madhat6

LSD And 60's Music: What We Owe To It. Part 1

With the recent passing of Syd Barrett, it dawned on me that of the many articles in Ultimate Guitar which deal with the history of musicians in this day of modern music, there is one participant who seems missing. The history of this participant is responsible for influencing a huge range of artists, possibly second to none. To really have a well-rounded overview of where we are today and how we got here, we need to embrace the past. To that end, this article is dedicated to the early 60s, and this influence that put its mark on not only music, but on an entire generation.

Yes, thats right. Mother, cover your childrens eyesIm writing about Lysergic Acid Diethyamide.

LSD

This is the first part in a three-part article, because it really is that important. Without Albert Hofmanns discovery in 1943, there would be no Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix, Doors, Cream, Pink Floyd or The Beatles. Well, at least the way weve come to know them. Oh yeah, and you sure never would have heard of Woodstock.

Thats a pretty impressive list, and not nearly close to complete. That, in itself, is reason enough to recognize that an article like this needs to be written for Ultimate Guitar.

In this first article, Ill give you the condensed version of the discovery of the substance, and then fast-forward to a couple of gentlemen, Ken Kesey and Owsley Stanley. Their contribution to modern music, albeit not the main aim of their efforts, is if nothing else, fascinating. They changed the world.


Part One: From The Beginning

Dr. Albert Hofmann (born January 11, 1906) is (still living!) a prominent Swiss scientist best known as the "father" of LSD. He was born in Baden, Switzerland, and studied chemistry at the University of Zrich. His main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals, and he later conducted important research regarding the chemical structure of the common animal substance chitin, for which he received his doctorate. Hofmann joined the pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories (now Novartis), located in Basel, studying the medicinal plant squill and the fungus ergot as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals.

His research in lysergic acid, the central shared component of ergot alkaloids, eventually led to the synthesis of LSD-25 in 1938. It was five years later, on repeating synthesis of the almost forgotten substance, that Dr. Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD after accidentally absorbing some through his fingertips on April 16, 1943. Three days later, on April 19 (later known as Bicycle Day, after his bicycle ride home that day while under LSD's influence), Hofmann deliberately consumed 250 g of LSD, and experienced far more intense effects.

That evening he wrote that he experienced mild hallucinations which he described as: "...an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness and accompanied by an intense kaleidoscopic play of colors." The following Monday, April 19 he dissolved 250 millionths of a gram of LSD-25 in some water and drank it down. Fifty minutes later he was embarked on a full-fledged LSD-induced experience which involved intense hallucinations, physical and mental disorientation, and alternating feelings of euphoria and paranoia. This was the first recorded LSD "trip."

This was followed by a series of self-experiments conducted by Hofmann and his colleagues. He first wrote about these experiments on April 22 of the same year.

He became director of the natural products department at Sandoz and went on studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexican mushrooms and other plants used by the aboriginal people. This led to the synthesis of psilocybin, the active agent of many "magic mushrooms."

Hofmann also became interested in the seeds of the Mexican morning glory species Rivea corymbosa, the seeds of which are called Ololiuhqui by the natives. He was surprised to find the active compound of Ololiuhqui chemically similar to LSD.

In 1962, he and his wife Anita traveled to southern Mexico to search for the plant "Ska Maria Pastora" (Leaves of Mary the Shepherdess), later known as Salvia divinorum. He was able to obtain samples of this plant but never succeeded in identifying its active chemicals.

He calls LSD "medicine for the soul" and is frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he has said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960s and then unfairly demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed. He concedes LSD can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

He has been the author of over 100 scientific articles and has written (or co-written) a number of books, including LSD, My Problem Child, which is partly an autobiography and describes his famous bicycle ride.

On the occasion of his 100th birthday on January 11, 2006, he was the focus of an international symposium, which drew further media attention for his discovery of LSD.

"I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD," said Hofmann. "It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be."

Following the discovery of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), by Albert Hofmann in 1943, the knowledge of its effects and its utilization was limited to a few psychiatrists who utilized it to treat psychiatric disorders, and the CIA who was investigating the possibility of using it as a possible speech inducing drug. However, by the mid 1960's, widespread use of LSD, as a recreational drug, occurred. This was largely due to the efforts of Timothy Leary, on east coast, who became the guru of LSD, during the 1960's, and Ken Kesey, on the west coast, who greatly influence the start of psychedelic music.

To Be Continued............