Timothy Leary

In 1967, counterculture icon Timothy Leary, his partner Rosemary, and his fellow adventurer Ralph Metzner created a film called Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out.  The film presumably documents an LSD trip undertaken by Metzner, although the film rarely, if ever, showed in theaters so the jury’s out on the content.  Nevertheless, Mercury Records released a soundtrack, also entitled Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out. Not to be confused with the spoken word album of the same name that arrived on the ESP-Disk label in 1966, the Mercury title features groovy, “East-meets-West” accompaniment with a blend of guitar, the Indian tabla and veena, as well as sound effects and musique concrete elements.  Over the course of the 10 tracks, Leary guides Metzner through the steps of a trip, reflecting on the body, memory, and his cellular evolutionary origins.  Rosemary Leary, meanwhile, acts as a “divine connection,” echoing Leary’s sentiments.  Real Gone’s version of the far-out album will be pressed on “kaleidoscope” red, blue, and green vinyl and is limited to 1,600 copies.