Paul McCartney, Robert Wyatt and Ginger Baker of Cream are among the artists who have recorded interviews for Psychedelic Brittannia, a new BBC Four documentary which airs this Friday, October 23.
50 years ago, Soft Machine and Pink Floyd were key names in British psychedelic music and their poppy yet elusive sound was adapted in chart-friendly fashion by the Beatles.
Procol Harum, the Small Faces and the Moody Blues were also part of psychedelia, as heady, LSD-inspired creativity abounded, roughly between 1965 and 1970. The music had a rural aspect too, with folk-based artists like the Incredible String Band and Vashti Bunyan in the vanguard.
Psychedelic Brittannia is narrated by Nigel Planer of The Young Ones fame with contributions and new performances from artists who led the psychedelia craze, including Baker, Wyatt of Soft Machine, once and forever Beatle McCartney, Roy Wood, the Zombies, Mike Heron, Vashti Bunyan, Gary Brooker, Arthur Brown, Kenney Jones, Barry Miles, the Pretty Things and the Moody Blues.
