Timeline - 1968 : Demonstrations and Censorship
1968: Demonstrations, Censorship and Electric Ladyland!

Protests, Censorship and Electric Ladyland

The issues about Racial Equality was part of the music business and the British Musicians Union prohibits its members from performing in racist South Africa. Scott Walker refused to play there, loosing a lot of money in fee. Jimi Hendrix donated 5000 to the memorial fund of Martin Luther King.

More about Jimi Hendrix, in January 4, Hendrix was jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room in a drunken rage

The French film director Jean-Luc Godard documented the work with the Rolling Stones album "Beggar's Banquet", the album was released in the autumn of 68', but before that the Stone's and the record company Decca was in dispute regarding the cover of the album: a graffiti-covered toilet. More about the Stone's, Keith Richards reports that UFO's is landing in his back garden!

...and about censorship: Jimi Henrix's album "Electric Ladyland" was banned by some record stores in Britain due to the 21 naked women on the album cover, it was then sold in a brown paper bag.

The West Coast sound: The Doors and Jefferson Airplane toured England as a package and was getting much intention, their concert at the Roundhouse(London) was filmed by Granada TV and the musical papers wrote lots of articles about them, especially Jim Morrison, singer in the Doors.

The next American Invasion was an album, "Cheap Thrills", by Big Brother and the Holding Company with the lead singer Janis Joplin. The album was revied in Melody Maker with words like:"..she is definitely soaked in the traditions of the Negro blues shouters, from Bessie Smith right on down..."

The Beatles single's "Hey Jude" and "Get Back" was at the top of the charts and "The White Album" was number one.

The Cream and the Traffic split and a new supergroup was rising from the ashes: Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker from the Cream and Stevie Winwwod from Traffic but that is a story for 1969.

January:
Release of Manfred Manns: "The Mighty Quinn"/"By RequestEdwin Garvey"(UK#1)
Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with Noel Redding
The Move: "Fire Brigade"/"Walk upon the Water" is released
Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design
Kaleidoscope: "A Dream for Julie" release
Chicken Shack: "It's Okay with Me Baby" is released
Dave Gilmour has been reheasing with Pink Floyd and steps in to play guitar when Syd is unable to play at Brighton
February:
Release of Jeff Becks "Love Is Blue"
Ten Years After: "Portable People" is released
Amboy Dukes(Ted Nugent) - "Baby Please Don't Go" WKNR(US) #15
The Beatles, Donovan and others travel to India to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
David Gilmour joins Pink Floyd, replacing founder Syd Barrett
March:
Pink Floyd: During a meeting Syd is asked to stop touring and contributing material
The End: "Shades of Orange" is released
Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East in New York City
The Beatles release: "Lady Madonna"/"The Inner Light"
Release of Procol Harums "Quite Rightly So"
Fleetwood Mac: "Black Magic Woman"/"The Sun Is Shining" is released
Release of Jethro Tulls "Sunshine Day"
The Yardbirds record their live album Live Yardbirds at the Anderson Theater
April:
The Zombies: "Time of the Season" is released
Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger and the Trinity: "This Wheel's on Fire"
Pink Floyd release: "It Would Be So Nice"
Tyrannosaurus Rex: "Deborah" is released
The rock musical Hair opened on Broadway
Pink Floyd announcing that Syd has left the band
May:
Cream: "Anyone for Tennis"/"Press Rat and Warthog" is released
Release of Eric Burdon and the Animals: "Anything"/"Monterey"
Brian Jones is arrested for drug possession, second time
The Rolling Stones release: "Jumpin' Jack Flash"/"Child of the Moon"
June:
Cream: "Anyone for Tennis"/"Press Rat and Warthog" is released
Release of Eric Burdon and the Animals: "Anything"/"Monterey"
Andy Warhol is critically wounded by Valerie Solanas in New York
Amboy Dukes(Ted Nugent) "Journey to the Center of Your Mind" hits no. 1 in the WKNR list(US)
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: "Fire!" is released,(UK#1)
Deep Purple: "Hush" is released
Release of the Moody Blues: "Voices in the Sky"/"Dr. Livingstone, I Presume"
The Nice: "America (2nd Amendment)" is released
First free park concert at Hyde Park, London with: Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Roy Harper, and Tyrannosaurus Rex
Mick Jagger, "I could carry on leaping about a stage like a sixteen-year-old and we could go on playing 'Satisfaction' from our wheel chairs. I don't want to end up like some singers who never changed. We have to look for new things", from NME.
July:
Woburn Music Festival(2 days) with acts like: Jimi Hendrix Experience, Tyranosaurus Rex, the Family, Donovan, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Taste
The Nice: "America" is released
Steppenwolf - "Born To Be Wild" (US) #2
The movie "Yellow Submarine" premiers at the London Pavilion
Record company Decca refuses to release Rolling Stones "Beggars Banquet" because of the graffiti cover
August:
Hyde Park concert with: Fleetwood Mac, Family, Ten Years After and others
The Beatles: "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" is released
The Doors hit the top with "Hello, I Love You", their second and last number 1 song
Isle of Wight Festival opens 31 of August with bands like: Jefferson Airplane (British debut), the Move, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, the Pretty Things and others
September:
New line-up of the Yardbirds: John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Robert Plant, and Jimmy Page
The Who: "Magic Bus" release
Julie Driscoll with the Brian Auger Trinity: "Road to Cairo"
Release of Creams: "Sunshine of Your Love"
Jethro Tull: "A Song for Jeffrey" is released
The Nazz - "Open My Eyes " WKNR (US) #16
Release of Joe Cockers "With a Little Help from My Friends"
Beatles "Hey Jude" at the top of the U.S. singles chart, it will be on the top for 9 weeks!
Hyde Park Concert: The Move, Pete Brown's Battered Ornaments, Roy Harper, Clouds
Iron Butterfly - "In A Gadda Da Vida " WKNR (US) #17
Cream announces that they will disband after a farewell tour
October:
Jimi Hendrix Experience: "All Along the Watchtower" release
Steppenwolf "Magic Carpet Ride" hits no. 3 (US) The new Yardbirds premiers at the Marquee
Vanilla Fudge - "Take Me For a Little While " WKNR (US) #18
November:
Family: "Second Generation Woman" release
The Nazz(Todd Rundgren) has been banned from recording in Britain by the Musicians Union.
Gun: "Race with the Devil" is released
Cream farewell concert at Royal Albert Hall
The Move release: "Blackberry Way"
Fleetwood Mac: "Albatross" is released
Steve Winwood leaves Traffic
Ten Years After release: "Hear Me Calling"/"I'm Going Home"
December:
Pink Floyd recording : "Point Me At The Sky" and "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" at Abbey Road Studios
Deep Purple: "Kentucky Woman" release
Canned Heat - "Going Up The Country " WKNR (US) #10
David Crosby and Stephen Stills will be joined by Graham Nash
Jethro Tull: "Love Story" is released
Shadows give their last performance, at the Palladium(London)
Misc:
Led Zeppelin is formed
Budgie's musical career begins
Deep Purple is formed
Nazareth's musical career begins
Alice Cooper starts his career
Rush is formed in Toronto
UFO's musical career begins
Album Releases 1968

13 Floor Elevators - Bull Of The Woods
Agnetha Fältskog - Agnetha
Albert King - Live Wire/Blues Power (live)'
Alexis Korner - New Generation of Blues
Amboy Dukes - Journey to the Center of the Mind
American Blues - American Blues
Aretha Franklin - Aretha In Paris (live)
Aretha Franklin - Aretha Now
Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul
Ars Nova - Ars Nova
Bamboo - Bamboo
Band - Music From Big Pink
BB King - Lucille
Beach Boys - Friends
Beach Boys - Stack-o-Tracks
Beacon Street Union - The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens
Beacon Street Union - The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union
Beatles - The White Album
Bee Gees - Horizontal
Bee Gees - Idea
Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills
Blood, Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father To The man
Bloomfield / Kooper / Stills - Super Session
Blue Cheer - Outsideinside
Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
Bob Seger System - Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
Bobby Goldsboro - Honey
Booker T. & the MG's - Doin' our thing
Booker T. & the MG's - Soul Limbo
Brain Police - The Brain Police
Brian Auger - Definitely What !
Brian Auger - Streetnoise
Buddy Guy - A Man and the Blues
Buddy Guy - This is Buddy Guy - Live!
Buffalo Springfield - Last Time Around
Butterfield Blues Band - In My Own Dream
Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Canned Heat - Boogie With Canned Heat
Canned Heat - Living The Blues
Caravan - Caravan
Chicken Shack - Forty Blue Fingers
Country Joe and the Fish - Together
Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
Cream - Wheels of Fire
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich - If No-One Sang
David Peel and Lower East Side - Have A Marijuana
David Stoughton - Transformer
Deep Purple - Shades Of Deep Purple
Deep Purple - The Book Of Taliesyn
Deviants - Disposable
Dillard & Clark - The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark
Dillards - Wheatstraw Suite
Dolly Parton - Just Because I'm A Woman
Dolly Parton - Just The Two Of Us
Donovan - In Concert
Doors - Waiting For The Sun
Dottie West - Country Girl
Dr John - Gris-Gris
Earth Opera - Earth Opera
Eddy Arnold - Walking in Love Land
Electric Flag - A Long Time Comin
Electric Flag - An American Music Band
Electric Prunes - Mass in F Minor
Elmer Gantry´s Velvet Opera - Elmer Gantry´s Velvet Opera
Elvis Presley - '68 Comeback: NBC-TV Special
Elvis Presley - Flaming Star
Elvis Presley - Speedway
Eric Burdon & The Animals - Every One Of Us
Fairport Convention - Fairport Convention
Family - In A Dolls House
Fats Domino - Fats is Back
Fever Tree - Another Time, Another Place
Fever Tree - Fever Tree
Fleetwood Mac - Mr. Wounderful
Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Ford Theatre - Trilogy for the Masses
Foundations - Foundations
Four Tops - Yesterday´s Dreams
Fraternity Of Man - The Fraternity Of Man
Free - Tons Of Sobs
Fugs - It Crawled into My Hand, Honest
Fugs - Tenderness Junction
Giles, Giles & Fripp - The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp
Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry - Glen Campbell and Bobbie Gentry
Gods - Genesis
Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun
Groundhogs - Scratching The Surface
Guess Who - Wheatfield Soul
Gun - Gun
H.P. Lovecraft - H.P. Lovecraft II
Harpers Bizarre - The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre
Harry Nilsson - Aerial Ballet
Harvey Mandel - Cristo Redentor
Haymarket Square - Magic Lantern
Hell Preachers Inc. - Supreme Psychedelic Underground
Herd - Paradise Lost
Holy Modal Rounders - The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders
Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters & Bo Diddley - The Super Super Blues Band
Ian Russell - Wandering Country Boy
Idle Race - The Birthday Party
Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Incredible String Band- The Big Huge
Incredible String Band- Wee Tam
International Harvester - Sov Gott Rose-Marie
Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
James Brown - Live at the Apollo
James Taylor - James Taylor
Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley PTA
Jeff Beck - Truth
Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation
Jethro Tull - This Was
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Joan Baez - Baptism
John Lee Hooker - Burnin´
John Mayall - Bare Wires
John Mayall - Blues from the Laurel canyon
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (live)
Johnny Cash - From Sea to Shining Sea
Johnny Cash - The Holy Land
Joni Mitchell - Song To A Seagull
KAK - Kak
Kaleidoscope - Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope (US) - A Beacon From Mars
Kinks - Live at Kelvin Hall
Kinks - The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
Lennart Kjellgren & Gunnel Nilsson - Glada visor från Bialitt
Linkin Louisiana Peps - Blues Connection
Little Milton - Sings Big Blues
Liz Anderson - Liz Anderson Sings Her Favorites
Lou Rawls -Feelin' Good
Love Sculpture - Blues Helping
Lovin' Spoonful - Everything Playing
Lynn Anderson - Promises, Promises
Mad River - Mad River
Made In Sweden - Made In Sweden (with love)
Mahalia Jackson - Christmas With
Mandrake Memorial - Mandrake Memorial
Martha & The Vandellas - Ridin' High
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Mecki Mark Men - Mecki Mark Men
Monkees - Head
Monkees - The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees
Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord
Mothers of Invention - Cruising with Ruben & the Jets
Mothers Of Invention - We're Only in It for the Money
Mount Rushmore - High on Mount Rushmore
Move - Move
Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
Nazz - Nazz
Neighb'rhood Childr'n - Neighb'rhood Childr'n
Neil Young - Neil Young
Nice - Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Nico - The Marble Index
Otis Redding - The Dock Of The Bay
Paul Butterfield - In My Own Dream
Percy Sledge - Take Time to Know Her
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful Of Secrets
Porter Wagoner - The Bottom of the Bottle
Pretty Things - S F Sorrow
Procol Harum - Shine On Brightly
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Quicksilver Messenger Service
Rhinoceros - Rhinoceros
Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
Sapphire Thinkers - From Within
Savage Rose - In The Plain
Savage Rose - s/t
Savoy Brown - Getting To The Point
Scott Walker - Scott 2
Second Hand - Reality
Silver Apples - Silver Apples
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
Sly and The Family Stone - Dance To The Music
Sly and The Family Stone - Life
Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake
Small Faces - There Are But Four Small Faces
Soft Machine - One
Solomon Burke - King Solomon
Spirit - Spirit
Spirit - The Family That Plays Together
Spooky Tooth - Its All About Spooky Tooth
SRC - SRC
Status Quo - Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf The Second
Steve Miller Band - Children Of The Future
Steve Noonan - Steve Noonan
Strawberry Alarm Clock - The World In A Sea Shell
Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal
Tammy Wynette - D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Temptations - Live At The Copa
Temptations - Wish It Would Rain
Ten Years After - Undead
Tom - Nature Boy
Tom Paxton - Morning Again
Tom Rush - The Circle Game
Tomorrow - Tomorrow
Traffic - Traffic
Troggs - Hip Hip Hooray
Troggs - Love Is All Around
Turtles - The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands
Twentieth Century Zoo - thunder on a clear day
Tyrannosaurus Rex - My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Prophets, Seers & Sages the Angels of the Ages
Walther Carlos - Switched On Bach
Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Vanilla Fudge - Renaissance
Vanilla Fudge - The Beat Goes On
Waylon Jennings - Hangin' On
Waylon Jennings - Jewels
Waylon Jennings - Only The Greatest
Wilson Pickett - I'm in Love
Wilson Pickett - The Midnight Mover
Zombies - Odessey & Oracle