Max Picks …songs from 1968

1968

It was a turbulent year, to say the least. We lost two proponents of peace—Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. Other events include the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, riots in Washington, DC, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War, values, and race.

The music was also toughened up by moving away from psychedelic music. The social climate and The Band’s album Music from Big Pink had a lot of influence on this. You still had psychedelic music released but overall, music was more stripped down to the basics.

Let’s start off with The Band…Music From Big Pink was one of the most important albums ever released. Its influence was everywhere. The song The Weight was also later included in the movie Easy Rider.

The Beatles would release the super single Hey Jude/ Revolution and The White Album. I could go with many songs like Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Back in the USSR, Helter Skelter, Dear Prudence,  and the list is almost endless… but I’ll go with Revolution. This song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney…but mostly Lennon.

The Rolling Stones released what some considered their best song ever with Jumping Jack Flash. It was written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.

Maybe the first supergroup in rock…Cream with White Room. Pete Brown wrote the lyrics and Jack Bruce wrote the music. Bruce was inspired by a cycling tour that he took in France. The “white room” was a literal place: a room in an apartment where Pete Brown was living.

Now we will go with the legendary Otis Redding singing (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.

The song is a true classic. Stax guitarist Steve Cropper wrote this with Redding. Cropper produced the album when Redding died, including this track with various songs Redding had recorded the last few years.

Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, a month before this song was released (January 8, 1968) and three days after he recorded it. It was by far his biggest hit and was also the first-ever posthumous #1 single in the US.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

39 thoughts on “Max Picks …songs from 1968”

  2. While I can’t fault any of the individual songs here – they are all great, and I love the video and this version of “Revolution”, I think they are too heavily oriented toward singles and radio airplay. I think what made 1968 different was the move away from singles and toward the attempt to either: 1) capture the feeling of a live concert or 2) try stuff that was difficult, if not impossible, to perform live.

    In 1968, Quicksilver Messenger Service released their album of the same title, featuring incredible dual guitar leads with (legendary) John Cippolina and (under -appreciated) Gary Duncan. While other bands messed around with feedback, they elevated it to an art form (especially on “The Fool”), using controlled feedback as another instrument. David Freiberg appears on bass and viola. Also in 1968, the Grateful Dead released “Anthem of the Sun”, recorded as a collage, mixing live and studio tracks and demonstrating influences from avant-garde composers. Van Morrison released “Astral Weeks”, for which he hired the great jazz bassist Richard Davis (who died last week and won the Downbeat poll as greatest bassist every year from 1968-74) and Davis shaped the sound to create a masterpiece. Big Brother and the Holding Company released “Cheap Thrills” and introduced Janis Joplin to the world. Pink Floyd released “A Saucerful of Secrets” (with studio versions of pieces that would appear live on “Ummagumma” the next year). While more radio-friendly, The Byrds “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” was too country for rock fans and they looked “wrong” for country fans. The album could have been taken over by the great Gram Parsons, but he was “only” a salaried sideman and some of his vocals were erased and replaced by Roger McGuinn to keep him from taking over. It was a one and done for Parsons and the Byrds. 1968 also re-introduced Mac Rebbenack (as Dr. John) with “Gris-gris”, featuring the hypnotic “Walk on Gilded Splinters”.

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    1. I cut out Joplin (who is one of my most favorite artists) last night…because in 1970 she will be there…I wanted to get Cream in because they break up the following year. That cut hurt…
      I love Sweetheart of the Rodeo…and it influenced so many after that. I really like Hickory Wind also. I will get the Dead in…in the seventies. Van will be coming as well. I’m a huge fan of Astral Weeks also.

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  4. What a year! Great choices as always . Personally, ‘Revolution’ is very low on my list of Beatles gems but it was a hit and I know many who have it near the top of their personal list. ‘Dock of the Bay’, I think was the first ‘old’ song I owned on 45, that is to say one that wasn’t current when I bought it. such a great tune. And of course, The Band. Grew up hearing that one a lot on radio in Toronto. Always liked their singles but only in last few years have I begun to realize their importance on shaping the pop music scene so quickly and dramatically. Currently am reading a book about them, just getting to the ‘Last Waltz’ chapter. Good stuff indeed Max.

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    1. It’s funny Dave…most of my singles growing up…well 100 percent until around 80 were old…unless you count a few of my sisters like Loco Motion by GFR.
      Yea I saw that book…meant to say something…that should be interesting. Robbie Robertson’s Testimony is fantastic as well.

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      1. it’s a good one, really a coffee table book, much of the font is big and there are pictures aplenty but it still is a treasure trove of info on them, from their origins to The Last Waltz at least.

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    2. I agree with the Bands influence. It was the polar opposite of psychedelia and kind of gave rock a solid base rather than going off on hippy trippy tangents. Anyway, the Grateful Dead had that covered very nicely. Maybe, without the reset (and Cream) there might not have been Prog Rock and Led Zep style leanings into heavy metal? Sorry, random rambling musings that don’t prove a thing.

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  6. Nice choices Max. I really like Cream, but in my music memory banks I have Tom Jones and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap. My mom liked Tom Jones (a lot!) and I remember we watched him on TV every chance we got. As for Gary Puckett, I would hang out at the bowling alley snack bar while my parents bowled in a league. The girl that worked the counter would give me nickels for the jute box and I always started with “Young Girl”! Whenever I hear that song I still think of the sound of bowling balls and falling pins!

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    1. That is a cool memory! I love how music puts us in a certain place all over again. If it wasn’t for you hearing that…you might not have thought of that as easy anyway.
      Those two were huge…the other day I saw a video of Tom Jones singing with Janis Joplin…which was surprising to me.

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  10. As far as iconic LPs go with the white album and Beggars Banquet the artistic bar is set about as high as you can get.
    This is a year where you have to sort out so many gems and try to find the very best. Some years it’s slim pickings finding even diamonds in the rough.
    Tom Jones and Janis is not what I would have ever expected to see, certainly NOT at the time. They work pretty well though.

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    1. When I think of 1968 those two albums are up front to me…I went through 15 different songs…all of them would have worked in this year. I’m on 1970 right now and it’s all changed…more soul.
      I was going to ask you about the Jones and Joplin thing…that had to be shocking at the time.

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      1. Yep, till now I never knew Jones/Janice- at the time it would have felt like Vegas cool Sammy Davis Junior dueting with uptight Anita Bryant. You just never could have seen it coming!

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  11. I’m going with Revolution especially with the distorted guitar and the off the rails piano playing. Makes me want to buy a pair of Nikes lol…yeah I had to go there….

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  12. Holy cow, Max, what a killer list. I literally love, love, love all these songs. I don’t believe I saw the clip of the Band playing “The Weight” at Woodstock – so cool! “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “White Room” are among my top favorites by the Stones and Cream, respectively. I guess it goes without saying I also love “Revolution” by The Beatles – I guess as close as the boys ever came to heavy metal, together with “Helter Skelter”. I’m also glad you included Otis Redding!

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      1. Keeping it to 5 songs must be really tough, unless perhaps you’re picking songs from, say, 2010! 🙂

        Though even from that year, I’m sure you can find five great tunes. It’s just harder to unearth them. In the ’60s you have the opposite challenge, though it’s a nice problem to have! 🙂

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      2. It’s really tough man….you know I was only going to go to 1994 when Kurt Cobain died…but now…I might go to 1995 and end it with the Beatles Anthology
        Wait til the 80s when a lot of people’s favorites are NOT on here. I only do songs I like…so that means a lot of alternative and other stuff…besides…Mellencamp, Springsteen, and Petty.

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  13. What a year. It’s ridiculous that I remember it as young as I was. I remember my babysitter reacting to Kennedy being shot that day, and them being glued to the TV. Same story reported over and over, but they sat there staring, waiting for more info. King was continually mentioned from then on.

    Great job picking 5 songs. You definitely had some hard choices, but no argument with your picks. Your list shows the shift in music I was sensing even as a little child. The music was not as fun as before. It was becoming more grown up and complex, not all in a good way.

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    1. It was a turbulent year…the news was a completely different animal back then.
      I was born a little too late…my earliest memory is of 1971 when I was four.
      I agree with you…it all wasn’t better because of the change. There were some that hung on to that period but for the most part…it was serious.

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  14. 1968 was the year when I started to take notice of the news, and it was sad, losing MLK and RFK both hit our family, I even recall our young substitute teacher at school talking about RFK’s murder. Dock Of The Bay was on a compilation of 1968 hits dad bought, classic, and Revolution was a great track on the flip to the Hey Jude track that started my obsession with the UK singles chart when it topped. Jumping Jack Flash I liked, but it was when I saw the hippy colourful video in the 80’s that it became a fave. As I love kitchen sink story dramatic tracks, I’d opt for Last Night In Soho, Eloise, Gotta See Jane, All Along The Watchtower and Jackie as my top choices of the year apart from Hey Jude. Maybe! Spoilt for choice.

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    1. I was going to do Hey Jude…and I thought about Lady Madonna! That wouldn’t have been bad either. Thanks for giving me your choices…you are right…All Along the Watchtower…I wish I could have slipped that in.

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