6 of the 60s: 8/21/13 (1968)...

Hey gang, I'm back with another half-dozen nuggets from the 60s, and this time I'm back to 1968, the year the Republicans nominated and won the presidency with Richard Nixon. Yep.

The Rascals - "People Got To Be Free"
from the album Time Peace: The Rascals Greatest Hits (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriters: Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati

This anthem of tolerance was the #1 song when I was born. I revere that fact more than my astrological sign in shaping who I am as a person.

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Cream - "White Room"
from the album Wheels Of Fire (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6
Songwriters: Peter Brown, Jack Bruce

..meanwhile, this was the #1 album on my birth. No idea what that means (would it be my "rising sign"?)...

Aretha Franklin - "Think"
from the album Aretha Now (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7
Songwriters: Aretha Franklin, Teddy White

As much as they're both classics, I've always had a soft spot for this self-penned empowerment wail over her amazing cover of Otis Redding's "Respect". Maybe because it's all hers.

Blue Cheer - "Summertime Blues"
from the album Vincebus Eruptum (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14
Songwriters: Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart

Questionably the first "heavy metal" record to reach the top-40, the band took a 50's nugget from cult hero Cochran and made it a trip and a half.

Madeline Bell - "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
from the album I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (1968)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #26
Songwriters: Kenny Gamble, Jerry Ross, Jerry Williams


Before the Supremes and the Temptations made this a classic, this was recorded by Dionne's sister Dee Dee Warwick, who had a minor pop hit with it. Then after Dusty Springfield passed on it did it fall in the hands of this Newark native who released this great version, which the Motown peeps must have drawn from.

Lulu - "Best Of Both Worlds"
from the album To Sir With Love (1967)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #32
Songwriters: Don Black, Mark London

The scottish vocalist was much much more than "To Sir With Love", and this tearjerker is one of my favorites.


Tomorrow I'll bring you 7 more from 1978 and 8 out of 1988...