LSD Documentary Records

Original release: AVR 7010, 1970

Produced by the boards of Christian Social Concerns
and Missions Of The United Methodist Church

Spoken contributions by Dr Judianne Densen-Gerber, Ray Hook, Dr Walter N Pahnke,
Joel Fort MD, Roger Smith Ph D, Frederick Myers MD

Comments: This unpretentious drug information album was put together by the Methodist Church in 1970, and is surprisingly progressive. A strong line-up of well-renowned researchers in the drug field discuss the increasing problems of strung out young Americans. The tone is realistic and liberal, reflecting attitudes that still today seem valid. Whether these views, or indeed this sleeveless album, actually stopped anyone from taking drugs, is less certain. Good clean spoken word fun is provided via a collage of stoners discussing their use of cannabis, with several of them sounding like extras from a Cheech & Chong movie. A former heroin addict heard on side 1 provides some street realness.

Perhaps most interesting is the appearance of Dr Walter Pahnke, whose 10-minute slot is devoted to LSD. Pahnke is a well-known name in hallucinogen history, due to his involvement with the early Leary-Alpert work at Harvard; the legendary "Good Friday Experiment" in particular. Despite his religious faith and the troubling fallout from the acid explosion, Pahnke's view of the psychedelic drugs is remarkably soft and even favorable. Here is a 1-minute clip from his rap. The year after this recording, Pahnke died in a scuba diving accident.

This is the only copy I've seen of this record, which turned out to be more interesting than I had expected. As far as I know, it was released without a sleeve.