Summer '24 - Your Neo-Psychedelic Summer of Soul
A fresh artisanal mix hand-picked from the green fields of Spotify without the AI cheat. We'll start big and grow into a monster-killer playlist by Labor Day.
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Happy Independence Day to all my readers. The rainy season has passed in New England and we’re now deep into Summer’s Cauldron. New England summers almost make seven months of awful weather worth it. This Summer ‘24 playlist harkens back to simpler summers when our democracy was just facing normal social unrest over war and civil rights and not authoritarian rule under absolute immunity. Social statement that!
My Panasonic transistor radio was with me from morning until I would fall asleep listening to Jean Shepherd’s monologues on WOR. The Panasonic was how I listened to The Beatles and the British Invasion bands, along with soul hits from Detroit, Memphis, and Philly. I would wake in the wee hours with the single earbud wire wrapped around my neck. I drained a lot of AA batteries in those days. You can still find the entire Panasonic transistor and wired product line from the 1960s on eBay. Later this year we’ll revist the heyday of New York rock & roll radio blasting its powerful signal out into the hinterlands from the top of the Empire State Building.
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In early 1968 I discovered free-form FM and acquired a cheezy Emerson receiver from the E.J. Korvettes discount store out on Route 22. I listened to the First Great Psychedelic Era on that, discovering Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.
As I entered my early teen years, I started toggling back and forth between the British Invasion and the Motown/Stax soul hits on AM radio and the new sounds on free-form FM radio. From the earthy soulfulness of Hold On I’m Comin’ by Sam and Dave to the spacey Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun by Pink Floyd. One day in February 1968 I was home sick from school and heard King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King on WNEW-FM. I have to admit it changed my life. The back and forth all sounded cool to me during those hot & steamy NJ summers playing baseball, stickball, and golf.
The Psychedelic Shack
In October 1968 soul stalwarts The Temptations released Cloud Nine and it became a crossover hit on both AM and FM radio. Cloud Nine is credited as the first “psychedelic soul” hit, but The Isley Brothers were already going in that direction with their guitarist Jimi Hendrix in ‘65-’66. The Isleys were heavily influenced by The Impressions and worked in a traditional R&B style. They released a single titled Who’s That Lady? in 1964 and it was a commercial flop. It was not until 1973 that guitarist Ernie Isley decided to rework it “psychedelicized” and release it as That Lady. He was greatly influenced by Jimi Hendrix while he was with The Isleys, hence the searing guitar solos throughout the extended cut of That Lady.
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In 1968 The Chambers Brothers released the uncut 11-minute version of Time Has Come Today. It initially appeared on their 1967 album The Time Has Come as a less psychedelic 3:10 radio edit. It could have been covered by David Bowie on Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in 1970, or by Pink Floyd as a bonus track on Dark Side of the Moon in 1973.
In 1969 The Temptations doubled down on psychedelic soul with the release of the album Psychedelic Shack. The title track and Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today) both became huge crossover hits. Sly & The Family Stone and George Clinton’s Funkadelic (from Plainfield, NJ) were contemporaries in the psychedelic soul movement and would take it to the next level with Sly’s monumental performance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969.
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Without further ado let’s dive into the all-new, hand-picked, artisanal blend from the green fields of Spotify that is Summer ‘24 - Your Neo-Psychedelic Summer of Soul.
I had lots of fun compiling this playlist over the past few weeks and will be adding to it over this long, hot summer. We’re starting with 729 tracks and over 44 hours of music, but we’ll be pushing 1,200 tracks and 100 hours of music by Labor Day weekend. You can listen in Shuffle Play while driving to The Hamptons or The Cape and back without running out of fresh tunes. It’s a great roadtrip playlist, if I do say so myself, and one of my finer concepts, if I do say so myself. See what you think by listening NOW (shameless playlist pitch).
Coming Next Week
You may ask: “Jeff, how does Neo-Psychedelia differ from the First Great Psychedelic Era 1965-1970?” We’ll attempt to answer that question at least superficially in next week’s edition of The Four Seasons Project. Watch your inbox if you’re a Free Subscriber or check out my Substack website below, if you’re merely a Follower or Facebook Friend.