I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum) [Paperback]

James Henke (Author), Charles Perry (Author), Barry Miles (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum | Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Whether you turned on, tuned in, dropped out , or just stood by, you know the music of the psychedelic mo vement is unforgettable. The chief curator of the Rock and R oll Hall of Fame and Museum presents a tribute of the style and sound of the Summer of Love '

Editorial Reviews

Review

The photographs capture posters, clothing and paraphernalia from the era in addition to the musicians, artists, poets and celebrities of the time. Star Tribune

--Star Tribune, June 1997
It hardly seems possible that the psychedelic era is 30-some years old, but the first major exhibition by the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland celebrated that era so it must be so. Still...30 years?

I Want To Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era: 1965-1969, edited by James Henke, essays by Charles Perry and Barry Miles is very much a Rolling Stone magazine product. Henke, the chief curator of the museum, is a former music editor of the magazine, and Perry has been associated with it since 1968. Miles has been involved in the cultural scene in London since the '60s and has written books about the late Allen Ginsberg and former Beatle Paul McCartney, both of whom first made names for themselves in the psychedelic years.

In an introduction, Henke quickly reminds the reader of not only the volume but the quality of the creative explosion that the book will survey. The music and energy of the period was fueled by the music and juices of the Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, the Rolling Stones, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, the Velvet Underground, Big Brother and the Holding Company (read Janis Joplin), the Byrds, Donovan. . . and on and on.

The book covers the era both in the United States and England, where the first hint of the psychedelic era -- the marriage of drug use and pop culture -- took place on June 11, 1965, at the "Poets of the World/Poets of Our Time" reading at the Royal Albert Hall (one of the organizers of that event was Miles). The featured poets were Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso. Russian poet Andrei Voznesensky did not read, but sat in the audience along with Indira Gandhi, the future prime minister of India. Controversial psychiatrist R.D. Laing brought along a dozen of his patients to dance and blow bubbles.

If that was the beginning of the four-year summer of love, Woodstock's protest celebration in 1969 was the culmination.

The book covers the era through text, illustration, photos, a time-line across the bottom of many of the pages and the wonderful recollections of the people who were involved. The photographs capture posters, clothing and paraphernalia from the era in addition to the musicians, artists, poets and celebrities of the time. There are memories from Grace Slick, Boz Scaggs, Bob Weir, Country Joe McDonald, Donovan, Ginsberg and many more. A double-page spread features a pschedelic-colored Buick painted by artist David Vaughan for the design group Binder, and Country Joe, Joplin and Santana are captured in action at Woodstock.

From the time-lines the reader learns that on January 24, 1967, San Francisco police chief Thomas Cahill coined the term "the Love Generation" to describe the folks living in Haight-Ashbury, and on the 27th of the same month, the United States, the Soviet Union and 58 other nations signed a treaty banning nuclear weapons in outer space.

If you can't make it to the exhibit, or the traveling show at the Mall of America from July 4 to 6, this catalog is the next best.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

James Henke is vice-president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. For 16 years he was a writer and editor at Rolling Stone magazine. He has also written and edited several books on rock and roll.

Barry Miles was a seminal cultural figure in the London scene throughout the 60s. His many books include biographies of Allen Ginsberg and Paul McCartney. He lives in London.

Charles Perry has been associated with Rolling Stone since 1968 and is currently a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First edition. edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811817008
• ISBN-13: 978-0811817004
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,181,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Coffee table picture book psychedelic nostalgia for boomers, November 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum) (Paperback)

While I am pleased to see a postive book on hippies and psychedelics, this book is an obvious attempt to cash in on the 30th anniversity of the summer of love, 1967. While giving a general overview of the impact of psychedelic drugs in the sixties, it mainly focuses on the year 1967 and the cities of London and San Francisco. It tells the same old story we've read a million times of the wonders of Haight-Ashbury and the events around the summer of 1967. New York and LA are given passing mentions, while the rest of the country and most of the world are totally ignored. There are alot of nice pictures, but there is also too much filler, i.e., 2 page spreads of crowds, people hanging out, etc. The usual cast of characters are here: Leary, Keasey, the SF bands, the Beatles, the Stones, etc. Being an american, the most interesting part to me was the articles about some of the british sceen makers, such as Peter Jenner, Indica Bookstore and the International Times. The real revelation was the poster work of Hapshash and the Coloured Court, a pair of London artists which certainly equaled if not outshown the San Francisco poster artists of the time. Too bad not more of their work was shown and less of crowd scenes. Overall, the book had alot of interesting trivia and pictures, but it generally lacked depth and had too much filler. Published by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the book is an obvious attempt to promote the major bands that came out of a certain scene, rather than an indepth study of the scene itself.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pure fluff--but entertaining, May 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 (Hardcover)

While this book has many great pictures from the decade and examples of artwork inspired by psychedelic rock, it is a very lightweight effort. Perhaps it was meant to be that way. Concentrating almost solely on London and the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, the book consists mainly of reminiscences of aging hippies, most of whom were involved in the music and/or art scene of that era, either in San Francisco or London. Pretty much all of these consist of uncritical reminiscences about the hippie movement, whose downfall, if we are to believe these people, apparently came only from its eventual invasion by those looking to get rich off the movement (i.e., the establishment), totally disregarding the fact that those hucksters and exploiters were there from the beginning within the movement. One thing that also bothered me is that the rampant drug use of the period was presented almost completely as a positive thing. Indeed, it was glorified. With the exception of mentioning that Syd Barrett apparently became emotionally unhinged at least in part due to his use of LSD, there is almost no mention of the lives destroyed by the hedonism and drug use of the period, including such famous rock pioneers as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison, to name the most prominent. While it was interesting and entertaining to read many of these reminiscences, I wanted to know more. I wanted the authors and editors to dig a bit deeper than the superficial outline of that period's history that we've heard about before. One good effort in that direction was the timeline that was at the bottom of every page, spanning the years from 1965-1969 throughout the course of the book. Basically, I recommend this book, but mainly for the great photo spreads and not as much for the commentaries and reminiscences.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great read!, March 4, 2000

By 

karla (somewhere over ther rainbow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum) (Paperback)

i found that this was a wonderful book. i was not around during the sixties, but i have been in love with them for a while. this book is a great trip back to the sixties for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to be there, and i'm sure it is great memories for those who were. i would reccomend this book to anyone in search of information about the sixties/hippies. it is definately a must read!