for inspiring deeply countless guitarists and musicians all over the globe,
(and for the books he wrote, and a lot of other things)

Thank you Albert!

from
http://www.hofmann.org/:

Dr. Albert Hofmann - January 11 1906 - April 29 2008

It saddens us to confirm that Dr. Albert Hofmann passed away at his home in Burg outside of Basel, Switzerland today, April 29 2008 at the age of 102 years. Dr. Hofmann was at his home with two of his care takers, he passed away at 9am local time.

Dr Hofmann follows his late wife Anita, who passed away this past December. We do not have much more information at the moment but we will update this note once more becomes available.

We send out condolences to his family and friends and as you all to join us in celebrating the life of one of the most important scientists of the last 102 years. Dr Hofmann's discoveries have touched countless people and brought tremendous change to the world in more ways than can be counted. We are very glad that Dr Hofmann could still witness the early stages of new studies with LSD that will start in Switzerland in the near future. This matter was very important to him, we are grateful to all that were involved in getting approval for this study.

We thank you for all you have done dear Dr Hofmann, may your ways be blessed and peaceful. We will keep your spirit alive and will continue with our work.

The Albert Hofmann Foundation

April 29 2008

"It said, 'T-t-t-trip a t-trip, I trip, trip,'
I couldn't keep up up if I tried."

Thanks, Doc. Many a happy memory from your invention.

His team at Sandoz was the first to synthesize psilocybin, the primary active hallucinogen in "magic mushrooms". He also isolated the active hallucinogenic compound from morning glory seeds.

I would suspect however, that the long term contribution of hallucinogens to music is rather minimal. It could make for some entertaining jams though, if you could still remember how to play while you were peaking.

quote:

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Originally posted by Stu Alt:
I would suspect however, that the long term contribution of hallucinogens to music is rather minimal. It could make for some entertaining jams though, if you could still remember how to play while you were peaking.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Michael Cefola:
you could certainly argue that anyone influenced by the music of an artist who used hallucinogens, is in some way influenced by the hallucinogen as well.

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Hey Michael,

I'm not sure that's a logical argument. If you substituted "ate organic food", "rode in an airplane" "had sex with multiple partners" or any number of other activities for "used hallucinogens", the fallacy becomes apparent.

No doubt many of those dudes took hallucinogens. How many of their songs were actually written under the influence? How many studio sessions were taped while the artists were under the influence? I've seen the Dead multiple times when I assumed they were high and occasionally they sucked.

Association is not causation. Because good, creative musicians took LSD doesn't prove that the drug made them either good or creative.

Perhaps a few had their creative juices stimulated by LSD, but overall I suspect the impact was less than we choose to romanticize.

Here's one, I realized that all reptiles are laughing all the time! (except when you look at them).

I wonder if he did like Huxley, and took a hit right before he left?

quote:

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Originally posted by Stu Alt:
Good luck, if you expect one substance to cure humanity of existential alienation. Modern humans seem to be alienated from nature, the spirit, society and the self. Twenty-first Century Schizoid Man? (Trying to keep it musical!)

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i think you are right Stu. That was more or less the position of a certain Timothy Leary during the 1960s, and we all know what kind of mess his propaganda put on the table. It seems to me that that alienation we are talking about has been built way back. it comes from centuries of seeing nature plainly as resource to exploit, seeing women as subordinate to men and female power as something to suppress at any cost.. and from promoting division between human beings at any time, through religion, race, politics, sports, sexual orientation, music preferences, you name it..
as much as i believe psychedelics can be helpful at times, because they can be a sort of shock-therapy-wake up-call that us Westerners need badly after all that screwing up that has been done to our minds for generations, i wouldn't recommend them to anyone under the age of 40, as Robert Anton Williams did. People need to be more stabilized and grounded to be able to travel safely through those dimensions. but in an awful lot of places and cultures around the world humans have used certain plants and mushrooms in a respectful and careful way for thousands of years, with focus on personal and communal healing. I think Dr Hofmann was trying to tell us that. I met him and his wife Anita one afternoon years ago. He was 88 years old and didn't look older that 65. His wife was just as lively and gentle. I felt like one must feel in presence of a saint, or a person of a very powerful spiritual presence.

I don't think it's a random coincidence the fact that music plays a great part in all those ancient-healing-shamanic-rituals that are found in Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania..

because music itself is the most powerful of all substances, and also possibly the best remedy for back pain, toothache, flu, impotence, alienation...

quote:

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Originally posted by PaulData:
"He remained convinced that the drug had the potential to counter the psychological problems induced by Òmaterialism, alienation from nature through industrialisation and increasing urbanisation, lack of satisfaction in professional employment in a mechanised, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in wealthy, saturated society, and lack of a religious, nurturing, and meaningful philosophical foundation of lifeÓ.

Wow... I wish... I often wonder how my own psyche was long-term affected by the stuff???

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But, it might have been a useful tool for a whole lot more folks than those who actually used it.

Trying to explain a full-blown trip where the curtains are waving at you to come over and dance with them (trying to get to sleep after a Robin Trower concert - '79) or having a road you're walking next to turn into a dirt track and all the cars look like wooden carriages (walking to a friend's house - '80) was always going to be the biggest obstacle.

Leary was a dope in his whole "Solemn Eastern" approach, Ken Kesey and his Pranksters were on the right trail (*Loosen Up Society* !) but then they started dosing unsuspecting folks which is the worst thing in the world and they were giving it to really young kids which is criminal.

Musically the Dead epitomized (to me) "acid music", meaning music you'd want to hear while stoned. They always gave you something to hold onto wheras I think early Foyd or Tangerine Dream or King Crimson was music for straights to try imagine they were stoned and a lot of it wasn't comforting (which can be very important). CCR used to work really well too...

Best band for tripping in the 60's - the Jefferson Airplane. I still listen to them from time to time. Of course, that led me to Hot Tuna and an appreciation for finger style guitar. Definitely a trip worth the taking.

Acid was what is was and is. Although I know many disagree, I personally find the Beatles acid influenced music to be their nadir, and I think most would agree that the Stones Satanic Majesties is a mess.

Tim Leary said a lot of nonsense, but he also had some very astute observations hidden within the crap. Most people only watched the news coverage, but if you read some of his writing, he had a good mind that got twisted not only by his drug use, but by the enormous amount of crap that celebrity brings in the US. I especially like the story of how he was tested upon entry into prison by a personality test that he had written in his days at Harvard. He passed.

LSD and the various relatives could have a major benefit to us, but unfortunately in labeling these types of drugs as dope, the US ended any real research on what benefits might be found. In our cultural haste to ban things that we assume are bad for us, we often overlook valuable information, or eliminate the ability to obtain valuable information.