1968

Elvis started the year with a very tight schedule. In January, he recorded in Nashville, but quickly had to take a break to attend the birth of his daughter Lisa Marie, which took place on February 1.

On the 25th he was back at work, starting the shooting of “Love a Little, Live a Little“. In March “Stay Away Joe” premieres and he begins to record the “soundtrack” for his new feature film. He would then begin to prepare what would be his great return to the stage.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

When the Beatles invaded the United States, many thought Elvis was already dead. He had come back from the army, but with a different way of thinking. He no longer had an interest in performing live, preferring the comfort of his movies and their soundtracks. Coincidentally, the years that the “Beat” invasion lasted were the years of ostracism from Elvis for his idea of ??getting into the world of Hollywood.

Elvis limited himself to shooting three movies a year since 1962, with their corresponding soundtracks. Except for some occasional recording, this was enough to feed the market with these recordings. Elvis was still there, but not in the first line of fire, he had settled down. But he noticed that something was beginning to be missing, and only his daughter Lisa Marie seemed to be able to make him smile. Of the 8 singles he had released between January 1967 and May 1968, only 2 had charted in the “Top 40”, and none of these had managed to rise above number 28.

Therefore, his return on December 3, 1968 was quite an event. His last appearance had been on the Frank Sinatra Show, in 1960, so his appearance on the screen at Christmas 1968 marked the inevitable fate, the live poison had gotten into his veins again, and he saw that he had a recognition that there was not while I was working behind the movie cameras.

Elvis shows that he still has charisma and strength. His fans from the 50’s and the 60’s sigh the same. In his appearance, he is no longer the fresh and youthful Elvis of King Creole, but a single movement of his, a bump of his hips, a grimace, a smile, are capable of creating hysteria anew.

The appearance of the single “If I Can Dream“, which had been presented on the NBC show, revives the best times of the King. This will be the advance of the year 1969, a fantastic and magical year in which he will record songs like “In The Ghetto” or “Suspicious Minds” at American Sound Studios. Time seems to have stopped for him, however, the reality will be different: his return will cost him first his peace, then his marriage, and finally his life.

THE BILLBOARD IN 1968

In the United States, 1968 was a year of elections and violence, of great racial tensions. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, and Robert Kennedy, an active defender of civil rights, was the victim of an attack on June 5, dying the following day. The first was the great black leader, the man of peace, of peaceful resistance. The second was the great white hope, the older brother who could carry on the work of John Kennedy.

The two murders rocked the United States. Those were the days of imagination to power, of flower power, but they are not the only events. In Europe, in Paris, a revolt began that would give rise to the “French May“, and on August 20, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia. In the midst of all this, in October, in Mexico, the Olympic Games begin where some athletes of color vindicate the racial situation that exists in their country with the “Black Power“. But, among so much social movement, there are those who put a soundtrack to the story.

Throughout these months, the two musical events that marked history would be the return of Bob Dylan and the return of Elvis Presley. We also find the emotional tear of Janis Joplin and the appearance of the rock opera Hair, which would fundamentally change many musical, theatrical and social structures.

Musical styles such as Rock, Pop, Folk, or trends as disparate as Blues or the so-called “Bubble-Gum Sound” coexist. The North American market was capable of assimilating everything without having to end anything. The United States once again took the reins of the music market, and who were the artists that dominated the charts?

The song of the year was “Hey Jude” by The Beatles, a composition by Paul McCartney that he dedicated to Julian, Lennon’s son, when his parents were separating, and Julian was in very low spirits. Paul would change Julian’s name to Jude. The four boys from Liverpool also went to number 1 with “Hello goodbye“.

Also The Doors, Jim Morrison’s group, would have their number 1 with “Hello I Love You“. The triumphant Gary Pucketts and The Union Gap had three consecutive “hits“: “Woman Woman“, “Young Girl” and “Lady Willpower“. Otis Redding, after he passed away, scored a number 1 with “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay.” Simon and Garfunkel achieve their best creation with “Mister Robinson“, a song that is included in the soundtrack of “The Graduate”, and which represents the duo’s greatest commercial success. The film, starring a very young Dustin Hoffman, would be one of the highest grossing of the year.

The number 1 by the orchestra director, Hugo Montenegro (who would work with Elvis in the orchestration of the film “Charro“), is also taken from the cinema. And it does so with an adaptation of a theme by Ennio Morricone, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly“, in a film starring the new western hero, Clint Eastwood.

Another Orchestra conductor who will also reach the top is the Frenchman Paul Mauriat with “Lovels Blue“. Bobby Goldsboro, a veteran of American music turned “Standard” triumphs with “Honey“, a sweet song that will spend several weeks at number 1, as will the trumpeter Herp Albert, with a song by Burt Bacharach and David Hall: “This Guys In Love With You“.

Another trumpeter who made it to the top in 1968 was the South African Hugh Masekela, with “Grazing In The Grass“, or the color quartet from Houston, Archie Bell and The Drells. More people of color who succeed in 1968: Marvin Gaye with “It Heart It Through The Grapevine” or The Supremes, with Diana Ross at the helm and her “Love Child.”

The group The Rascals and “People Got To Be Free“, or the Country singer Jeanne C Riley, with the theme “Harper Valley PTA“, and the fun “Judy in Disguise“, by John Fredd & His Play Boys Band will also occupy the top of the charts.

In 1968 the “Bubble-Gum Sound“, or chewing gum sound, a music for adolescents with songs that had a very simple structure, very high-pitched voices and very catchy and danceable choruses. Hence its name, since it was a music consumed and aimed at very young people. This type of music brought fame to groups like the Ohio Express, who reached number 1 with “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” or The Lemon Pepers, who would also reach the top with “Green Tambourine“. In short, a decade of the 60s that was coming to an end, and that would give way to the controversial 70s.

Information provided by Cesar Valle (Torrelavega, Spain)