1968 was a year that transformed a nation. LBJ dropped his re-election campaign; Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated; riots disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Richard Nixon won election as president.

North Korea captured the USS Pueblo; the My Lai Massacre took place; an execution in South Vietnam turned U.S. public opinion against the war; students occupied Columbia University; African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute at the Mexico City Olympics.

Yale University announced it would admit women; United Artists pulled eleven Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from its library due to the depiction of racist stereotypes; astronauts Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman became the first humans to orbit the moon onboard Apollo 8.

Helen Keller, John Steinbeck, Nick Adams, Bea Benaderet, Tallulah Bankhead and Yuri Gagarin died.

2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes , Rosemary’s Baby, Funny Girl, The Odd Couple and Oliver! premiered in theaters; Hair opened on Broadway; Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In debuted on NBC; Hawaii Five-O and 60 Minutes premiered on CBS; Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered on National Educational Television.

The average Income per year was $7,850; the Federal Hourly Minimum Wage was $1.60 an hour; the average cost of new house was $14,950; the average cost of a new car was $2,822; gasoline cost 34 cents a gallon.

And in music? It was the year of the White Album, Beggar’s Banquet, Music From Big Pink, Electric Ladyland, Wheels of Fire, Sweetheart of The Rodeo, Odessey and Oracle, and Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake.

We start the weeklong look back at the year in music on the softer side today (because Sunday is always mellow); something to put you in a quiet mood before we crank it up tomorrow.

As usual, I have placed the highest position reached on the Billboard Hot 100 in parentheses for the included song next to the artist.

Play button is on the left … Volume slider is on the right

1968 Vintage Medley / Part 1

Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra (#1)
Judy Collins (#8) – Otis Redding (#1) – O.C. Smith (#2)
Bobby Vinton (#9) – Glen Campbell (#3) – Dion (#4)