M.L.K. in Memphis, R.F.K. in L.A., Apollo 8 and the "Star Trek" interracial kiss: today's calendar is all about 1968...

Cream
Cream; L-R: Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton; Aug. 1968. (Photo: George Stroud/Express/Getty Images)
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7/20/1968 (52 years ago today) - Cream kicks off four weeks in a row at No. 1 with the double-album classic "Wheels Of Fire", the world's first 2-LP set to sell over one million copies and why not: "White Room", "Crossroads", "Born Under A Bad Sign" and an over 16-minute live-concert psycho-jam-out of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful". Spine-tingling stuff, really, nobody else sounded like this...

7/19/1968 (52 years ago today) - No small feat considering the competition, this one ended up as the 18th biggest hit of the year: Hugh Masekela starts two weeks at No. 1 with the ultra-catchy "Grazing In The Grass" single; the song title was rumoured to be a synonym for "the practice of smoking marijuana". Clears that up, then...

7/19/1968 (52 years ago today) - Iron Butterfly enter the LP chart with their second release, the absolutely so-ridiculous-we-love-it album "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" -- It goes on to sell over four million copies in the U.S. alone, a rather stunning achievement in the pre-digital-download days and when you look at some of the other rock albums of the year (Jimi Hendrix "Electric Ladyland", The Beatles "White Album", Van Morrison "Astral Weeks", The Band "Music From Big Pink", Simon & Garfunkel "Bookends", to name just a handful, by the way), the success of Iron Butterfly in 1968 is positively astounding! Quite a year, eh?

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"Please take my hand...", xoxo!

 

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