Category: 1968

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Cheap Thrills – 50 Years Ago Today

“Four gentlemen and one great, great broad. Big Brother and The Holding Company” – Bill Graham intro

Happy 50th Anniversary to ‘s second studio album ‘Cheap Thrills’ originally released August 12, 1968. #janisjoplin

I recall bringing this album with me everywhere I went that summer. I never tire of listening to these vibrant tracks.

Cheap Thrills

Cheap Thrills is a studio album by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. It was their last album with Janis Joplin as lead singer. For Cheap Thrills, the band and producer John Simon incorporated recordings of crowd noise to give the impression of a live album, for which it was subsequently mistaken by listeners. Only the final song, a cover of “Ball and Chain“, had been recorded live (at The Fillmore in San Francisco).[1]

The cover was drawn by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb after the band’s original cover idea, a photo of the group naked in bed together was vetoed by Columbia Records. Crumb had originally intended his art for the LP back cover, with a portrait of Janis Joplin to grace the front. But Joplin, an avid fan of underground comics, especially the work of Crumb, so loved the Cheap Thrills illustration that she demanded Columbia place it on the front cover. It is number nine on Rolling Stone’s list of one hundred greatest album covers. 

On March 22, 2013, the album was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and thus it was preserved into the National Recording Registry for the 2012 register.[16] The album was named the 163rd best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[17]

 

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Love Street Festival 2018 – Laurel Canyon

As my readers know I love to write about The Doors. It’s been an interesting Doors 50 year anniversary celebration which has sprawled from 2017 into 2018 thus far.

The song “Love Street” was the B-side to The Doors hit single, “Hello I Love You”, released 50 years ago on July 13, 1968. It appears on their 1968 album Waiting for the Sun.

Love Street

The song was originally a poem written by singer Jim Morrison about the street in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, California where he lived with his girlfriend Pamela Courson. Their address was 8021 Rothdell Trail. Morrison and Courson referred to Rothdell Trail as “Love Street” because they would sit on the balcony and watch countless hippies walk by.

You can take a visual tour of the Love Street house by looking at the Zillow Real Estate listing here. The present value of this property is 1.7 Million but it is off the market right now.

Laurel-Canyon-Country-Store

I have been to Laurel Canyon and seen the Love Street house. It was a pilgrimage I experienced on my birthday in 2012.  I had lunch (A veggie sprouts and humus sandwich and an ice cream bar) at the Canyon Country Store. Here are the lyrics in Love Street that refer to that store.

Love Street Lyrics

The Love Street Festival 2018 in Laurel Canyon held on Sunday July 22nd celebrated the 50th anniversary of Love Street, the house and the store. There are lots of  great photos of this day on the Love Street Festival Facebook Page.

Festival LogoTo commemorate the street’s significance to popular culture and to Laurel Canyon’s deep music roots, Council Member David Ryu (CD4) sponsored an ordinance to officially change the name of a portion of Rothdell Trail to “LOVE STREET”! 

Love Street celebration
The Doors, John Densmore and Robby Krieger with Councilman Ryu.

I love the special connection I always feel with Laurel Canyon in the music of our heart.

 

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1968 Official Doors Concert Program

Although I never saw the original Doors live in concert, I would love to own this reproduction of their 1968 concert program.

The band has reprinted their original 1968 Doors concert program for the first time, which is available exclusively from The Doors Web store. This was the only official tour program ever created by the band.

Produced in 1968 for their upcoming U.S. tour, but sold only at a few select shows, and via mail order. Designed by Paul Ferrara, this 24-page program includes many color and black & white images taken by Ferrara, plus poetry by Jim Morrison, astrology charts for each band member, and more.

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Music of 1968, Rock and Roll’s Greatest Year from Time Life

It’s a hefty claim that the music of 1968 was rock and roll’s greatest year. Time Life’s editors conducted an admirable job substantiating that belief.

The magazine has compelling photographs from premier rock photographers Jim Marshall, Barry Feinstein, Michael Ochs, Elliot Landy, Herb Greene, and Baron Wolman.

The 10 albums that defined that year are all a part of my vinyl collection and receive regular listening.

  1. Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel
  2. Odessey and Oracle – The Zombies
  3. Music From Big Pink – The Band
  4. Waiting For The Sun – The Doors
  5. Truth – Jeff Beck
  6. Wheels Of Fire – Cream
  7. Electric Ladyland – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  8. Astral Weeks-Van Morrison
  9. The Beatles – The Beatles
  10. Beggars Banquet – The Rolling Stones
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Fifty Years Ago Today – Waiting for the Sun, The Doors

The Doors will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their third album, Waiting for the Sun (released on July 3rd, 1968) with a reissue featuring 14 previously unreleased tracks. The two-CD, one LP set is available to pre-order ahead of its September 14th release via Rhino.

The 50th anniversary version of Waiting for the Sun features a remastered version of the album’s original stereo mix on both CD and 180-gram vinyl. Bruce Botnick, the Doors’ longtime engineer/mixer handled the remaster using the original master tapes.

Waiting for the Sun 50th Anniversary Reissue Track List

Disc One – Original Album

1. “Hello, I Love You”
2. “Love Street”
3. “Not To Touch The Earth”
4. “Summer’s Almost Gone”
5. “Wintertime Love”
6. “The Unknown Soldier”
7. “Spanish Caravan”
8. “My Wild Love”
9. “We Could Be So Good Together”
10. “Yes, The River Knows”
11. “Five To One”

Disc Two – Previously Unreleased Tracks

1. “Hello, I Love You” (rough mix)
2. “Summer’s Almost Gone” (rough mix)
3. “Yes, The River Knows” (rough mix)
4. “Spanish Caravan” (rough mix)
5. “Love Street” (rough mix)
6. “Wintertime Love” (rough mix)
7. “Not To Touch The Earth” (rough mix)
8. “Five To One” (rough mix)
9. “My Wild Love” (rough mix)
10. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)” (live in Copenhagen)
11. “Hello, I Love You” (live in Copenhagen)
12. “Back Door Man” (live in Copenhagen)
13. “Five To One” (live in Copenhagen)
14. “The Unknown Soldier” (live in Copenhagen)

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The 50th Anniversary of Music From Big Pink by The Band

The more I study the year in music 1968, the more I realize the strong foundation forged by creative artists and their unique perspective.

Today, July 1st, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Music From Big Pink by The Band. A monumental recording with an unpressured approach to collaboration that prevailed inside the Big Pink house in West Saugerties, N.Y. in the basement.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of its release, Music From Big Pink is getting a reissue worthy of one of the greatest albums ever recorded. On Aug. 31, the record will receive a new stereo mix on CD and digital, with five outtakes, alternative recordings and an unreleased a cappella version of “I Shall Be Released.”

The Band will also release a double-LP vinyl box set of the album, which includes the CD, digital access and a high-resolution surround mix on Blu-Ray. It also includes a reproduction of the 7-inch single “The Weight” b/w “I Shall Be Released,” and a hardback book with an essay by music journalist David Fricke and photos by Elliott Landy.

There are also limited-edition versions with pink vinyl.

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Classic Rock Mag – Purple Reign – June ’18

Purple and Rock are two of my all favorite expressions. The latest issue of Classic Rock Magazine (June 2018, Issue 249) features extensive coverage about the Deep Purple Family. There was a period of time when they were the pinnacle of rock.

Purple Reign

I have been a Deep Purple fan since ’68 when I first heard their hit single “Hush” on progressive rock radio (WNEW-FM, 102.7, NYC). “Hush” celebrates its 50th anniversary in June. Amazing.

 

Deep Purple

This issue is a in-depth read, 28 pages to be precise. Starting with Deep Purple, then onto Dio and Rainbow, followed by Coverdale & Whitesnake, and more… A total steal at $3.99!

Kudos to Sian Llewellyn, Editor and her team of writers. This is rock curation at its finest!

 

 

 

 

 

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50 Years Ago Today We Lost Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky.
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride.

“Pride (In the Name of Love) – U2”

Joseph Louw / The LIFE Images Collection via Getty

I recall the day like it was yesterday. I was a junior at Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk, CT, in 1968, 50 years ago. I learned from the evening news that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It paralyzed my heart. I felt lost. I was a great admirer of Dr. King and his non-violent teachings. How could someone do such a thing?

If you ever get to Memphis please visit and honor Dr. King’s memory. The Lorraine Hotel hosts the National Civil Rights Museum. We saw the balcony and the vintage cars from the Memphis tour van a couple of years ago. A moment forever frozen in time. A humbling moment. You’ll feel his spirit there.

 

 

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The Ultimate Music Guide – Yes

Yes is a progressive rock band that I return to often as their music echoes as poetry in the Music Of Our Heart. I obtained this issue of The Ultimate Music Guide Yes via the Uncut North America Digital Magazine Music Store. I couldn’t find it in my local magazine rack at Barnes & Noble.  Isn’t that what my iPad Pro and the Web is designed to accomplish 😉

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