Drugs and Rock n Roll

Truckin

Ride Captain Ride
Joined
May 24, 2006
Posts
671
Reaction score
5
Location
NE Ohio
I was in deep thought recently about just what made the classic rock from the 60's and 70's so much more appealing to me vs today's rock. It seems to me that some of the best classic rock was conceived through drug induced writing and playing. Musicians still use drugs today but it just doesn't have that classic rock sound. Do you think that the drugs that were being consumed back then were of a different caliber than today's? I mean did the drugs in the 60's and 70's inspire people more than they do today? (Magic...after you stop laughing hysterically at my thread here, just remember I'm disabled/retired and have lots of time on my hands.):bonk:
 

Lynch

Here for the cookies and the tunes
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Posts
32,251
Reaction score
11,187
Location
The Land of Sky Blue Waters
My quick and easy take on the subject wouldn't be that the drugs were better back then, or that they are worse now... more so that the entire state of 'pop culture' is different now than it was 30-50 years ago. Social issues are different, politics are different, looks and styles are different. People's mindsets today are SO much different in general than the general mindsets were all those years ago.

It all plays into it.

Then just the simple fact that music will always evolve. People borrow from each other all the time and change things up a bit to their own liking or their own sound. This has been happening in recorded music dating back as far as music has been recordable and will continue to do so.

Also, the vast number of artists out there probably dwarf the number of artists 30-40 years ago, thus it makes the entire industry seem more watered down. Combine all of this and yeah, the entire scene is different. So I don't think it's the drugs or the booze or anything along those lines.
 

Harkat

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Posts
4,208
Reaction score
7
I don't believe it was that the drugs were different, more that it was more acceptable to use them.
Nowadays there are drug tests that come along with all these events. Cannabis, LSD and other psychadelics are now illegal and the consequences of getting caught with them are not light.
One of the effects that psychadelics have is that altered state of awareness, that abstract thinking and that is, you could say, the element that has been taken out of music and replaced instead with a commercialized and consumerist society then undoubtedly there is a change in the way that music is played.
 

Truckin

Ride Captain Ride
Joined
May 24, 2006
Posts
671
Reaction score
5
Location
NE Ohio
Very interesting Lynch. I realize that each generation has/had their own music and it seems that each generation comes away thinking that their music was the best. My parents were that way with the big band era.Yet they never could adapt to The Beatles or The Stones. I wonder what it is that makes each generation want to cling to the music they grew up with? That's kind of what got me to thinking about the drugs/classic rock idea. I enjoyed your input. It has me thinking.

Harkat, I agree with your last sentence. The effects of commercialism definitely has changed music.
 

lady_barrett2112

I ♥ the Ox
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Posts
1,686
Reaction score
0
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Very interesting Lynch. I realize that each generation has/had their own music and it seems that each generation comes away thinking that their music was the best. My parents were that way with the big band era.Yet they never could adapt to The Beatles or The Stones. I wonder what it is that makes each generation want to cling to the music they grew up with? That's kind of what got me to thinking about the drugs/classic rock idea. I enjoyed your input. It has me thinking.

Harkat, I agree with your last sentence. The effects of commercialism definitely has changed music.


Funny that you mention that. I was born in the 80s and experienced my teenage years in the 90s. While I love the music of the eras I grew up in, I've grown to embrace the music of the 60s and 70s. Some bands and artists from those two decades I've gotten into thanks to my parents influence. Some I've gotten into on my own. One things for sure, I just don't dig much of the music of today with the exception of a few groups and artists.


As far as drugs being the influence in classic music; while I'm not a firm believer in engaging in such activity, I would agree that they certainly provided some creative output. Take for instance Aerosmith; in my opinion, their best stuff came from their drug induced states of mind and now that they're clean and sober, their music seems really drab and boring. Of course this is just my two cents and I know there are people here that will disagree with me on that.
 

annie

metal maniac
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Posts
2,264
Reaction score
3
Location
on an island
I think it is just imagination. If you didn't know about the drugs, would you still hear a difference? Or maybe it is a matter of age. Or music evolves with the times. Who knows? Also, I don't find anything inspiring about chemicals that take the lives of musicians in their prime, either then or now.
 
Last edited:

Slip'nn2Darkness

Sub Sonic Soul Shaker
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Posts
7,628
Reaction score
28
I think it's hard to answer this question if you do not "partake" said drugs these days.. So comparing the two era's as far as drugs go might not be correct.
But the lyrics from those times to me were stuff like Hendrix or Morrison wrote.. It might take you years to figure out what their songs were about.
I think that's what is cool about the 60's and 70's music..
Not so easy to comprehend but in the same sense, deep and full of hidden meanings..
 

AboutAGirl

oh, be nice
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Posts
2,693
Reaction score
11
Drugs can be a very positive influence on music, for sure. But so can sobriety. It just depends on the artist and the circumstance. If there's any advantage classic rock had with drugs, it's the fact that LSD was widespread and was even legal for a period. Artists today are certainly still on drugs but I do believe LSD is far more scarce today.
 

LG

Fade To Black
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Posts
36,862
Reaction score
71
I know for a fact that Marijuana today is way more potent than what they were smoking in the 60's and 70's. LSD, MDA, magic mushrooms were the most popular recreational drugs back then...I'm not sure about what the kids do today. Meth, crack, vicodin, and who knows what else is out there.

Many poets/authors used to experiment with all kinds of drugs centuries ago, and I gather that in some instances the drug's effects allowed them to feel more creative and imaginative. So rockers have just carried on the tradition and incorporated it into their culture.
 

Syd

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Posts
552
Reaction score
2
Location
Santiago, Chile.
The difference I see is that in the 60's ... most artists took drugs for the first time once they were musicians, and had some sort of maturity about it. But now everyone tries drugs when they're kids so if they become famouse they are already always stoned or something. They always party with drugs. In the 60's drugs were something new and opened new doors for them. Now they are just an everyday thing that you can see anywhere so kids have melted brains way before they make their debuts.
 

Find member

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
30,654
Posts
1,064,698
Members
6,354
Latest member
edmerka

Members online

Top