The Bynx Collection highlights a transformative era in Western culture
Freedom. Psychedelia. Rock N Roll. The 1967 Summer Of Love quite literally felt like we had tripped into another world. So much was happening culturally — the Vietnam War, sexual revolution, human rights movements, widespread recreational drug experimentation — and, unsurprisingly, musically. So many exciting artists emerged as icons, spearheading new genres and concepts, feeding our fast-changing palettes. The Bynx collection is filled with artifacts from this bygone but certainly not forgotten era.
A Coming Out Party
So much music exploded into our consciousness in the summer of 1967. That June, The Monterey International Pop Festival kicked the summer off with a bang. It was the first real time the world came to know the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat and Steve Miller. It also showcased The Who, and gave a stage to more established acts like The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane. The Festival pioneered the concept of a multi-day rock music festival, magnified by Woodstock two years later, and still adopted as a format for many music festivals that we see today.
The Summer of Love, however, wasn’t confined to America. London, for example, especially contributed to this global phenomena. The famous UFO Club opened in December 1966, and the locals witnessed and participated in drug-infused shows staged by British psychedelia’s powerhouse Pink Floyd. The band’s early records, namely Piper at the Gates of Dawn, shaped the summer of love’s psychedelic, avant-garde sound. To the British public, the principal aspect of the Summer of Love was its music, while in Haight Ashbury, music was an integral part of the wider “experience.”
The Summer Of Iconic Albums
So. Many. Hits. The Summer of Love was one of the richest periods in music history. Perhaps none is more celebrated than the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — but that’s just one example. If you’re a music fan, chances are at least one or two of these albums adorn your shelves:
- The Doors — The Doors
- Love Forever — Changes
- Jefferson Airplane — Surrealistic Pillow
- The Velvet Underground — The Velvet Underground & Nico
- Jimi Hendrix — Axis Bold As Love
- Cream — Disraeli Gears
- Leonard Cohen — Songs Of Leonard Cohen
The list goes on. Check it out for yourself.
An Endless Summer
Whether it’s records, books, posters, handbills, underground magazines… we’ve spent a lot of time curating items from the Summer of Love. It’s a source of endless fascination for us at Bynx. Even in 2023, the flower children of 1967 still have a somewhat mystic charm, and we continue to enjoy the riches from this lush historical period.
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