1967 in British Music

The Story of 1967

The Summer of Love arrived, and British music went psychedelic. The Beatles released 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' in June, a cultural event that transcended music – it was art, fashion, philosophy and pop all rolled into one groundbreaking album. 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' had already pointed the way, but 'Sgt. Pepper' was the destination. Pink Floyd released 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn', Syd Barrett's visionary psychedelia creating a blueprint for progressive rock. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – British-born as a band even if their frontman was American – exploded with 'Are You Experienced' and 'Axis: Bold as Love'. Cream's 'Disraeli Gears' was psychedelic blues at its peak. The Who released 'The Who Sell Out', a conceptual masterpiece. The Rolling Stones released 'Their Satanic Majesties Request', their own psychedelic experiment. The Summer of Love also brought the tragic death of Brian Epstein, leaving the Beatles without their manager. The pirate radio ships were silenced by the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, but BBC Radio 1 was being planned in response. British pop had become a global cultural force, and 1967 was its most creatively ambitious year.