Rock music in the U.S. during the tumultuous year of 1968 was in a really weird, really interesting place. Of course, the years leading up to it were similarly unpredictable and full of contrasting sounds, but as
Grapefruit
's 2024 collection titled
Can't Seem to Come Down: American Sounds of 1968
shows, the various strands that used to be somewhat unified were beginning to unravel more and more. Garage rock was turning into acid rock as bands strove to be heavier, the more experimental groups were feeling even more so, while at the same time bubblegum was beginning to ferment and baroque pop turned even more frilly and precise. Add into that the beginnings of country-rock and proto-Americana along with straight-ahead pop artists donning love beads, and it makes for a wild ride. The collection rounds up plenty of big-name groups like
the Band
,
the Grateful Dead
the Monkees
Tommy James & the Shondells
the Beach Boys
the Velvet Underground
Buffalo Springfield
, and even
Bob Dylan
, while making room for cult faves like
Love
Nazz
Silver Apples
the Seeds
, and
the Merry-Go-Round
as well as loads of bands even the most knowledgeable fan of the era might struggle to identify. Some of these obscurities include
the Yankee Dollar
Brass Buttons
the Sunstone Lollypop
Piece Kor
the Sidewalk Skipper Band
-- all well chosen and fascinating to discover, especially when balanced against the more familiar songs and sounds of the year.
Any collection that includes songs as wildly diverse as
Iron Butterfly
's "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida,"
Brian Hyland
's "Delilah,"
Captain Beefheart
's "Safe as Milk,"
the 1910 Fruitgum Company
's "(Poor Old) Mr. Jensen," or
Tom Rush
's "No Regrets" is definitely trying to tell a big story with lots of plot twists and turns. For the most part, it succeeds. It might have been interesting to broaden the scope of the collection to bring in some bands and artists from outside of the rock scene, since the world of soul music was going through some big changes and even country music was showing signs of loosening up in the face of the youth revolution. That being said, the rather narrow focus does allow the compilers to really dig deeply into some dusty nooks and crannies to extricate oddball gems. A few of the real winners are
Diamond Rings
' jangling folk-rock weeper "Which End Is Up,"
Del Shannon
's intensely melodramatic "Silver Birch,"
Velvet Haze
's pummeling punk blues freak-out "Last Day on Earth," and
Lemon Fog
's minor-key bummer trip "Summer." Combine these types of nuggets with some nice obscurities from the big shots -- "Little Bird" by
, "Dark Is the Bark" by
the Left Banke
are nice examples -- and it makes for a collection that both casual fans and diggers might enjoy in equal amounts. Not every song will appeal to every listener, but the roller coaster-like nature of the year and the music born of it means that it's pretty likely that the next one will.
is another near-perfect collection from
that leaves the listener looking forward to their take on 1969. ~ Tim Sendra