1968 in music. • Page 4

Yeah and these threads will always be there as a resource on albums you may not have heard and want to (which is the reason I’m so exhaustive in listing what I’ve heard. Maybe someone will need a listen they hadn’t heard and use this thread).

 

Listened to Muddy Waters' Electric Mud today. It's him taking some blues staples from himself and others (Mannish Boy, I Just Want to Make Love to You, Hoochie Coochie Man etc), and playing them with a psychedelic rock band backing him, full of wah-wah guitars and distortion.

The band behind him is great, and there's a lot to like about this, as well as the massive amounts of pysch in here, there's also definitely a big jazz influence in the playing, particularly the piano. I'm not 100% sure it really suits Muddy Waters particularly, but he's an excellent vocalist, the songs are great, and the band is tight - so even if it just doesn't sound quite right to my ears, there's some great stuff here nonetheless.

 

i love that album. the reviews for it at the time completely whiffed.

 

The backing band on Electric Mud is Rotary Connection right? I don't know much about their actual music, but they did give Minnie Riperton her start, so I appreciate them for that

 

1968 In Music

Greatest Albums:
1. The Beatles (White Album)
2. Electric Ladyland - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel

More Albums I Like:
Friends - The Beach Boys
Waiting For The Sun - The Doors
Wheels Of Fire - Cream
White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground
Dance To The Music - Sly & The Family Stone

Favorite Songs Of The Year:
1. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
2. All Along The Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Crossroads - Cream

More Greatest Songs:
Dear Prudence - The Beatles
Hush - Deep Purple
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Do It Again - The Beach Boys
Scarborough Fair/Canticle - Simon & Garfunkel
America - Simon & Garfunkel
Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel
Touch Me - The Doors
Time Of The Season - The Zombies
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Hey Jude - The Beatles
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding
Little Wing - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Chain Of Fools - Aretha Franklin
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Friends - The Beach Boys
Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
Dance To The Music - Sly & The Family Stone
Israelites - Desmond Dekker
Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Everybody's Talking - Henry Nilsson
One - Henry Nilsson
I Put A Spell On You - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crimson & Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells
Oscillations - Silver Apples
Debora - T.Rex
Send Me A Postcard - Shocking Blue
Alone Again Or - Love

Honorable Mention:
Sinfonia - Luciano Berio

 

kinda interesting breakdown so far. several albums that are pretty much neck and neck. don't wanna say which to potentially influence stuff but it's close between, like, 5 albums. or at least our closest year in a few weeks.

 

Om - John Coltrane (posthumously-released)

Nefertiti - Miles Davis

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

 

Great list. There’s several on there that could easily be in my top three. I like that you mentioned Waiting for the Sun. I love that record. My Wild Love has been one of my favorite songs since I bought that record as a teenager.

 

It kills me that this song isn't on an album.

 

Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills
Mostly a tremendous showcase for a great blues-rock singer. The band is solid, sometimes very good. But it's always Janis shining. I actually really like the fake crowd noise conceit, myself.

 

Fyi: stumbled on this site "Musicboard" that seems to be Letterboxd for music. Not sure how good it is

Musicboard - Share your love for music with friends.

 

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - BBC Radiophonic Music
Cool educational listen. I have no clue how anyone was making electronic music in the late ‘60s. But for, like, enjoyment? Eh.

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood - Nancy and Lee
They have a very unique and distinct sound. I’m not sure how I feel about it. There are moments where his insanely deep voice and her light touch so not blend much at all, mostly on the Johnny Cash and Righteous Brothers covers. On the more original stuff, the orchestration is lush and they dovetail a lot better, especially “Some Velvet Morning”

 

1. Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends
2. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
3. The Beatles - The White Album

Tough year to rank. I could certainly have included Astral Weeks here, possibly as high as 1. But S&G have meant more to me and Bookends is imo their most perfect album.

Odessey and Oracle is another tough one to rank. I might overrate it a teeny bit. Butcher’s Tale is possibly the most out of place song on any record I love. Everything else about it, however, is amazing. Hung Up On a Dream is maybe the definitive 60s song for me, not in terms of being iconic but in terms of representing everything that makes it a special decade.

Finally, surprised at the relative white album slander in here. It’s a bit of a mess on disk 2, yes, but it’s also The Beatles at their most interesting. Disk 1 is near perfect and overall I’d call the full thing pretty easily a top 3 Beatles album. Probably my favorite even if 1 or 2 beat it in cohesiveness.

 

*sigh* the beatles win again for their self-titled

 

Traffic - Traffic
I’ve heard two of their records after the break up and year hiatus. I know this album’s reputation. I’m not sure what I expected it to sound like, but this blew away my expectations. Writing, playing, singing. Just outstanding. Dave Mason really provided a great counterpoint to Winwood

 

1. the Beatles - the whitey album
2. The Beach Boys - Friends
3. Jimi - Electric Ladyland

Favorite Single: Louis Armstrong - “What A Wonderful World”

2 & 3 could also be Beggars Banquet, Bookends and Village Green.

The White Album is by far my favorite Beatles album. Very lively

2 heavies this year I don’t really love in Astral Weeks and Big Pink. They’re cool, I don’t enjoy them much.

Other cool stuff i didn’t see mentioned or forgot I saw:

Fleetwood Mac - “Albatross” (!!!)
Dionne Warwick - “Valley Of The Dolls”
Lemon Pipers - “Green Tambourine”
American Breed - “Bend Me, Shape Me”
The Status Quo - “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”
Classics IV - “Spooky”
Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll - “This Wheel’s On Fire”
The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
Al Cooper, Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills - Super Session
Desmond Dekkar - “007”
Nirvana UK
Gun

Shout out to The Byrds “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”

 

@phaynes12 what was the final top 3? It had to be pretty damn close.

I also want to at least share if it's any consolation, that I am fully converted on Astral Weeks, and it is easily in my top 5 from '68. Definitely looking forward to getting more familiar with all of the other stuff Van released in the next 5-6 years to come.

 

i deleted the note last night after posting but I believe it was beatles, astral weeks, bookends

working on the '69 thread now

 

1969 in music. • forum.chorus.fm

1969 thread

 

1. Wilson Pickett - I’m In Love

 

Joni Mitchell - Song to a Seagull

 

My vote wouldn't have changed anything, but it probably would've been:
1. Big Brother & The Holding Company: Cheap Thrills
2. The Beatles: White Album
3. The Kinks: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

I have a soft spot for Cheap Thrills. It's not entirely consistent, but it's got some amazing moments. And really the same for White Album. I'm always conflicted on this one because I don't listen front to back too often, but it's got some of their best songs. The Kinks album I didn't hear until this weekend, but it may already be my favorite album from them - could see this being my #1 for '68 if you asked me again in a year

Other contenders: Lady Soul, Bookends, Beggars Banquet, Songs to a Seagull

 

Haven’t heard the album but Wichita Lineman is a good song. Overplayed, but good.

 

yeeeeeeee

 

I don't have my list yet, but I am digging though 1968 music now. My only contribution to this thread so far is that I have never skipped Rev 9 when listening to the album, that is all.