Great in Sixty Eight

Marvin Gaye, The Prince of Soul

Otis Redding The Mad Man from Macon

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout.  He is considered one of the greatest singers in popular music and a major artist in soul and rhythm & blues.  His singing style was powerfully influential among soul artists of 1960s and helped exemplify the Stax Sound - Memphis Soul. After appearing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Redding wrote and recorded the iconic (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay with Steve Cropper while they were staying with their friend, Earl "Speedo" Sims, on a houseboat in Sausalito.  Redding was inspired by the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and tried to create a similar sound.  The song became the first posthumous number-one record on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B charts and number one on the UK Albums Chart. By 1967 Otis and his band were traveling to gigs on Redding's Beechcraft H18.  On December 10, 1867, while enroute from Nashville to Madison, Wisconsin where they were to play at the Factory nightclub near the University of Wisconsin.  Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog and despite warnings, the plane took off.  Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, the pilot radioed for permission to land.  Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona.  Bar-Kays member Ben Cauley, was the accident's only survivor.  The cause of the crash was never determined.

Aretha Franklin The Queen of Soul

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer and musician.  Aretha began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin's church as a child.  In 1960, at age 18, Aretha embarked on a secular career, achieving modest success with Columbia Records.  However, following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Aretha achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as Respect, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Chain of Fools and Think.  These hits and more helped her to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the decade. In 1968, Aretha issued the top-selling albums, Lady Soul and Aretha Now, which included some of her most popular hit singles including Chain of Fools, Ain't No Way, Think and I Say a Little Prayer.  In February 1968, Franklin earned the first two of her Grammys including the debut category for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.  On February 16, 1968, Aretha was honored with a day in her honor and was greeted by longtime friend Martin Luther King, Jr. who gave her the SCLC Drum Beat Award for Musicians just two months prior to his death.  In June 1968, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine.

Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton

Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup power trio consisting of bassist/singer Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and guitarist/singer Eric Clapton.  Their sound was characterised by a hybrid of blues rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock, combining the psychedelia-themed lyrics, Eric Clapton's blues guitar playing and vocals, Jack Bruce's voice and prominent bass playing and Ginger Baker's jazz-influenced drumming.  Cream are widely regarded as being the world's first successful supergroup.  In their career, they sold over 15 million albums worldwide.  Cream's music included songs based on traditional blues such as Crossroads and Spoonful, and modern blues such as Born Under a Bad Sign, as well as more eccentric songs such as Strange Brew, Tales of Brave Ulysses and Toad. Sunshine of Your Love is a 1967 song written by Jack Bruce, Pete Brown and Eric Clapton.  It was originally released on the album Disraeli Gears in November 1967, and was later released as a single in January 1968.  It is Cream's only gold-selling single in the United States.  The song features a distinctive electric/bass guitar riff by Jack Bruce and a guitar solo from Eric Clapton.

Jeannie C. Riley Texas Bluebonnet

Jeannie C. Riley (born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson, October 19, 1945) is an American country music and gospel singer.  She is best known for her 1968 country and pop hit Harper Valley PTA (written by Tom T. Hall), which missed (by one week) becoming the Billboard Country and Pop number one hit at the same time.  In subsequent years, she had moderate chart success with country music, but never again duplicated the success of Harper Valley PTA. Jeannie and the song became an overnight sensation, and the song earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Country Music Association Single of the Year award.  Jeannie also became one of the very few country artists ever nominated in the major pop Grammy categories of Best New Artist and Record of the Year.  Harper Valley PTA sold over five and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. just four weeks after the song's release.  The album of the same name sold over one million units to gain a further gold disc for Jeannie.

Wanderin' Spirit
April, 2014
"Great in 68"

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