In 1967, a former actor became a governor in California and so did a segregationist in Georgia; the Human Be-In took place in San Francisco; the Green Bay Packers won the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game; three astronauts died during a launch pad test; the first Boeing 737 took off; hundreds of thousands marched to protest the Vietnam War; cities throughout America exploded in rioting and looting; the Boston Strangler was convicted; Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh, Jayne Mansfield, Otis Redding and Woody Guthrie all died.
Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In Cold Blood, and In The Heat of The Night premiered in U.S. theaters.
The average annual income in the U.S. was $7,300; the average cost of a new house was $14,250; the average cost of a new car was $2,750, and gasoline cost 33 cents per gallon.
And in music? Today we begin a rest-of-the-week look back at 1967, a coast-to-coast (and worldwide) amalgam of cultural change, political questioning, personal liberation and psychedelic exploration.
From Haight-Ashbury to New York and beyond, the year’s touchstones included the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (the so called “Soundtrack of the Summer of Love”), the first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, the Monterey Pop Festival, and as seen below, musical acts who debuted in 1967.
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
1967 Vintage Medley / Part 1
Bobbie Gentry (#1) – Procol Harum (#5)
Strawberry Alarm Clock (#1) – Bee Gees (#17)
Vanilla Fudge (#6) – Jimi Hendrix Experience (Didn’t Chart!)
Great songs …….. Ode to Billy Joe tells such a powerful / sad story! Am on my 4th round listening …… 🙂
Thanks, Penny.
It always makes me smile to know you’re enjoying the music. 🙂
Favorites: Billy Joe and Jimi! Great songs for a big year in our lives.
Looking forward to the rest!
Thank you, Donna 🙂
It’s going to be a great week of music and next week, I’m doing 1968 🙂
There’s a light, a certain kind of light, that shines on a late summer morning. It draws the neighborhood children outside and throughout the day one can hear the playful banter: “Who cares what games we choose? Little to win but nothin’ to lose.” During Tag, “Uh, where you gonna run to now, where you gonna run to?” During Cops and Robbers, “Why don’t cha be a man about it and set me free?!” If we got thirsty, when we called out for another drink, a mother brought a tray of lemonade. And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
Thanks for cranking out these great tunes from 1967! Always awesome and mood-lifting! XOXOXOXO
Once again … Wow, Wendyl!
You have somehow managed to outdo yourself!
You are more than a Beatle Baby, you are a Rock and Roll Queen!
XOXOXOXO
A Rock and Roll Queen!?! I’m honored and humbled! Why, thank you, Music Master!!!
Thank you 🙂
I do my best…
What a great intro to this set of songs …. setting the stage by reminding us of what was happening in the world in ’67. Ode to Billy Joe did tell a sad tale …. but it was a song that could draw you into the tale and into the tension in the lyrics …. loved the Bee Gees and the changes their music took as they progressed into the 70’s … I liked this year better than ’69 — maybe that’s why I enjoyed the music of ’67 more. Glad I didn’t miss this one today! Can’t wait to see what appears next week! Hope you rocked it!
Thnks, Barbara.
I’ll always consider 1965-1968 as the “peak musical years” of The Sixties
I always try to Rock It … Some days more than others. 🙂