Sam Gopal is an underground British Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 band.

The band is named after its founder, Sam Gopal, born in Malaysia. From the age of seven, he played tabla

Tabla

The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...

, a northern Indian percussion that replaced drums in the band.

On 28 April 1967, the band performed at The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream

The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream

The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream was a concert held in the huge Great Hall of the Alexandra Palace, London, on 29 April 1967. The fund-raising concert for the International Times was organised by Barry Miles and John "Hoppy" Hopkins and David Howson...

, a UK Underground event organised by the International Times

International Times

International Times was an underground newspaper founded in London in 1966. Editors included Hoppy, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath...

at Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

. The line-up was Sam Gopal on Tabla, Mick Hutchinson on guitar, and Pete Sears

Pete Sears

Peter 'Pete' Sears is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than four decades he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues...

 on bass guitar and organ. Other performing bands included Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

, The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things

The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...

, Savoy Brown

Savoy Brown

Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London...

, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is a psychedelic rock album by Arthur Brown and his band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, released in 1968. Considered a classic of the late-1960s psychedelic scene and a significant influence on progressive rock, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown includes covers of...

, Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

, and The Move

The Move

The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States....

. Sam Gopal Dream played at the UFO Club

UFO Club

The UFO Club was a famous but shortlived UK underground club in London during the 1960s, venue of performances by many of the top bands of the day.-History:...

, The Electric Garden in Covent Garden (later to become Middle Earth), The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...

, and Happening 44. They later played the Christmas on Earth Show at Olympia in London with Traffic

Traffic (band)

Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...

, Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

 and Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

. Jimi Hendrix later sat in with the original Sam Gopal Dream at London's Speakeasy Club

Speakeasy Club

The Speakeasy Club, 48 Margaret Street, London, England, was a late-night haunt for the music industry from 1966 to the late 1970s. The club was first managed Roy Flynn, who then became the manager of Yes. Tony Howard then became manager, having previously been the main artist booker from The Bryan...

.

After the original band broke up in 1968, Sam formed a new line-up which included vocalist Lemmy. He was a singer-guitarist with Sam Gopal, before becoming the bassist of Hawkwind

Hawkwind

Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....

 and, in 1975, the founder, singer and bassist of Motörhead.

Sam Gopal's album Escalator

Escalator (album)

Escalator is the only album by Sam Gopal, released in 1968, on the small Stable label. Around the same time the band also released a single "Horse" b/w "Back Door Man".The band was managed by Robert Stigwood....

was recorded in 1968 and released in 1969.