@self-tort
Some thoughts on 1968
Just some random thoughts that occurred as a result of a gig I played last week.
It was a 40th birthday party. I’d played a 40th late last year and the birthday boy had asked me to play some songs from the year of his birth. I agreed to do so, but was horrified when I checked the net and found the top song of the year was Snoopy versus the Red Baron, with To Sir To Love and The Last Waltz not far behind..
Ultimately I was able to cobble a set together including Gimme Some Loving, Brown Eyed Girl, Happy Together, I’m A Believer, Whiter Shade of Pale, Paper Sun, Gimme Little Sign, Friday On My Mind, River Deep Mountain High, I’m A Man and some others.
Now I’m not saying that the music in 1967 was crap. Clearly there was a lot of good music about. But it seemed to be surrounded by a fair amount of schlock.
For last weeks gig I had an embarrassment of choice. I did one keyboard bracket which included, for example, Hey Jude, Hole in My Shoe, Dock of the Bay, Daydream Believer (okay some schlock in 1968) , Baby Now That I’ve Found You, Midnight Confessions, Heard It Through the Grapevine, Lady Madonna, and then follow it up with a guitar bracket that included Jumping Jack Flash, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, All Along the Watchtower, Elevator Driver, Itchycoo Park, Mighty Quinn, Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Piece of My Heart , Baby Come Back, Hold On I’m Coming, Fire, On The Road Again.
All in all, it occurred to me that in the space of 12 months things had got a lot heavier and rockier. Obviously the release by Bobby Golsboro of “Honey” militates against my argument. And as I’m in Australia and music hits us months after it’s hit the States and Europe some of those that I’ve included in the 1968 list were probably hits elsewhere in 1967.
But I just found it curious that between the two years there seem to be so many more tracks from 1968 that I consider to be classics than the year before. And 1968 was also a very torrid year in political terms with student riots in Paris, the Democratic Convention etc.
Just some random thoughts that I thought I would share.
Cheers
Brian
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Henry, you've raised some interesting points. Over here in Australia we didn't even have the luxury of "black charts". Our access to black artists was limited to the doo **** bands such as the Platters etc, Chuck Berry and "white" covers of the blues artists. Interesting that for Jimi Hendrix to make it commercially he had to do it in a band with 2 very white boys. I read an obituary of Buddy Miles last week (sad to see another one go) and apart from discovering that Buddy had made it big as "Buddy the Raisin" in California Raisin Growers advertisements, it was interesting to note the comment that the Band of Gypsys was disbanded after the one album because it was thought that three black rock artists would be "too confronting" for the mass audience.
Thanks to all for the comments on this blog. Appreciate it.
Cheers
Brian
Yes, concours up memories alot...I stood there... with a glace of a deer in on-coming headlights...as The drums started to play on the sgt pepper album...
I'm glad to have had it the way it unfolded...musically..mid sixties..
Thanks for the thoughful post !
Memory is a funny thing. I have not heard Snoopy Vs the Red Baron in close to 35 or 40 years. I was a kid in the late 60s and I liked that song. I actually remembered the first verse. Lost it after that though.
67 into 68 was the peak of whats considered the 60s in the US. I think Rock and Roll as radio friendly white bread stuff had always been separated in the US from the blues driven artists playing in the underground because the heavier blues music was considered "to black". Te civil rights movement here had been going strong by that time and people were dieing in the trenches. I also think commercial music wike up to the viability of the harder cross over element.
"After the turn if the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder like you've never heard
From the screaming sound of a big war bird"
Hell, I may do a cover of that