1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die - 1968

A slightly weaker list than 64-67, but not at all devoid of good songs. Voted "America", which was kind of obvious to me even though I also like "Days", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Wichita Lineman" a lot.

Lots of great tracks, going with "Days" because it's my favorite Kinks song. None of the others holds that same spot for me within their respective catalogs.

voted 'days' just barely over 'grapevine', 'voodoo chile', 'israelites'.

Went with "Grapevine" but agree that this isn't the most exciting installment of these lists.

Aretha by a mile over "Witchita Lineman"; "Israelites," "Piece of My Heart," and "Pressure Drop" next. Five favourites not on the list: Andy Kim's "Baby, How'd We Ever Get This Way," Fairport Convention's "Time Will Show the Wiser," International Submarine Band's "Blue Eyes," Tim Buckley's "Buzzin' Fly," Tom Rush's "The Circle Game." And a half-dozen songs from The White Album and Beggars Banquet (but not the one listed).

i'm searching for my mainline personally

Knew what I was gonna vote for before I even saw the options, though "Sympathy for the Devil" tempted me. I voted "A Day in the Life" for '67, but I'm gonna rep for Hitsville U.S.A. this time around. If'n ya don't know what that means, you might want to consider withdrawing your vote altogether.

some good stuff here, but definitely not as packed as the past few. it was close between aretha and os mutantes for me, but ultimately went with os mutantes.

i couldn't hit it sideways - thought that was late '67 but wrong. Recorded in '67 though.

Don't know the Al Wilson or the Nina Simone (a song from Hair) and don't know if I've ever heard all of Redding's version of "Hard to Handle."

Like some of the others a lot but "Piece of My Heart" is the super-transcendent one, I think.

Surprised myself by voting Aretha; Marvin and Hendrix would have been my silver and bronze medallists. I love Os Mutantes but "A Minha Menina" wouldn't be in my top 5 songs from that single album...

The brothers' harmonies are so nice in that, though.

stones, i guess

much, much easier to negotiate than 67 (which i eventually just gave up on).

Israelites
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
America
Sympathy For The Devil
Pressure Drop

^ has to be one of these. went with marvin.

love "the snake" though. hadn't ever heard that before, so thanks, poll.

Wait, people actually love "America"!?? (I like plenty of Simon & Garfunkel, too! Just have never thought of that as any near one of the best songs, and I honestly had no idea anybody thought otherwise.)

Voted "Wichita Lineman," over "Israelites," but it's close.

Eh, okay, "America"'s not that bad, I guess, now that I'm singing it in my head. (Maybe I just never knew I liked it. I think it's just that the chorus always bugged me.)

Voted "Wichita Lineman," over "Grapevine".

Voted "Wichita Lineman," over "Israelites," but it's close.

― xhuxk, Monday, June 6, 2011 7:43 PM (23 minutes ago)

same here

Also, seeing Aretha's "I Say A Little Prayer" up there makes me wonder which Dionne Warwick songs made the book (since she did that one better.)

I agree with that. I don't think there have been any so far, although there's been a fair amount of Bacharach.

Or maybe I'm wrong? "The Look of Love" was in the last poll, anyway.

I'll rep for "The Weight" even though I'm sick to death of it

Wichita Lineman.

Seems like I used to hear the Dionne Warwick version (which Wikipedia says was actually a bigger hit) more, but now I always hear the Aretha version.

Also, seeing Aretha's "I Say A Little Prayer" up there makes me wonder which Dionne Warwick songs made the book (since she did that one better.)

xhuxk knows I disagree strongly here, even though I'd normally prefer Dionne's poppier (and great) version to Aretha's pull-out-all-the-stops version. I don't know why, but this is one time where pull-out-all-the-stops works for me; sheerly in terms of performance, I count Aretha's "Say a Little Prayer" on the short list of greatest singles ever.

Say It Loud.

"Say It Loud" for me, too - it sounds like it's opening the door to a whole new era of funky music, not to mention consciousness. Just over "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Israelites," which are timelessly great. Every single song on this list is excellent, although I prefer Erma Franklin's '67 version of "Piece of My Heart."

Just listened to the iTunes clip of that. Sounds like a cool record, but wow, that's not the kind of performance that Janis puts in on that song.

buzza otm about Sister Ray. Also missing: "Lather", "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida", the Pretty Things, The United States of America, Nico, the Zombies...(wasn't "People Funny Boy" '68?)

Voting Mutantes, just over the rocksteady cuts

Minor point, but I wanted to correct my earlier post--I meant to say Tom Rush's "No Regrets," not "The Circle Game."

"Sympathy For The Devil"

thou there are a lot great, great songs.

Halfway thinking about starting an challopsy alternate 68 poll (Note: I won't do this)

Israelites to me is the best. Lots of great songs, though.

you people who say this is weaker than the other years are crazy

voted for gaye but hard to handle deserves some serious love

One thing about '68 before I turn in. I've made 1968 mix-CDs for four different people, three of them 100 songs in length (birthday gifts based on Billboard charts the day they were born). The one thing that jumped out at me when I made these was the degree to which soul music dominated that year. This is a simplification, but I think of '67 as trippy--real psychedelic music and fake psychedelic music all over the charts--'69 as a year filled with bubblegum and sunshine pop, and '68 as the year with more soul music on Top 40 than any year ever. Take a look at any singles chart from '68 and you'll see what I mean.

A slightly weaker list than 64-67...

― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Monday, June 6, 2011 4:16 PM (5 hours ago)

Disagree. This is the strongest list yet. Several all-time faves represented. Going with Mr Glen Campbell in the end.

I agree with that. I don't think there have been any so far, although there's been a fair amount of Bacharach.

Pretty certain "Walk On By" was in the 1964 poll, wasn't it?

you people who say this is weaker than the other years are crazy

A lot of great music was made in 1968, but the best stuff was already being seen as kind of old-fashioned. This list is a bit too "rootsy", but then that is typically 68-69. Too rootsy for me.

I deeply love everything here except Van, Steppenwolf and the Beatles. Impossible again.

if the Van track was "Madame George" this wd be easy but it isn't so I voted "America".

"Pressure Drop" close second

In the 1967 thread, "In The Dock Of The Bay" and "Jumping Jack Flash" have already been discussed as obvious omissions here. I also miss some Zombies tracks, at least "Time Of The Season" should have been in the list here (as should "She's Not There" in the 1964 list as well).

The Os mutantes is the "was it a hit in 1968?" one, being as how we probably didn't get to hear it until the reissues on OM.

Still voted for it though, marginally over "Sympathy"

Os Mutantes didn't really have any "hits" (in a commercial meaning) outside Brazil at all though, did they?

Well, that's what I'm saying.

"Grapevine" just edging out "Wichita Lineman". First one has maybe the best intro of all time, second one of the best outros.

I thought "Israelites" was going to win this handily, but it looks like it'll be a close three-way with "Wichita Lineman" and "Grapevine."

So many good ones. Going with "America" for the structure and the lyrics.

I would've liked Ross & the Supremes' "Love Child" in this list.

same for in-a-gadda-da-vida

gave me fits on the 20th century poll, and i still don't get "wichita lineman"

"Pressure Drop" is the best thing on this list, but I always thought it was recorded in 1969 and didn't come out until 1970, on the Maytals' Monkey Man album (later on Funky Kingston). Is it the same version?

I would've liked Ross & the Supremes' "Love Child" in this list.

There are several Supremes tracks that I have missed a lot more in this book than that one. IMO they lost something when Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown. "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Baby Love" really, really, really should have been in the list though!

This is a great list but despite every other great temptation (Stones, James Brown, Big Bro and Holding Co and Mr Campbell) I have to go with 'I Say a Little Prayer'.

The Weight, but Wichita is going to win this by a huge margin

Here's hoping that "Some Day (We'll Be Together)" will be in the next poll

Stealth vote for Hendrix here. More than 40 years later, that opening riff still sounds bigger and heavier than just about anything else ever.

There are several Supremes tracks that I have missed a lot more in this book than that one. IMO they lost something when Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown. "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Baby Love" really, really, really should have been in the list though!

H-D-H were geniuses and of course they continued to write great songs for the Hot Wax and Invictus labels. But Love Child is my favorite of all the Supremes' LPs and it doesn't have a single H-D-H song on it. It does have some Ashford-Simpson songs though.

Does the Erma Franklin "Piece of My Heart" have any of those buildups with the different chord progression that you hear in the Big Brother version of the song? They're the chords you hear at the beginning, after the guitar solo, and again at the end.

As if it couldn't get any harder you make me choose between Israelites, A Minha Menina and the Wichita Lineman. It's impossible!

I mean, those are three of the best songs in the whole world. Maybe I'll vote for Os Mutantes since they don't get played (uite) as much as the other two.

I have a real thing for 1968, and when people say "yeah, but that's when the sixties died", I don't see it that way - I see it as a change of tack, a last gasp before the plunge into the '70s. I'm just glad there's nothing off of the Beach Boys' Friends or the White Album on here or my head would explode.

kind of feeling bad for pissing on Desmond Dekker, but "People Funny Boy" >>>>>>> "Israelites" and the only way I wouldn't have voted for it would be if the list also had "I Heard Her Call My Name"...

Given all the love for it on this thread, I thought I was going to be pleasantly surprised when I actually listened to Wichita Lineman last night. Somehow I hadn't heard it before, or didn't remember it if I did - I don't think it got a lot of play on oldies stations in New England when I was growing up, and I never actively sought out Glen Campbell because I always assumed he was schlock. So I listen to it and while I can see its sentimental value for people who grew up with it...I dunno. Pretty much sounded the way I expected Glen Campbell to sound. What am I missing?

^feelin this post

********************

(i heard her call my name)
(people funny boy)

a minha menina/pressure drop
grapevine
(sister ray)
hard to handle
israelites
piece of my heart
say it loud
(gadda-da-vida)
voodoo chile

(sorry to be all tiresome bout this shit, super hot today in MI so I'm a little cranky...)

i guess the schock has a creepy/dreamlike beauty that some get into, the tune's catchy, even affecting, and the lyrical conceit is amazing. hate it though.

Questioning whether it was wise of me to pick "Grapevine" blind - definitely my favorite, but I missed "Pressure Drop" and I think it's just as good a track. Even though the list as a whole isn't as money as '66 or '67 it's still a tough call up top - Motown's greatest production vs. one of the most purely joyous songs ever recorded.

yeah I thought I was voting Mutantes, but I ended up going with Maytals, which is the next best thing to Lee Scratch Perry. That song is sooo rad! ButvA Minha Menina is great too! My favorite on that album!

I know Happiness is a Warm Gun is too much to ask for, but I kind of wish Lady Madonna had been the token Beatles pick

gosh 68 is bringing out my whiny side; time for me to leave this thread alone...

okay this thread has inspired me to listen to Toots & the Maytals for the rest of the evening

What blows my mind about "Grapevine" (among about a million other things) is that there are THREE drummers playing more sparsely than ONE. And it simply wouldn't work without three drummers.

Does the Erma Franklin "Piece of My Heart" have any of those buildups with the different chord progression that you hear in the Big Brother version of the song? They're the chords you hear at the beginning, after the guitar solo, and again at the end.

No. The earlier version is not guitar-driven at all.

I have a real thing for 1968, and when people say "yeah, but that's when the sixties died", I don't see it that way - I see it as a change of tack, a last gasp before the plunge into the '70s

The music of 1968-69 was more "rootsy". However, the legacy from 1967's psych pop just went underground and would keep on developing until it became symphonic rock in the early 70s.

So, wow, Big Brother actually re-wrote that song? Another big point in its favor. (That part is so crucial to their version.)

I vastly prefer the original but i've never been a fan of Janis Joplin

Given all the love for it on this thread, I thought I was going to be pleasantly surprised when I actually listened to Wichita Lineman last night. Somehow I hadn't heard it before, or didn't remember it if I did - I don't think it got a lot of play on oldies stations in New England when I was growing up, and I never actively sought out Glen Campbell because I always assumed he was schlock. So I listen to it and while I can see its sentimental value for people who grew up with it...I dunno. Pretty much sounded the way I expected Glen Campbell to sound. What am I missing?

― thewufs, Wednesday, 8 June 2011 02:25 (18 hours ago) Bookmark

Aside from the fact it's a beautiful song with gorgeous orchestration, it's largely down to the lyrical content for me. Linemen would spend months in remote and dangerous areas freezing their nuts off putting up power and communications lines and the metaphor of wanting to communicate with loved ones through a cable that hasn't been put up yet is fantastic.

I don't think it got a lot of play on oldies stations in New England when I was growing up,

Weird, the first time I heard it was on a New England oldies station, in the mid-90s. I was actually floored by it immediately, and the thing it most reminded me of was, for some reason, Forever Changes. Also, dog latin OTM.

As if it couldn't get any harder you make me choose between Israelites, A Minha Menina and the Wichita Lineman. It's impossible!

― The Boy Who Can Go Inside The TV (dog latin)

Ha voted for Minha Menina but those exact three you mention were giving me a headache on which one is my favorite from the bunch. Followed by Nina Simone, Hendrix and Marvin Gaye.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

interesting results! was torn between marvin and the stones, glad i wound up going w the former. and i was worried that glenn cambell would take it outright.

Nobody voted for Desmond? That makes me kind of sad...

yeah, that is a bummer :(

one of my favorite songs that isn't, you know, "heard it through the grapevine" or "sympathy for the devil"

^ i sound like the fucking big chill or something

A little ;). Sympathy is one of the most boring songs that isn't Hey Jude or The Weight...

"Israelites" getting zero is amazing to me--as I said up front, I thought that would win.

Sympathy is one of the most boring songs that isn't Hey Jude or The Weight...

that's probably true, but like "i wanna be your dog", i feel i have to stand true by my youthful devotion. i loved that song SO MUCH, used to lie on the floor with my head between the speakers and listen to it over and over (that and "gimme shelter", both off hot rocks side 3, skipping "honky tonk women"). blew my mind, still know the words by heart, still love to sing along whenever i hear it.

"Israelites" getting zero is amazing to me--as I said up front, I thought that would win.

was in my final three. feel bad now for bowing to the boomer classix.

I came very very very close to voting "Israelites." Now I really wish I would have.

Didn't expect "Israelites" to win, but kinda weird it got nil, yes.

It would be great to be able to rank one's top 5 or so in poll threads. As an option, not by default. Imagine the hundreds of polls that people would scramble to do over if that option became available.

Tbh contendo, I'm glad you voted for Marvin so at least it tied for first w/ two songs that I didn't care for

I could give a fuck that "Grapevine" is a boomer classic. It's mine too, dammit. The first time I remember having had a "favorite song" it was "I Heard it Through The Grapevine." I must've been like 5 or 6. The California Raisins probably had something to do with that - same thing happened to me with Sesame Street and "Let It Be" ("Letter B").

I'd expect most of the songs in this list to be boomer classics. They are from 1968, after all...

This is true.

I'm just saying don't let anyone else's nostalgia spoil your enjoyment. For that matter, don't let it spoil your nostalgia - your memories will be ruined well enough once you YouTube those "Grapevine" commercials from 1987 and recognize crude racial stereotypes in the form of talking grapes.

The baby boomers may be as nostalgic as they want to. There is a lot of great music from the late 60s. However, what they themselves fail to realize is that there is also a lot of great synth-based music from the early 80s. But that's their loss, really.