Eight Miles High

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EIGHT MILES HIGH

“Eight Miles High” is a song by the American rock band the Byrds and first released as a single on March 14, 1966. The single reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart. The song was their last release before the departure of Gene Clark, who was the band’s principal songwriter at the time. Musically influenced by Ravi Shankar and John Coltrane, “Eight Miles High”, along with its McGuinn and Crosby-penned B-side “Why”, was influential in developing the musical styles of psychedelic rock, raga rock and psychedelic pop. As such, the song is often cited by critics as being the first bona fide psychedelic rock song. (More from Wikipedia)

There are two covers on the Index album: “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (more the Vanilla Fudge version than the Supremes version) and the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” (speaking of great psychedelic songs). If there was ever a song that cried out for a really extended treatment, it was “Eight Miles High”; and I still remember well the first time I heard a long version of “Eight Miles High” at a party while I was in college. The artist turned out to be Golden Earring, a Dutch band that has been around about as long as the Rolling Stones; they went on to have two giant hits – both of which I still love – “Radar Love” and “Twilight Zone”.

(March 2011)