily jazz-influenced (specifically John Coltrane). Despite the song's assumed reference to psychedelic drugs, the song's authors made the case that it was actually about their flight to London, England ("rain gray town, known for its sound") in 1965 (eight miles high would be an airliner's altitude limit in those days). Nevertheless, many radio stations banned the "controversial" song. *



Last weekend, Keith Emerson, a member of the British progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer passed away, sadly by his own hand after a debilitating battle with depression and heart disease. As the group's keyboardist, Emerson was an early player of the Moog synthesizer, which dominates the last minute or so of one of their hits, "Lucky Man." RIP.



* For a study in contrast, check out Gene Clark's acoustic version here.