Author: Jim DeRogatis
Title: Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock
Year: 2003
Type: Book (Hal Leonard)
Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock is a book by the Chicago Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis, published by Hal Leonard in 2003 as a revised and expanded edition of his 1996 book Kaleidoscope Eyes. It defines psychedelic rock by a philosophical approach taken from the literal meaning of “psychedelic” as mind-revealing, and it follows the music past the 1960s through krautrock, Talking Heads, the Elephant 6 bands, rave and the new garage bands. It ends with a list of 186 essential psychedelic records. Library Journal recommended it for most libraries, Michael Toland called it essential reading while disputing some of its choices, and Margaret Moser found that it wears thin over its length.
DeRogatis was the pop music critic of the Chicago Sun-Times and a co-host of the radio show Sound Opinions, and Turn On Your Mind, published by Hal Leonard in December 2003, revises his first book, Kaleidoscope Eyes (1996).1, 2 He writes that psychedelic rock “doesn’t mean ‘drug rock,’” but rock “inspired by a philosophical approach implied by the literal meanings of ‘psychedelic’” as “mind-revealing” and “soul-manifesting.”3 The book follows that definition past the 1960s, from the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” through the krautrock of Germany to Talking Heads, the Elephant 6 collective, the rave movement and the new garage bands.4, 5 It ends with “The Ultimate Psychedelic Rock Library,” a list of 186 essential recordings, and a further discography.5
DeRogatis writes that the Grateful Dead “barely qualify as psych at all,” and that their best period was as a garage band in 1965 and 1966.5 According to SLUG Magazine’s reviewer, he considers Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a disappointment after Revolver and dismisses the Summer of Love as “overrated.”4
Eric Hahn’s review in Library Journal recommended the book “for most libraries, both public and academic,” and praised its harsh honesty but found that the honesty gives way to a whole chapter of enthusiasm for the Flaming Lips.5 Michael Toland, reviewing it for High Bias, called it “essential reading for anyone who cares about rock & roll” while disputing its inclusion of the Strokes and its omission of bands such as the Brian Jonestown Massacre.3 Margaret Moser in the Austin Chronicle wrote that “the ambitious effort wears thin” over five hundred pages.5
Key contributions
- A definition of psychedelic rock by its approach, music that is “mind-revealing,” independent of drug use.
- A survey that carries psychedelia past the 1960s, through krautrock, Talking Heads, Elephant 6, rave and the new garage bands.
- “The Ultimate Psychedelic Rock Library,” a list of 186 essential psychedelic records.
See also
- Sixties Rock — Michael Hicks’s 1999 musical analysis of garage and psychedelic rock
- Psychedelia and Other Colours — Rob Chapman’s 2015 history of psychedelia from 1965 to 1969
Footnotes
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Jim DeRogatis, Wikipedia (accessed July 7, 2026); the Kaleidoscope Eyes lineage per the Go Freaks Go book survey (accessed July 7, 2026). ↩
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The Open Library record for the first edition (accessed October 21, 2026). ↩
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Michael Toland’s review, reproduced on the author’s site (accessed October 21, 2026), which quotes the book’s definition; verbatim. ↩ ↩2
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The SLUG Magazine review, September 14, 2004 (accessed October 21, 2026). ↩ ↩2
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The reviews collected on the author’s site (accessed October 21, 2026): Goldmine and Dirty Linen on the closing list and discography, High Bias and Dirty Linen on the Grateful Dead, Eric Hahn in Library Journal, and Margaret Moser in the Austin Chronicle; verbatim. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
