Timothy Leary’s seminal LSD manifesto The Psychedelic Experience gets 50th anniversary vinyl reissue

“The goal of this trip is ecstasy.”

Originally released in 1966 as a companion to Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert’s book of the same name, The Psychedelic Experience is to get a 50th anniversary vinyl reissue as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday event next month.

Published two years earlier in 1964, The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin and mescaline and their ability to induce religious and mystical states of consciousness.

Just as the Tibetan Book Of The Dead was intended to act as a guide to understanding the ego in relation to life and death, The Psychedelic Experience was meant as a companion to navigating similar states of mind induced by hallucinogenic drugs.

The accompanying record featured readings from the book by the authors over just two tracks, ‘Going Out’ and ‘Coming Back’, and has since become something of a collector’s item, fetching upwards of $100 on Discogs.

On Black Friday, which this year falls on 25th November, Real Gone Music will reissue the album on vinyl for the first time, in a special edition limited to 1,400 copies.

You can see the full list of Record Store Day Black Friday releases here.