The Open Mind was an English

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band formed in London, and active in the 1960s and 1970s.

Overview

The band was formed in 1963 by four musicians from

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, South West London. Initially named The Apaches and formed by Tim du Feu, Mike Brancaccio and Philip Fox and their friend Ray Nye. Nye left in 1965 and another friend, Terry Schindler, joined instead. The band became The Drag Set, who released a little-known single in February 1967, "Day and Night" / "Get Out of My Way". Shortly thereafter, they changed their name to The Open Mind and in July 1969 released a self-titled LP which has since become a highly sought-after collectible. The band, however, is best known for its druggy August 1969 single, "Magic Potion", which did not appear on the album. The Open Mind disbanded in 1973; its members wanted to move into

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-influenced music, but The Open Mind was too well known as a psychedelic band. The band members (minus Phil Fox) went on to form Armada, which lasted about three years but did not release any recorded material. Despite their paucity of recorded material, The Open Mind have proven to be influential in the psychedelic rock genre, their single "Magic Potion" having been covered by bands such as The Seers,

Sun Dial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat p ...

and The Damned.

Band members

*Mike Bran, a.k.a. Mike Brancaccio –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(born 17 April 1946,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy) *Timothy du Feu –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(born 31 May 1944,

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...

, England] *Philip Fox – Drum kit, drums (born 26 August 1946,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, South West London) *Ray Nye –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Terry Martin, a.k.a. Terry Schindler –

(born 26 August 1945,

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

, West Central London)

Discography

Singles

*"Horses and Chariots" b/w "Before My Time" (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

BF 1790) May 1969 *"Magic Potion" b/w "Cast a Spell" (Philips BF 1805) August 1969 ;The Drag Set *"Day and Night" b/w "Get Out of My Way" 7" single ( Go AJ 11405) May 1967

Album

*''The Open Mind'' LP (Philips 7893) (July 1969) ''The Open Mind'' was reissued on CD on the Acme Records and Second Battle labels. The two non-LP songs from the single are included as bonus tracks.

References

External links

* *

Allmusic entry for the Open Mind AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

br>June 2001 interview with bassist Timothy du Feu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Mind, The English psychedelic rock music groups Freakbeat groups Rock music groups from London Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 1973