On Friday, we’ll be playing six #1 songs from 1968 but today feels like a good day to celebrate a few songs that weren’t “top of the chart” hits but still left an indelible mark on the music of that year.
We start with a song Donovan wrote while in Rishikesh, India, where he was studying Transcendental Meditation (along with the Beatles) under the tutelage of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Donovan wrote the song with the intent of giving it to Jimi Hendrix.
Next up is Canned Heat with their adaptation of a 1953 tune by legendary blues legend Floyd Jones. Lead guitarist Alan Wilson handled the vocals instead of usual lead singer Bob Hite.
After that, we have a then 19-year old guitarist named Ted Nugent powering his Detroit-based band the Amboy Dukes to their one and only Top 40 hit, followed by The Who with a song written in 1965 by guitarist Pete Townshend but not recorded until three years later.
We finish with the only Top 40 song Jimi Hendrix ever recorded. Hard to believe that a guy who recorded Hey Joe, Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary and Foxy Lady only had a Top 40 hit with a cover of a Bob Dylan song!
I have included each song’s highest charting position in parentheses next to the artist name below.
Play button is on the left … Volume slider is on the right
Vintage 1968 Medley / Part 5
Donovan (#5) – Canned Heat (#16)
Amboy Dukes (#16) – The Who (#25)
Jimi Hendrix Experience (#20)
It’s so interesting to listen to the music of the time …. it varied so much …. from the soft and sentimental to sharp angry tones … a clear example of how we felt. The look back is an education in and of itself. Thanks for another look at who we were before we were who we are … Rock the Day
Thanks, Barbara 🙂
Music was all over the map that year; slowly emerging from primarily love songs to something both cosmic and thought provoking. It was great to be a teenager at a time when the entire planet seemed to be waking up to the times.
Rock This Day!
Another great set to motivate for the day ……. gonna be another 11 / 12 hour day .. Rock on you wonderful man!
Let the music motivate you, Penny … or at the very least, let it keep you awake. 😉
ROCK ON!
Well Ray you sure did wake me up. I listened at about 5AM but my eyes were most definitely open by the end of the set.
Donovan, eh, I did like some of his stuff but found most of his material too saccharin for my taste. I think he was a precursor of what we now call New Age. A man ahead of his time.
Canned Heat sure had the boogie vibe about them. I love hearing there song on that otherwise annoying insurance commercial. If only they knew. I hope their kids are getting the royalty money.
The Amboy Dukes always started about 3 feet off the ground with the volume set to 11, didn’t they?
The Who, never stopped making great music, even if Pete can’t hear it anymore.
Jimi I cannot believe only got to 40! It just shows that good music will out. We were so busy listening we didn’t look or care about the charts. All his music is #1 in my heart. Just heard a report on NPR yesterday about his Electric Ladyland studio. Very interesting. I happy it is back producing good music.
Thanks Ray for getting me off to a good start today.
Thanks, Don.
When I was putting this medley together (at the ridiculous hour of 1:00 this morning), I found myself wondering what your reaction would be. I’m quite pleased to see it passed the audition. 😉
Every time Ray, every time.
Thanks, Bro…
We have enjoyed revisiting the music from 1968. Without looking at your intro we have managed to identify most songs within the first few notes. The artists or groups have been a bit more challenging in some cases. Listened to #4 and #5 this morning.
Some great memories, thanks Ray!
Thank you, Marty.
I’m glad you have enjoyed the music and I’ll bet you will nail most of the songs tomorrow almost instantly.
I hope next week’s sets will be even more memorable because the year coming up was unbelievable!
Jimi would have been amazing singing Donovan’s song. It is completely astounding that Jimi never had a number one and was only in n the charts once! Makes no sense. 1968 was an eclectic year for music which,to me, is a good thing. We had great taste!
Thanks, Donna 🙂
I think the biggest problem Hendrix had reaching the charts was the fact that AM radio still dominated the airwaves and it was very difficult for Jimi to get much attention from the Top 40 stations. FM radio was still in its infancy and that is where Jimi was played the most.
Have a WONDERFUL evening!
Tonight has been spent with both my kiddos! While eating dinner, we listened to today’s medley and they also enjoyed the lead-in commentary. They were particularly surprised to learn about Jimi’s only Top 40 song. It was really neat to listen to it together. 🙂
Music connect us all! XOXOXOXO
Thanks, Wendyl 🙂
I LOVE knowing listening was a family event! Both of the “kids” have always shown the same type of interest in music their mother has.
Thank you so much for sharing that story. 🙂
XOXOXOXO