Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

It's hard to come by good material about this era. Some of it is pretty cheesy, but I enjoyed this book a lot and I would recommend it.

This book is an excellent portrayal of life in the 60's. It is great nostalgia for those who were there, and a great taster for those who wish they were.