Status Updates From The Mojo Collection: The Gr...


1. Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “1983”
4. Notes: It's been a hard week, so I did something rare on Friday: called in sick, took 30mg of Delta-9, turned off the lights, turned on my NASA star projector (🤓), and listened to this album on repeat for hours. Embarrassing, but it really did the trick! 
https://youtu.be/osK4ZkYTyK0?si=OUYAS...


1. Whistler, Chaucer, Detroit & Greenhill The Unwritten Works of Geoffrey, Etc. , 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “As Pure As The Freshly Driven Snow”
4. Notes: I have to laugh at two things here: 1. That band name/album title is a LOT, no? And much as I hate Chaucer, I won’t hold it against the band. 2. Could'a been the theme song of my first half ;) https://youtu.be/7YHQVEtnwxk?si=fIrZu...


1. The Jeff Beck Group, Truth, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Beck's Bolero”
4. Notes: I chose my fave not because it’s the best on the album, but because it validates MOJOs claim this album, “laid the foundations for what would become heavy metal.” Especially around the 1:30 minute mark, you really start hearing how blues and metal are joined at the hip: https://youtu.be/28bN6vi_FgA?feature=...


1. The Byrds, Sweetheart of The Rodeo, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “The Christian Life”
4. Notes: Figures I’d find this song after it no longer applies. There would’a been a day it was my anthem. This performance was recorded in my hometown, at one of my favorite venues. https://youtu.be/RGuAAFgQoxo?feature=...


1. David Ackles, David Ackles, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Lotus Man”
4. Notes: Ackles is one hell of a songwriter, and I can’t figure out how I’ve never heard of him before! Thank you, MOJO, for a really good find. https://youtu.be/uLdFAtaWSzk?feature=...


1. Nilsson, Aerial Ballet, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Mr. Richland's Favorite Song”
4. Notes: Harry Nilsson was The Beatles’ favorite songwriter, which is quite a commendation. https://youtu.be/ipwyicMEkbQ?feature=...


1. Blue Cheer, Outsideinside, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Fave: “Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger”
4. Notes: MOJO calls this band, “…one of the founding fathers of the metal genre.” They also call my fave track “proto-grunge.” I didn't enjoy this album, but I’m officially impressed by the seeds they apparently sowed for the likes of both Sabbath and Nirvana.
https://youtu.be/5aBCk9C8fJI?feature=...


1. The Band, Music From Big Pink, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “The Weight”
4. Notes: I wish I were sophisticated enough not to love this song, but that’s a losing battle. 
https://youtu.be/ccJTFXvkXkA?feature=...


1. The Millennium,Begin, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “The Island”
4. Notes: I dislike this album, but I’m impressed by its forward lean. The electronic soundscapes, sampling, and layered melodies feel different than what most were doing in 1968. In fact, it reminds me of Belle and Sebastian.
https://youtu.be/4P_ry7CZ8H4?feature=...


1. J.K. & Co., Suddenly One Summer, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Christine”
4. Notes: This album is Eliott Smith level depressing, without all the talent. I picked my fave based solely on the fact it didn’t make me want to slit my…
https://youtu.be/xUxxFTZxfOc?feature=...


1. Dr. John, The Night Tripper, Gris-Gris, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Jump Sturdy”
4. Notes: This album takes you to voodoo church on a darkly lit corner in the French Quarter. This and "Mama Roux" feel like the most radio-ready tracks, and they're just plain fun.
https://youtu.be/KBPGqC27zqc?feature=...


1. The Beach Boys, Friends, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Transcendental Meditation”
4. Notes: This 25-minute wisp of an album feels like stepping through a storefront air curtain that blows away bugs, dust, and heat so they can’t follow you in.
https://youtu.be/gEnozp2udrY?feature=...



1. Small Faces, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “The Journey”
4. Notes: So much of this concept album feels like a re-read of A Clockwork Orange with all its bezoomny nadsats and droogs gaming wordsies. This is the 60s in all its wacky glory.
https://youtu.be/X9FB76vXwq0?feature=...

1. Os Mutantes, Os Mutantes, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “La Premier Bonheur Du Jour”
4. Notes: I didn’t translate any lyrics from this album, instead approaching it as a soundscape. Some songs are silly, some overwrought, but this one is just plain wonderful.

https://youtu.be/1DpNLCPGlno?feature=...


1. Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da Vida, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “In-A-Gadda-Da Vida”
4. Notes: I’ll thumb wrestle anyone who says this album isn’t a good time. And if you tryna intellectually spar over my fave, I’ll say it runs approximately the full length of time it takes to curl my hair, and it keeps me happy while so doing. So there! 
https://youtu.be/UIVe-rZBcm4?feature=...


1. Harper’s Bizarre, The Secret Life Of…, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “When I Was A Cowboy”
4. Notes: Kind of a silly album, but I really like my fave. 
https://youtu.be/9iOf7atMGzo?feature=...


1. Simon & Garfunkel, Bookends, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Mrs. Robinson”
4. Notes: My fave is a no-brainer, but this whole album is pretty much genius. I’d somehow never heard the “Voices of Old People” track, and I loved it.
https://youtu.be/9C1BCAgu2I8?feature=...


1. Billy Nicholls, Would You Believe, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Feeling Easy”
4. Notes: Psych-pop candy with a bit of wisdom snuck in, sort of like those KIND Kids Chewy Bars with hidden vegetables.
https://youtu.be/iFP8_LAlrMw?feature=...


1. Magic Sam, West Side Soul, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “All of Your Love”
4. Notes: This album sparked a new generation of electric blues, rising from the ashes of Chicago’s dwindling scene.
https://youtu.be/7S5DGqCfk8o?feature=...


1.Flat Earth Society, Waleeco, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “When You’re There”
4. Notes: The Willy Wonka-esque story behind this album is almost as good as the songs themselves.
https://youtu.be/3stCAwdyP0U?feature=...


1.Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Folsom Prison Blues”
4. Notes: I have this gold-dusted memory of listening to this album on cassette in a battered Ford pickup on a road trip to Tahoe with a good friend. We rolled down the windows and shouted ourselves home. They didn’t do video at Folsom, so this is from San Quentin: https://youtu.be/7MSkQlZy5e0?feature=...


1.The Zombies, Odyssey and Oracle, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “This Will Be Our Year”
4. Notes: Two songs on this album became classics, but it flopped when first released, and the band broke up before “Time of the Season” became a hit in the U.S. They got back together in the 90s and made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. 
https://youtu.be/xSzU9Geg6jA?feature=...


1.The Byrds, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Draft Morning”
4. Notes: This album handles the social unrest of its day in a quiet, reflective manner. There’s anger here, but the band is feeling for internal, safe spaces, rather than lashing out at the chaos. Not the best album of the 60s, but I get why it made this list.
https://youtu.be/ltnbnKv7ans?feature=...


1.The United States of America, The United States of America, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
4. Notes: Very of its time.
https://youtu.be/AWByTB30mtI?feature=...


1. Tom Rush The Circle Game, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “No Regrets”
4. Notes: This album is mostly countrified covers of songs other artists did better. I’m relieved to say the one song Rush actually wrote isn’t half bad, so I chose it as my fave.

https://youtu.be/Bb7ld3dWChE?feature=...





1. The Incredible String Band The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “A Very Cellular Song”
4. Notes: A wildly uneven album I'm not sure I'll revisit. But I was knocked on my ass by the weaving in of two covers of classic songs that I love, at minutes 0:44 and 10:20 in my favorite track. 
https://youtu.be/jmeGpov2P5k?feature=...



1. Bobbie Gentry, The Delta Sweete, 1968
2. Whole album: ✅
3. Favorite: “Mornin’ Glory”
4. Notes: https://youtu.be/GVtYe7kky9U?feature=...