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Follow-up to Grapefruit's hugely popular US 1967 anthology ‘’March Of The Flower Children’.
Hit singles, cult classics and tracks from 1968's key albums as the American music scene moved on from the Summer of Love.
While psychedelia had been the dominant musical force in 1967, the scene fragmented the following year.
Although many acts remained immersed in garage-punk and psychedelic pop, a growing number of heavily-amplified, blues-based hard rock bands like Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly – all of whom enjoyed sizeable hit singles in 1968 – emerged to pave the way for what would develop into heavy metal.
Manufactured pop in the form of bubblegum dominated the singles chart, The Byrds and other easy riders developed a country/rock hybrid, a phalanx of folk-based singer/songwriters came to the fore, while Bob Dylan and his occasional playmates The Band pioneered a more organic, rustic sound that would come to be known as Americana.
Over four hours and 3 CDs, ‘Can't Seem To Come Down: The American Sounds Of 1968’ weaves together these various strands to provide a fascinating overview of the year. The set encompasses national and regional hit singles, unexpected flops (The Grateful Dead, The Left Banke), subsequently influential mavericks (Velvet Underground, Beefheart, Silver Apples) and vital cuts from many of the year's most keenly-awaited albums (Dylan, The Band, Mothers of Invention, The Byrds, Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, etc).
It also feature a number of hugely collectable one-off singles from young provincial bands, who visited local studios to preserve their sound for posterity before the real world – and possibly the increasing conflict in Vietnam - intervened. Including a 48-page booklet filled with biographical details, rare photos and quotes, 'Can't Seem To Come Down' is another essential Grapefruit purchase.
Tracklist
DISC ONE
1 FRESH GARBAGE - Spirit
2 COME ALIVE – Things To Come
3 THE SHOEMAKER OF LEATHERWEAR SQUARE – The Lemon Pipers
4 COME RIDE, COME RIDE – The Merry-Go-Round
5 DRAFT MORNING – The Byrds
6 ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER – Bob Dylan
7 HERE SHE COMES NOW – The Velvet Underground
8 NO REGRETS – Tom Rush
9 EVERYBODY'S NEXT ONE - Steppenwolf
10 THING IN 'E' – The Savage Resurrection
11 YOU CAN'T ERASE A MIRROR – Children Of The Mushroom
12 WHICH END IS UP – Diamond Rings
13 WORDS OF THE RAVEN – Piece Kor
14 WHO NEEDS THE PEACE CORPS – The Mothers Of Invention
15 PRETTY SONG FROM PSYCH-OUT – Strawberry Alarm Clock
16 THREE O'CLOCK MERRIAN WEBSTER TIME – The Nomads
17 STRAWBERRY TUESDAY – Sidewalk Skipper Band
18 SILVER BIRCH – Del Shannon
19 DELILAH – Brian Hyland
20 YOU ARE YOUR ONLY MYSTERY – The Baroque Monthly
21 FREAKY GIRL – Spontaneous Corruption
22 THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS – The United States Of America
23 DEDICATED MUSIC MAN - Mortimer
24 FIELDS OF PEOPLE – Ars Nova
25 THE SETTING OF DESPAIR – Crystal Chandelier
26 DARK STAR (single version) – The Grateful Dead
27 TIN ANGEL (WILL YOU EVER COME DOWN) – Hearts And Flowers
DISC TWO
1 WHEN I ARRIVE – We The People
2 (POOR OLD) MR. JENSEN - 1910 Fruitgum Co.
3 JUST A TASTE – The Kaleidoscope
4 THE FACE – The Human Beinz
5 EIGHTEEN IS OVER THE HILL – The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
6 SUMMER – Lemon Fog
7 AWAKE IN A DREAM – The Critters
8 RUPERT WHITE – Eternity's Children
9 LIGHT YOUR WINDOWS – Quicksilver Messenger Service
10 THREE-PART INVENTION (TOO MANY TREES IN THE FOREST) – The Phoenix Trolley
11 LAUGHING STOCK - Love
12 LITTLE BIRD – The Beach Boys
13 OSCILLATIONS – Silver Apples
14 SHADOWS – The Electric Prunes
15 YOU'RE IN MY MIND – Graf Zepplin
16 DARK IS THE BARK – The Left Banke
17 COWBOYS AND INDIANS – October Country
18 THE ISLAND – The Millennium
19 WHEEL OF CHANGES – The Wind In The Willows
20 LANTERN GOSPEL – The World Column
21 THIS WHEEL'S ON FIRE – The Band
22 IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA (single edit) – Iron Butterfly
23 P. S. (PROGNOSIS STEGNOSIS) – The Truth
24 GREEN KNIGHT – The Movement
25 PAISLEY HAZE – The Vectors
26 NEVER SAD – The Sunstone Lollypop
27 TRUST – The Peppermint Trolley
28 CAN'T SEEM TO COME DOWN – Mother's Worry
DISC THREE
1 QUESTIONS – Buffalo Springfield
2 SATISFY YOU (single mix) – The Seeds
3 MAYPOLE – The Children
4 JOHANN SEBASTIAN CHEETAH – The Yankee Dollar
5 CRYSTAL LIAISON – The Fugs
6 EVERYTHING'S CHANGING - Kak
7 FEATHERS FROM YOUR TREE – Blue Cheer
8 LASY DAY ON EARTH – Velvet Haze
9 DAYSTAR - SRC
10 MOBIUS TRIP - H. P. Lovecraft
11 SAFE AS MILK – Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
12 I'LL DRIVE YOU FROM MY MIND – The Fallen Angels
13 MR. TRIPP WOULDN'T LISTEN – The Little Boy Blues
14 BACK OF YOUR MIND - Nazz
15 PSYCHEDELIC MOVEMENT – The Ravelles
16 CROWD PLEASER – The Yellow Payges
17 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (alternative take 2) – The Moving Sidewalks
18 HELL WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU – Brass Buttons
19 TURN AROUND – The Beau Brummels
20 JOHNNY SILVER'S RIDE - Glad
21 RICH MAN'S FABLE – Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty
22 CRIMSON AND CLOVER – Tommy James & The Shondells
23 AN ELEGY – The Free Design
24 CAN YOU DIG IT – The Monkees