Just Who Was Timothy Leary?
There are many legends in pop culture that have left marks on people and so deserved to be labelled as so. Rock icons are perhaps the most remembered for their customes, styles, and lyrics; however, there is someone who is often referred amongst rock legends (more below).
The photo shown above is of Timothy Leary. He was born Timothy Francis Leary on October 22, 1920 in Springfield, Mass. The one thing is most remembered for is his varied experminatation with psychadelic drugs such as LSD.
Leary is known for his experinents conducted at Harvard in the early 60s. The experiments backfired, however, as Leary encouraged students to take psychadelics to be able to part-take in the experiments. During this time, phrases like "tune in, tune out, drop out," were also coined. The experiments lead to Leary's (as well as his partner, Ram Dass's, nee Richard Alpert) in May of 1963. It was only two years later that the experiments got national attention.
Leary & LSD
Ultimately what Leary is most remembered for are not the experiements he did at Harvard. Rather, he is remembered for discovering that LSD shows theraputic potential in psychiatry. Upon using LSD on himself, Leary discovered a philosophical expansion of his mind.
Leary's use of LSD also backfired on him. He was sentenced to prison multiple times through the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, it became so bad, that President Richard Nixon declared Timothy Leary, "America's most dangerous man."
The end of Leary...
Sadly, Leary was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in early 1995. While he kept his collegue, Ram Dass, informed about the situation, he said nothing to the press until after Jerry Garcia's death (of Grateful Dead fame) in Agust of 1995. Leary died at the age of 75 on May 31, 1996 in Los Angeles.
So which rock icons referred to him:
There are several songs that bring up Timothy Leary's name. The first and most notable of these is the Moody Blues' Legend of a Mind from their 1968 record In Search of the Last Chord. That song is most notabely remembered for its lines: "Timothy Leary's dead. No-no-no-no, he's outside looking in."
Two years later, on their greatest hits package Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy, The Who featured a song called The Seeker where the protagonist, in the second verse, lists Timothy Leary among the people he asked. Other icons referenced in the song are Bob Dylan, and the Fab Four.
Speaking of the Fab Four, the book The Psychadelic Experience, co-authored by Leary, Ralph Metznert, and Richard Alpert, prompted Lennon to write Tomorrow Never Knows - the closing track to the Beatles' 1966 record Revolver.
The photo shown above is of Timothy Leary. He was born Timothy Francis Leary on October 22, 1920 in Springfield, Mass. The one thing is most remembered for is his varied experminatation with psychadelic drugs such as LSD.
Leary is known for his experinents conducted at Harvard in the early 60s. The experiments backfired, however, as Leary encouraged students to take psychadelics to be able to part-take in the experiments. During this time, phrases like "tune in, tune out, drop out," were also coined. The experiments lead to Leary's (as well as his partner, Ram Dass's, nee Richard Alpert) in May of 1963. It was only two years later that the experiments got national attention.
Leary & LSD
Ultimately what Leary is most remembered for are not the experiements he did at Harvard. Rather, he is remembered for discovering that LSD shows theraputic potential in psychiatry. Upon using LSD on himself, Leary discovered a philosophical expansion of his mind.
Leary's use of LSD also backfired on him. He was sentenced to prison multiple times through the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, it became so bad, that President Richard Nixon declared Timothy Leary, "America's most dangerous man."
The end of Leary...
Sadly, Leary was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in early 1995. While he kept his collegue, Ram Dass, informed about the situation, he said nothing to the press until after Jerry Garcia's death (of Grateful Dead fame) in Agust of 1995. Leary died at the age of 75 on May 31, 1996 in Los Angeles.
So which rock icons referred to him:
There are several songs that bring up Timothy Leary's name. The first and most notable of these is the Moody Blues' Legend of a Mind from their 1968 record In Search of the Last Chord. That song is most notabely remembered for its lines: "Timothy Leary's dead. No-no-no-no, he's outside looking in."
Two years later, on their greatest hits package Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy, The Who featured a song called The Seeker where the protagonist, in the second verse, lists Timothy Leary among the people he asked. Other icons referenced in the song are Bob Dylan, and the Fab Four.
Speaking of the Fab Four, the book The Psychadelic Experience, co-authored by Leary, Ralph Metznert, and Richard Alpert, prompted Lennon to write Tomorrow Never Knows - the closing track to the Beatles' 1966 record Revolver.
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