1968 Overview

1968 was one of the worst years in American history. It's easy for someone to look at modern times and say that our country is down below the bottom of the barrel. Yet in 1968, you could say the end was near and not be far off from the truth. This was the year of the Tet Offensive, as the Vietnam War got uglier. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, were assassinated. There was even widely publicized police brutality used on the protesters outside of the Democratic National Convention in August. The whole world was watching indeed. But what about the music...

     Some may say that great music is made during times of tragedy, sorrow, and revolution. In 1968, this was certainly the case as rock music started to take off into the stratosphere in terms of maturity and progression. Psychedelic rock became heavier, as the seeds for progressive rock and heavy metal were sown with Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and Blue Cheer's cover of "Summertime Blues" respectively. In England, Pete Townshend of The Who spent much of the year engrossed in writing a rock opera, eventually called Tommy. 

     Yet, there were many who took the creative vibes of the hippie movement, and moved past psychedelic music entirely. One of these post-psychedelic styles was "Roots-rock". This showcasd a back to basics approach in music, with an emphasis on just guitar/bass/drums and sometimes piano. This included Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding, The Band's Music From The Big Pink, and The Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet. Even The Beatles' self titled double album eschewed all of the colorful trippiness of their previous three albums, and came packaged in a plain white cover. Finally, a chance get-together of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash during the summer, ended up creating one of the finest supergroups of all time. 

      Similar to roots rock was "Country-Rock". This showcased rock instrumentation often with steel guitars, and a country twang. The major difference being that many early country rock groups identified with the hippie movement, unlike most country singers. The pioneering record of this genre was The Byrds' Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. The following two years would see the genre take off like wildfire, especially with The Grateful Dead. 

     There were also other styles that took psychedelia and made it heavier. 1968 may very well be the first year of "Hard Rock". When The Yardbirds split in the summer, Jimmy Page reformed the group with new members as "The New Yardbirds". They quickly recorded a powerful bluesy debut album, which was released early in 1969. By this point, their name had changed to Led Zeppelin. From a rock perspective, you could summarize that 1968 was very exciting, but what about pop music. Well, not so much...

     In 1968, FM radio was introduced. This format was initially the home for most serious rock music. There was less restrictions, and you could even play a whole album with nobody raising an eyebrow. AM radio, on the other hand, was mostly geared towards Top 40 pop. Sure, you had the occasional Beatles or Stones song, both of which were more prominent on FM, but there was also a lot of Bubblegum pop. Yes, the offshoot of garage rock that takes the genre's simplify and edge, and replaces the edge with sucrose. In a nutshell, FM was for the serious music fans and AM was for the kiddies and pop lovers. Guess which of the two Billboard chose to draw chart action from? 

     We still have a long bumpy road to go 'til we get to today's pop disasters. Despite most serious rock not appearing on the top of the charts anymore, we still have a long way to go until things get really painful. This year will probably be full of surprises, both bad and good. Only time will tell...

First Up For 1968 - "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred And His Playboy Band. 

Until Next Time - "Take a load off fanny", and tune in for Dr. Rock's reviews -