All Photos By Gail
Paula Douglas, also known as Gretchen Fetchen, was one of the early participants in the San Francisco Acid Test happenings organized by Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters in the mid-1960s. The events were designed as gatherings to promote consciousness expansion and creativity through the use of LSD, which was legal at the time.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Acid Test Dress and Boots By Gretchen Fetchen
All Photos By Gail
On Saturday night, Geoffrey and I made an unplanned pit stop into the Judith Charles Gallery, having been attracted in from the sidewalk, to view an eye catching exhibit from San Diego based artist Kelsey Brookes. Entitled Better Living Through Chemistry, this show features a large body of work and is Brookes‘ first solo exhibition in New York.
Continue reading Kelsey Brooks: Better Living Through Chemistry at Judith Charles Gallery
On This Date, June 19th in 1967: Paul McCartney was the first British pop star to publicly admit using LSD, in chatting with a reporter who had inquired about it. Paul’s LSD quote appeared in Queen, a UK-based magazine at the time. The quote was also then reprinted by Life magazine in their June 1967 feature, ‘The New Far-Out Beatles: They’re grown men now and creating extraordinary musical sounds’ by Thomas Thompson. Continue reading Paul McCartney Admits to Taking LSD
On This Date, June 24th, in 1967: Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it would later peak at Number 5 (In the UK it hit #1 on June 8th). Lyrically inspired a party the band members attended where everyone was tripping on LSD (I’m pretty sure The Beatles were at that party) the song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group’s organist, Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Orchestral Suite in D,” composed between 1725 and 1739. As of 2009, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” is the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK. What a great song.
On This Day In 1967: The Beatles released the groundbreaking concept album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was a worldwide critical and commercial success, spending a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart and 15 weeks at number one on the American Billboard 200. A defining album in the emerging psychedelic rock style, Sgt. Pepper was critically acclaimed upon release and won four Grammy Awards in 1968. Often recognized by prominent critics and publications as one of the most influential albums in the history of rock music, Sgt. Pepper frequently ranks at or near the top of published lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was placed at number 1 in the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
