FEATURE:
The Class of '68
IN THIS IMAGE: Jimi Hendrix/IMAGE CREDIT: enricovarrasso
The Other Albums Which Were Delighting Fans and Critics the Year ‘The White Album’ Was Released
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IN a series that looks at The Beatles’…
eponymous album - and why it is being heavily promoted and celebrated -; I am breaking away from the album itself and looking at the other albums released in 1968. It is clear The Beatles was a hard album to top in that year but, look at what else was released, and you can see a wealth of brilliance – some genius album that are hugely loved to this very day. 1968 was a year that saw the first on-screen interracial (in Star Trek); the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy; two black U.S. athletes taking a stand against racism and discrimination at the Olympics - Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. I have collected together the ten biggest albums from 1968 that helped define a wonderful year for music. Maybe you will disagree with my rundown or you might be unfamiliar with some of them. In any case; there is a lot of brilliance among the list and it is clear The Beatles was in good company! Have a look at these ten huge albums and realise what a tremendous year for music…
PHOTO CREDIT: @pear/Unsplash
1968 was.
ALL ALBUM COVERS: Getty Images
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The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland
Date of Release: 16th October, 1968
Producer: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Standout Cut: Voodoo Chile
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
Date of Release: 3rd April, 1968
Producers: Simon & Garfunkel/Roy Halee
Standout Cut: Mrs. Robinson
Otis Redding – The Dock of the Bay
Date of Release: 23rd February, 1968
Producer: Steve Cropper
Standout Cut: (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay
Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Date of Release: 29th November, 1968
Producer: Lewis Merenstein
Standout Cut: Cyprus Avenue
Aretha Franklin – Lady Soul
Date of Release: 22nd January, 1968
Producer: Jerry Wexler
Standout Cut: (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Small Faces – Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake
Date of Release: 24th May, 1968
Producers: Steve Marriott/Ronnie Lane
Standout Cut: Lazy Sunday
The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
Date of Release: December 1968
Producer: Jimmy Miller
Standout Cut: Sympathy for the Devil
The Kinks – The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
Date of Release: 22nd November, 1968
Producer: Ray Davies
Standout Cut: Picture Book
Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison
Date of Release: May 1968
Producer: Bob Johnston
Standout Cut: Folsom Prison Blues
The Band – Music from Big Pink
Date of Release: 1st July, 1968
Producer: John Simon
Standout Cut: The Weight