Albion Dreaming
A popular history of LSD in Britain
Andy Roberts
Copyright © 2012 Andy Roberts
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To Gavin for charting the course,
Lindsay for being the imperfect guru and
Andy, Graeme, Chris and Helen, with whom I shared
adventures unfettered by time and space.
And for my Mountain Girl, blips!
What a long, strange, trip it’s been.
CONTENTS
Dramatis Personae
List of Illustrations
Glossary
Foreword by Dr Sue Blackmore
1. Turn on, Tune in, Drop out
2. Hofmann’s Potion
3. LSD: The Cure of Souls?
4. LSD: A Cure for the Common Cold?
5. The Joyous Cosmology
6. The Foggy Ruins of Time
7. Strangely Strange, but Oddly Normal
8. Senses Working Overtime
9. All You Need is Love?
10. Bring What You Expect to Find
11. The Mind Alchemists
12. Coming Down Again
13. Revolution in the Head
Thanks!
Contact
Permissions
References
Bibliography
Index
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Steve Abrams
American parapsychologist who was at the heart of London’s LSD counter culture
Jonathan Aitken
Journalist who took LSD, when still legal, for the Evening Standard; subsequently a disgraced Conservative MP
Richard Alpert
Colleague of Timothy Leary at Harvard and co-conspirator in the early promotion of LSD; subsequently eschewed drugs and became the spiritual teacher Baba Ram Dass
George Andrews
Poet and author of books on drugs
Paul Arnabaldi
Backer of Richard Kemp’s Welsh LSD laboratory
Nigel Ayres
Attendee and recorder of many free festivals of the Seventies
Syd Barrett
Original Pink Floyd lead guitarist; LSD contributed to his descent into mental illness
Brian Barritt
Early LSD dealer in London; friend of Timothy Leary
Cecil Beaton
English fashion and portrait photographer
John Beresford
Paediatrician friend of Michael Hollinsghead
Christine Bott
Involved in Operation Julie conspiracy; common law wife of Richard Kemp
Joe Boyd
American record producer and co-founder of UFO club
Tara Browne
London socialite whose death possibly inspired the Beatles’ Day in the Life
Richard Brunstrom
Chief Constable of North Wales; believes all drugs should be legalised and regulated
Julia Callan-Thompson
Occasional hippie prostitute; involved with the Kapur LSD conspiracy
Ernest Chain
Nobel winning biochemist who appeared for the defence in a 1967 LSD trial
Derek Channon
Naval rating who underwent LSD experiment at Porton Down in 1953
Harry Collumbine
Porton Down scientist
Sean Connery
James Bond actor who used LSD in psychotherapy
Julian Cope
Musician with a predilection for LSD
Francis Crick
Discovered DNA
Dave Cunliffe
LSD courier in late Fifties London
Paul Devereux
Author and researcher into prehistoric use of psychedelic drugs
Jeff Dexter
Legendary DJ at UFO club and 1971 Glastonbury Fair
Johnny Dolphin
American poet who spent time with Terry Taylor in Morocco
Bill (Ubi) Dwyer
LSD dealer in Australia and London; instigator behind the Windsor Free Festivals
Joel Elkes
Founder of Birmingham University’s Department of Experimental Psychology; early LSD experimenter; linked to MOD LSD experiments
John Esam
London LSD dealer in the early Sixties
Harry Fainlight
Poet who read his LSD inspired poem at the 1965 Wholly Communion event
Mick Farren
Counter culture author and antagonist
Nigel (Leif) Fielding
Minor player in the Operation Julie LSD conspiracy
David Gale
Childhood friend of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett
Christopher Gibb
London art dealer; friend of the Rolling Stones
Allen Ginsberg
American Beat poet with counter culture sympathies
Dave (Boss) Goodman
London LSD dealer in the Sixties
Eric Gow
RAF serviceman who underwent LSD test at Porton Down during the Fifties
Dennis Greenslade
Detective Superintendent in Operation Julie
Casey Hardison
American citizen sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2005 for manufacturing LSD in Lewes, Sussex
Lee Harris
Founder of London’s first “head” shop; editor of Home Grown, Britain’s first counter culture drug magazine
Gerald Heard
British expatriate philosopher; gave LSD to Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson; instrumental in the development of early LSD philosophies
Bill Hicks
American satirist who campaigned against drug hypocrisy
Albert Hofmann
Chemist who discovered LSD in 1938
Michael Hollingshead
Introduced Timothy Leary to LSD; mover and shaker on early London psychedelic scene
Maxwell Hollyhock
MOD scientist who took LSD to examine its effects
John (Hoppy) Hopkins
Frankie Howerd
British comedian who underwent LSD psychotherapy
Chris Huhne
Liberal Democrat MP
Roger Hutchinson
Attendee and photographic recorder of many free festivals in the Seventies
Aldous Huxley
Intellectual and literary polymath; probably the finest writer on psychedelic drugs and their philosophy
Laura Huxley
Huxley’s wife; administered LSD to Huxley as he died
Robert Hyde
American psychiatrist who took the first LSD trip in America
Mick Jagger
Singer in the Rolling Stones
Roy Jenkins
British Home Secretary 1965–67
Peter Jenner
Manager of Pink Floyd
Victor Kapur
The first man to be arrested in Britain for manufacturing LSD
Richard Kemp
LSD chemist; pivotal in the Operation Julie LSD conspiracy
Andrew Kerr
Instigator of the 1971 Glastonbury Fair, forerunner to the annual Glastonbury Festival
Ken Kesey
American author of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest; advocate of unstructured LSD use
Art Kleps
One of Timothy Leary’s disciples
R.D. (Ronnie) Laing
Radical psychiatrist who used LSD personally and professionally
Timothy Leary
American academic, responsible for promulgating LSD as a spiritual tool
Richard (Dick) Lee
Detective Inspector in Operation Julie
Donovan Leitch
Folk rock musician involved in the early London LSD scene
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon
Film maker and friend of Syd Barrett
Tim Lott
Author and journalist
Christopher Mayhew
British politician who took Mescaline as part of a 1955 televised experiment
Paul McCartney
The first member of the Beatles to publicly admit to taking LSD
Joey Mellen
Early London LSD facilitator, critical of Hollingshead’s methods
Pete Mellor
Grass roots hippie with considerable experience of LSD
Ralph Metzner
American psychologist who participated in early LSD experiments at Harvard with Timothy Leary
John Michell
Author, researcher and philosopher; introduced many of the “mystical” ideas about Britain
Barry Miles
Author and chronicler of the Sixties
Monkey
Free festival attendee, LSD dealer and observer of the transition from free festivals to rave culture
Andy Munro
The chemist in the London part of the Operation Julie conspiracy
Simon Napier-Bell
Record producer
Jim Narg
First British person to mention LSD in song
Harry Nathan
Distributor of LSD for Victor Kapur
Desmond O’Brien
One of the backers behind Michael Hollingshead’s World Psychedelic Centre
Humphrey Osmond
British psychiatrist who invented the word psychedelic
Anita Pallenberg
Actress and Rolling Stones’ femme fatale
First person in Scotland to be charged with possession of LSD
Hugh Park
Judge at the main Operation Julie conspiracy trials
Paul Guest
Britain’s leading Blotter art collector, expert and retailer
Norman Pilcher
British police officer who achieved notoriety by arresting pop stars for drugs; later convicted for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice
Sid Rawle
Early hippie, squatting veteran and free festival organiser
Max Rinkel
American psychiatrist who brought LSD to America in1949
Philip (Wally Hope) Russell
Charismatic hippie and LSD advocate who founded the Stonehenge Free Festivals
Greg Sams
American who, with brother Craig, was instrumental in setting up macrobiotic and whole food restaurants in Sixties London
Ronnie Sandison
Britain’s first LSD psychotherapist
David Schneiderman
Enigmatic LSD dealer, briefly a member of the Rolling Stones’ entourage
Ben Sessa
Contemporary British psychiatrist who believes there is a place for LSD in psychotherapy
Peter Simmons
Set up several LSD laboratories in the late Sixties
Ian Sinclair
London based author and psychogeographer, chronicler of Ginsberg’s 1967 visit
David Solomon
American writer on drug issues; later became involved with the Operation Julie LSD conspiracy
Henry (Bing) Spear
Chief Inspector of the Dangerous Drugs Branch of the Home Office 1952–1986
Augustus (Bear) Owsley Stanley III
Legendary Californian LSD chemist
Ronald Stark
Enigmatic international LSD dealer; connected to international terrorism; suspected of working for various intelligence agencies
Arthur Stoll
Co-worker of Albert Hofmann
Terry Taylor
Beatnik author who went on to be an LSD dealer and to found LSD based magic cult in London
Vince Taylor
British rock and roll singer; Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust was based on Taylor
Henry Todd
Key player in the Operation Julie LSD conspiracy
Dave Tomlin
Jazz musician and author; foot soldier of the psychedelic revolution
Alexander Trocchi
Poet and writer; dealt LSD in London during the Sixties
Alan Watts
British expatriate mystic and philosopher with an interest in psychedelic drugs; part of the scene around Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard
Don Webb
Airman who took part in LSD experiment at Porton Down during the 1950s
Bernadette Whybrow
Occasional hippie prostitute and LSD dealer in the Kapur LSD conspiracy
Peter Wright
Former member of MI5; author of the controversial book Spycatcher
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. God is alive in a sugar cube badge
2. Dr. Ronald Sandison
3. Powick Hospital, 1955
4 and 5. Drawings by Maxwell Hollyhock
6. Turn on, tune in, drop out badge
7. LSD: better living through chemistry badge
8. Michael Hollingshead’s Christmas card, 1965
9. Timothy Leary
10. UFO club advertisement
11. Victor Kapur’s LSD laboratory, London, 1967
12. Michael Hollingshead, Nepal, 1969
13. LSD party, London
14. Granny Takes a Trip, London boutique
15. Allen Ginsberg, Wales, 1967
16. Publicity flyer for The Trip