Psychedelic Shack

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PSYCHEDELIC SHACK
 
 
“Psychedelic Shack”  is a 1969 single for the Motown label performed by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield.  It became a hit single in 1970.  The song’s title and lyrics refer to a type of hippie nightclub popular in the late 1960’s.  “Psychedelic Shack’s” LP mix begins with the sounds of a person entering a psychedelic shack and dropping the needle on a record, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, which was the Temptations single that immediately preceded this one.  The use of the recording of “I Can’t Get Next to You” from its 45 RPM single makes “Psychedelic Shack” one of the first songs to use sampling, a technique that would become a staple of hip hop music in the coming decade.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Many other artists in the 1960’s also took a whack at psychedelia.  Kenny Rogers’ first band the First Edition had an early hit song with “Just Dropped in (to See What Condition My Condition was In)”; though the lyrics kind of miss the boat, they are still charmingly corny.  “Hurdy Gurdy Man” is one of many great psychedelic songs Donovan came up with.  The Beatles had Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Rolling Stones had Their Satanic Majesties’ Request.  Even Motown got into the act:  The Supremes hit with “Reflections”, while the Temptations had several psychedelic songs – “Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today)”, “Runaway Child, Runnin’ Wild”, and others.  Many were on their 1970 album Psychedelic Shack; one of the biggest hits by the B-52’sLove Shack” was in part an homage to this record.
 
(March 2011)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021