Harry Smith was a pioneering experimental animator, music anthropologist and all around kooky artistic genius.
“Heaven and Earth Magic” was created to be played on multiple projectors with live music, or DJs accompanying the film. The late William Moritz wrote a wonderful article on Harry’s unique persona and artistic pursuits which is archived on the Center for Visual Music website:
1968
On the 11/12/2010, I published Tangerine Dream – Live At Coventry Cathedral 1975 (https://dailypsychedelicvideo.com/2010/12/11/tangerine-dream-live-at-coventry-cathedral-1975/) because I have been smashed by the discovery of this Psychedelic Band.
My interest for Tangerine Dream has never stopped since!
Today I want to share an other gem :
Daisies is a 1966 Czechoslovak comedy-drama film of the Nová Vlna school. Written and directed by Věra Chytilová, it has a distinct psychedelic feel. The full film used to be available on YouTube but has been removed due to copyright claims. Here is the equally psychedelic trailer.
Eggshells is an independent low-budget film released in 1969. It is the first film directed by Tobe Hooper. It was written by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper (writers of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).
Tobe Hooper’s first film, Eggshells, released a half decade before The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, has long been considered a lost film, with there being little hope that a print would surface. The film has attracted attention because it is Tobe Hooper’s first film, as well as that of his co-writer, Kim Henkel, and because, by all accounts, it is very much a slice of life and rare record of Austin circa 1968. Against all odds, a print has surfaced. Eggshells will be shown for probably the first time in close to four decades at the South by Southwest Film Festival 09.
The song is taken from the 1969 album “An Electric Storm” by White Noise. The group started as a project between members of the notorious (not only for the Dr. Who theme) BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Among the composers who worked with David Vorhaus on the project was Delia Derbyshire. The state of the art tape manipulation techniques that were used on the album result in a highly psychedelic listening experience (similar techniques have been used on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but not to the extend that can be found here).
Enjoy!
Mama Cass, The lead singer of The Mamas and the Papas, reclaims the lost honor of the witch as a symbol of nonconformity with conventional society, with a mesmerizing performance as a witch singing about the power of being different and unique, in spit of everything, in the 1960s cult psychedelic TV show HR Pufnstuf.
HR Pufnstuf is a highly psycheelic children show which ran on American television in 1969, created by Sid and Marty Krofft.
Over the years the show has had a cult following on account of claims for drug references in the show. According to Wikipedia ‘”Pufnstuf” has been interpreted as a reference to smoking hand-rolled (H.R.) marijuana (puffin’ stuff).
There is something very psychedelic indeed in “Living Island”, that curious piece of land (or headspace) where everything is alive, and in which Jimmy lands. With lots of magic mixed in, and some pretty crazy humor the show is quite fun to watch, even 45 years after it’s original broadcast. It certainly hasn’t lost its charm. Only downside to it, is that once I started watching it a few weeks ago I can’t get the title song out of my head. Bewarned!
Here is the first episode of the series in which “Jimmy and his magic flute Freddy are lured to Living Island and trapped there by Witchiepoo’s trickery when she makes the Magic Path disappear.”
The Daily Psychedelic Video 