The lingering perfume of summer, a combination of patchouli and Hawaiian Tropic permeates my memories. Summers in California were steeped in psychedelia. Hippie girls wore cut-off shorts and tie dyed Grateful Dead tank tops. Their worn down flip-flops clapping the pavement sounded like castanets as they ran down to the beach to meet their boyfriends and make out. Off in the distance, third rate mariachi music melded with Led Zeppelin, or maybe the Stones. Long haired skaters in board shorts got high and ate pizza while the sun set and the seagulls swooped down to steal what was left.
Below is a great rendition of the song "Summertime" performed by Yuya Uchida and the Flowers.
When I was little, my father and I used to visit the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome way up in a canyon owned by one of his drinking buddies, a bearded rich hippie, a dropout with Hollywood parents. On one of these visits, a gathering called "The Festival of the Sun" was taking place. I remember swarms of half-naked men and women rapturously dancing to drums, flutes and chanting, dappled sunlight through the oak grove casting strange sun shadows on their spinning bodies. Their faces and bodies were painted like animals or with paisleys and swirls. Their eyes were bright and big, like cats. When they would spin and twirl and entwine with each other, the colors on their painted skin melted into one another and my vision expanded like the twisting of a kaleidoscope.
Below is a classic 1960s photo of Goldie Hawn from the fantastic, wacky television show "Laugh-In".
Below is a psychedelic photo of the rock band "Eric Burdon and the Animals".
Below is a classic psychedelic hit by the Austin, Texas band "The Golden Dawn" entitled "Starvation" from the album "Power Plant" released in 1968.
Below is a classic short film of a very psychedelic Brigitte Bardot. Very weird and not to be missed.
Next is a fun and flirty film from 1968 with very cool fashion, not for the meek.
Below is a photo of the iconic 1960s model Veruschka wearing Emilio Pucci.
Beneath is a perfect bohemian dress designed by Oscar de La Renta in the late 1960s. Perfect for exploring the Souk of Marrakesh.
available here
Below is an amazing Emilio Pucci cape from the 1960s.
Below is a very unusual dress made from exquisite hand printed fabric designed by Roger Milot for Fred Perlberg in the late 1960s.
Next is a classic psychedelic song from the iconic Turkish musician Bariş Manço entitled "Lâmbaya Püf De", roughly translated into "Blow out the Lamp" from 1971.
Next is a short montage of Eastern European and Danish sci-fi films from the 1960s set to the music of Mulatu Astatke, the great Ethiopian jazz artist.
In closing, we have a song by the new psychedelic rock band from Liverpool, England "The Wicked Whispers", (pictured above) who very successfully bring psychedelic sounds into the modern age. The song is entitled "You Wouldn't Believe".
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