Can't Seem To Come Down - The American Sounds of 1968

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.

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