Tag Archives: 1968

December 6: The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet was released in 1968

Rolling-Stones-Beggars-Banquet

December 6: The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet was released in 1968

Beggars Banquet is the seventh British and ninth American studio album The Rolling Stones. It was released 6th December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. The album was a return to a more rootsy rock for the band after the psychedelic “experiment”, Their Satanic Majesties Request.

The Rolling Stones – No Expectations (live Hyde Park, 1969):

In 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In the same year the TV network VH1 named Beggars Banquet the 67th greatest album of all time.

Continue reading December 6: The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet was released in 1968

November 22: Elvis Presley released “Elvis (NBC TV Special)” in 1968


elvis nbc tv special

I want everyone to know what I can really do
~Elvis Presley (to producer Bob Finkel)

Elvis delivered an incredible performance throughout the television special. His vocal performances were loose and gutsy…
~John Bush (allmusic.com)

Trouble/Guitar Man:

Continue reading November 22: Elvis Presley released “Elvis (NBC TV Special)” in 1968

The Best Songs: Tecumseh Valley by Townes Van Zandt

The Best Songs: Tecumseh Valley by Townes Van Zandt

I first heard this song when Emmylou Harris sang it, then I heard Nanci Griffith’s version on the album, Other voices other rooms. Great interpretations both of them. It made me seek out Townes Van Zandt’s versions, they’re even better!

John Townes Van Zandt I (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997), best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American singer-songwriter. Many of his songs, including “If I Needed You” and “To Live Is to Fly”, are considered standards of their genre.

While alive, Van Zandt had a small and devoted fanbase, but he never had a successful album or single and even had difficulty keeping his recordings in print. In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song “Pancho and Lefty,” scoring a number one hit on the Billboard country music charts. Despite achievements like these, the bulk of his life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms, backwoods cabins, and on friends’ couches. Van Zandt was notorious for his drug addictions, alcoholism, and his tendency to tell tall tales. (Wikipedia)

Early version from the album, For the sake of the song:

Late version (more like the one on Our Mother The Mountain):

Continue reading The Best Songs: Tecumseh Valley by Townes Van Zandt

October 5: Muddy Waters Electric Mud (1968)


em1

Electric Mud imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician. Producer Marshall Chess suggested that Muddy Waters record experimental, psychedelic blues tracks with members of Rotary Connection in trying to revive the blues singer’s career.

The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. It was controversial for its fusion of electric blues with psychedelic elements, but was influential on psychedelic rock bands of the era.

Allmusic.com doesn’t like it:

” It’s a classically wrongheaded, crass update of the blues for a modern audience.”

I can understand the sceptics then, but I’m not a blues-purist and I really love the record!

She’s allright (audio):

 Chuck D(Public Enemy) is a big supporter of the record:
“To me, it’s a brilliant record. I’ve played it a thousand times. It took me a while to warm up to traditional blues, but what struck me right away was the Electric Mud thing.”

And check out the great inlay cover, the man looked great! :

Continue reading October 5: Muddy Waters Electric Mud (1968)

Video of the day: Elvis 68 comeback special


Elvis NBC 1968

Elvis, starring Elvis Presley, is United States television special that aired on December 3, 1968 on the NBC television network. The special is commonly referred to as the ’68 Comeback Special, because of subsequent developments in Presley’s career, but the soundtrack album was released simply as NBC-TV Special.

Presley’s informal jamming in front of a small audience in the ’68 Comeback Special is regarded as a forerunner of the so-called “Unplugged” concept, later popularized by MTV.

Classic TV moment and a testament to Elvis’s greatness!

Continue reading Video of the day: Elvis 68 comeback special