So, initially I told myself "let's do some re-listening, I haven't heard many of these unacclaimed 68 albums in ages" since most of what I listen to was released starting with the 70s funk & punk era. And then I was having fun, so I told myself "let's listen to the albums suggested by other people that I find intriguing". And then, since I was starting to have a pretty neat near-top 30, I told myself "let's look at those lists I'm working on to round out my top 30". And somewhere down the line, it just became about showing off my newfound knowledge
The fact that I was surprised by my #1 even myself is a testament to the fact I wasn't biased toward any act or style, I think. I can say after listening all this that 1968 was certainly a very good year, but that doesn't mean I think the AM list is lacking in any way: of these, I feel that only the top 18, maybe top 20 deserves lost classics status. The rest is just very good albums.
1. Alice Coltrane - A Monastic Trio
2. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need
3. Michael Mantler - The Jazz Composer's Orchestra
4. The Nice - Ars Longa Vita Brevis
5. Dillard & Clark - The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark
6. Spooky Tooth - It's All About/Spooky Tooth/Tobacco Road
7. Gérard Manset - Manset
8. The Jacks - Vacant World/Jacks no Sekai
9. The Gun - The Gun
10. Los Brincos - Contrabando
11. Wilson Pickett - I'm in Love
12. Arthur Brown - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
13. Sagittarius - Present Tense
14. Avengers - Electric Record
15. Michel Polnareff - Polnareff 2/Le Bal des Laze
16. The Move - Move
17. Steppenwolf - The Second
18. T. Rex - Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages
19. The International Submarine Band - Safe at Home
20. Sly & the Family Stone - Life
21. The Temptations - Live at the Copa
22. Patty Pravo - Patty Pravo
23. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Strictly Personal
24. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival
25. Status Quo - Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
26. Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine est...?
27. The Temptations - Wish It Would Rain
28. Marvin Gaye - In the Groove/I Heard It Through the Grapevine
29. The Incredible String Band - Wee Tam and the Big Huge
30. Aphrodite's Child - End of the World
31. Sun Ra - Outer Spaceways Incorporated
32. The Steve Miller Band - Children of the Future
33. Red Krayola - God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail with It
34. Herbie Hancock - Speak Like a Child
35. Léo Ferré - L'Été 68
36. Tammy Wynette - D-I-V-O-R-C-E
37. Barbara - Le Soleil noir
38. The Impressions - This Is My Country
39. The Seeds - Raw & Alive: The Seeds in Concert at Merlin's Music Box
40. The Smoke - The Smoke
41. Sly & the Family Stone - Dance to the Music
42. Deep Purple - Shades of Deep Purple
43. Thelonious Monk - Underground
44. The Folk Crusaders - Kigen Nisennen
45. Jacques Dutronc - Jacques Dutronc [1968]/Il est cinq heures
46. John Mayall - Blues from Laurel Canyon
47. Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home
48. Nazz - Nazz
49. Jacques Brel - J'arrive
50. France Gall - 1968
5 more bubblers, because the number 5 goes well with a top 50.
Bob Crewe - Barbarella
Vanilla Fudge - Renaissance
Blue Cheer - Outsideinside
Les Fleurs de pavot - Les Fleurs de pavot
T. Rex - My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows
Bonus albums: these ones' release dates vary from source to source between 1968 and 1969, so I decided to leave them out, although they're all interesting.
Albert Ayler - New Grass
Caravan - Caravan
Neil Young - Neil Young
Archival recordings
That's where the "showing off" part comes in full bloom
I initially just wanted to mention the Can archival album, but since I was having a lot of fun exploring this year, I just decided to push it and do a review of a number of archival recordings that have been well-rated or acclaimed. After this, I must say that nothing in my opinion reaches an essential status like Tim Buckley's
Dream Letter, which is rightfully already featured on AM. But the albums in the first batch are all enlightening (the Can, Phil Ochs, Robert Wyatt & Neil Young ones especially) or really exciting for some reason, and warmly recommended. The second batch are albums that are interesting but flawed in some way, whether its above-average but not stellar performances or recording issues, and I would only recommend them to hardcore fans of music of the 1960s.
GREAT ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS
Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin - Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968
James Brown - Say It Live and Loud: Live in Dallas 08.26.68
Can - Delay 1968
Grateful Dead - Road Trips Volume 2 Number 2
Grateful Dead - Download Series Volume 6 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA 3/17/68
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Winterland
Jefferson Airplane - Live at the Fillmore East
Magic Sam - Live at the Avant Garde June 22, 1968
Phil Ochs - There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968
Santana - Live at the Fillmore 1968
Sly & the Family Stone - Live at the Fillmore East October 4th & 5th 1968
Robert Wyatt - '68
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
MORE INTERESTING ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS
Ornette Coleman - Complete 1968 Italian Tour
The Doors - Live at the Bowl '68
Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Volume 22
Johnny Hallyday - Johnny History: Live Grenoble 1968
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Miami Pop Festival
The Incredible String Band - Live at the Fillmore 1968
Iron Butterfly - Fillmore East 1968
Skip James - The Complete Bloomington Indiana Concert March 30, 1968
Albert King - Wednesday Night in San Francisco + Thursday Night in San Francisco
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - Ahead of Their Time
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - Road Tapes: Kerrisdale Arena, Vancouver B.C. 25 August 1968
Disappointment of the year 1968
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - Cruising with Ruben & the Jets/Greasy Love Songs
I self-identify as a Zappa admirer, but when I launched this album I had high hopes that it would be a goofy piece of curio from the Zappa vault that critics are dismissing as novelty. First, I was annoyed to realize that Spotify listed the remastered 80s version as the official entry, so I tracked down the original mixes hidden under the moniker
Greasy Love Songs. But then, it appeared clear to me that critics are ignoring this one for a reason: as a doo-wop parody, it's a bit of a failure, as only the frankly cretinous lyrics and sloppy performances give away the fact that we're not listening to just an incompetent doo-wop band (although a couple jokes on Side B and a guitar solo at the very end of the album do improve things a bit, but that's just too little too late). Zappa is just too reverential here, and I wish he went more full-on parody, like he did on "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder".
"Out there" album/disaster a.k.a. Q's favourite 1968 album
William Shatner, Captain Kirk of Star Trek - The Transformed Man
Famously and frequently mentioned as one of the most hilariously bad albums ever recorded, Shatner's first album (if one can call it that without a smirk) is a bit painful to sit through in its entirety, but it at least succeeded with me where Zappa failed, that is having me crack a smile. His cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man", coupled here with a piece of dialogs from the play
Cyrano de Bergerac, is just irresistibly terrible.
Now, personal objective (just kidding) for the year 2018: review all the albums in the top 50 and find a sympathetic editor ready to publish a Top 50 obscure great albums for 1968's 50th anniversary. Or something.