Events in 1968
- The Doors began a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Hello, I Love You,” their second U.S. No. 1 hit.
- Pink Floyd played the first of three concerts at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, held from August 2–4.
- The Fifth Dimension performed at Steel Pier in Atlantic City for a fee of $11,000, with the then-unknown singer Helen Reddy as their opening act.
- The first Newport Pop Festival was held on August 3–4 in Costa Mesa, California. The two-day festival attracted more than 100,000 attendees.
- Yes played their first concert at East Mersey Youth Camp in East Mersey, England.
- “Lady Willpower” by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap was at No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart for the week ending August 3.
- Rob Cieka, drummer with the British alternative rock band The Boo Radleys, was born.
- Jimi Hendrix performed at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas.
- The second and final day of the two-day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California. Performers included Blue Cheer, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Grateful Dead, Illinois Speed Press, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Byrds. More than 100,000 people attended the festival.
- Luther Perkins, Johnny Cash's guitarist and longtime member of his backing group The Tennessee Three, died at the age of 40, two days after a fire at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, from injuries sustained in the fire.
- The Who vystoupili v Wollman Skating Rink Theater v New Yorku.
- Deep Purple, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ten Years After, The Nice, Ginger Baker, Traffic, John Mayall, Spencer Davis, Taste, Jerry Lee Lewis and Arthur Brown performed at the three-day National Jazz & Blues Festival at Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames, England.
- James Brown & The Famous Flames performed at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, California.
- Janis Joplin performed at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Jerry Lee Lewis, Marmalade, Taste, The Herd and Timebox performed on the first day of the three-day National Jazz & Blues Festival at Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames, England. Jerry Lee Lewis whipped the crowd into such a frenzy during his performance that organizers cut his set short and asked him to leave the stage.
- Paul McCartney stayed behind in Abbey Road Studios at 2 a.m. after the other members of The Beatles had left and recorded “Mother Nature's Son”. He recorded 25 takes, and the song was later included on the album “The White Album”.
- Pink Floyd played the first of three concerts at Eagles Auditorium in Seattle, Washington. Blue Cheer appeared as the opening act, with the light show provided by Retina Circus Light Company.
- Sam Fogarino, American drummer for Interpol and Magnetic Morning, was born.
- Mason Williams reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart with his song “Classical Gas”. Williams was the head writer of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the following year won three Grammy Awards. In 1991, he received an RIAA Citation of Achievement for more than five million broadcast uses of the song.
- American singer, rapper and manager Michael “Biv” Bivins, a member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Tom Jones reached No. 1 on the UK albums chart with “Delilah”. The lyrics were written by Barry Mason and the music by Les Reed.
- Herb Alpert remained at No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart for a tenth week with “This Guy’s In Love with You.”
- Jimi Hendrix performed at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.
- Leigh Marklew, bassist of the English rock band Terrorvision, was born.
- The second day of the National Jazz & Blues Festival at Kempton Park Racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames, England, featured Alan Haven, Deep Purple, Ginger Baker, Jeff Beck Group, Joe Cocker, Mike Westbrook, Ronnie Scott, T. Rex, Ten Years After, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet, and The Nice.
- The Dells reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Stay In My Corner”.
- The Who released the song “Magic Bus”.
- American guitarist, singer and songwriter Charlie Sexton was born in San Antonio, Texas. He became known for the 1985 hit “Beat's So Lonely” and has played guitar in Bob Dylan's touring band since 1999. He also contributed songs to film soundtracks and appeared in Thelma & Louise and Boyhood.
- The Beatles officially launched their own multimedia company and record label, Apple Corps.
- Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham met together in the studio on Lisle Street in London's West End for the first time. The first song the future Led Zeppelin members created together was “Train Kept A-Rollin’.”
- The group was performing under the name The New Yardbirds at the time; later that year, it adopted the name Led Zeppelin.
- Soul singer Joe Hinton died in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 38 from skin cancer. He became known for his cover of “Funny How Time Slips Away”, written by Willie Nelson.
- The Beatles recorded the song “Yer Blues”.
- The Who performed at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
- Bruce Springsteen's new group Earth played their first concert on August 16 at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, New Jersey. Eighteen-year-old Springsteen sang and played guitar; the repertoire included songs by Cream, Hendrix and Traffic as well as original blues jams. The group existed for only six months.
- Pink Floyd played the first of two concerts at the Sound Factory club in Sacramento, California.
- The Beatles recorded 14 versions of George Harrison's new song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at Abbey Road, developing it from its original acoustic version into an electric arrangement.
- Cream's album Wheels of Fire remained at No. 1 on the US album chart for a second week.
- Deep Purple's song “Hush” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 83. It was recorded in just two takes and climbed to No. 4 five weeks later, becoming the group's first of eight hits on the chart.
- Simon & Garfunkel reached No. 1 on the UK album chart with their fourth studio album, Bookends. The album also reached No. 1 in the United States.
- The Doors achieved significant chart success: their album Waiting for the Sun began a four-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200, while the song “Hello, I Love You” was named America's best-selling single by Cashbox. After allegations of plagiarism, British courts ruled that the song had been taken from The Kinks' “All Day and All of the Night”, and the British songwriting royalties went to Ray Davies.
- The Rascals reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the song “People Got to Be Free”, beginning a five-week run at the top. The song later received a gold record and sold more than four million copies. It was inspired by the group's unpleasant experience with Florida racists who threatened them because of their long hair.
- MC Eric/Me One of Technotronic, whose real name was Eric Martin, was born in Cardiff, Wales, UK.
- The Who performed at the Kelker Junction Night Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- Pink Floyd released the single Let There Be More Light / Remember a Day in the US.
- Capitol Records released The Beach Boys’ album “Stack-o-Tracks”, assembled from the instrumental backing tracks of 15 songs from the group’s career to date. During one of their commercially weakest periods in the US, it became the first Beach Boys album not to chart in either the US or the UK. It was subsequently withdrawn from sale and remained unavailable for about two decades. Capitol reissued it on CD in 1990 and again in 2001; both editions were released without the original booklet that accompanied the vinyl version.
- After 58 episodes, the final episode of the television series The Monkees was broadcast on NBC. Since its original run, the series was repeatedly shown by almost all major cable television networks, including a popular run on CBS from 1969 to 1972.
- Bobby Darin sold his music publishing company for one million dollars.
- Tommy James and The Shondells returned to No. 1 on the UK singles chart for the second time with the single “Mony Mony”. In 1987, Billy Idol's version of the song replaced another Tommy James hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany, at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- Cynthia Powell Lennon initiated divorce proceedings against John Lennon because of his infidelity. After returning from a vacation in Greece, she discovered that John was with Yoko Ono, who was staying at their London home. She filed the petition on August 22, 1968, one day before the sixth anniversary of their wedding; the subsequent decree nisi was issued on November 8, 1968.
- Ringo Starr temporarily left The Beatles because of growing tension and arguments during the recording of “The White Album”. He felt that he was not playing well and was an outsider to the others. His departure was kept secret, and the remaining three continued working on “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Dear Prudence”, with Paul McCartney playing drums and John Lennon playing bass. During his absence, Starr relaxed on a yacht off Sardinia, where he wrote the song “Octopus's Garden”. After the others sent him an apologetic telegram, he returned to the group on September 3 and found his drum kit decorated with flowers in the studio. The following day, the Beatles filmed promotional videos for “Hey Jude” and “Revolution”.
- The Grateful Dead performed at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.
- The original instrumental tracks for Tommy Roe's song “Dizzy” were recorded at Western Recorders in Hollywood. The song was written by Roe and Freddy Weller and produced by Steve Barri. The single was released on November 13, 1968, by ABC Records and in March 1969 spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, reached No. 1 on the British chart for one week in June 1969, and also reached No. 1 in Canada in March 1969. The recording featured Tommy Roe – vocals, Hal Blaine – drums, Joe Osborn – bass, Ben Benay – guitar, Michael Deasy – guitar, and Don Randi – piano.
- Fleetwood Mac released their second album, “Mr. Wonderful”. Christine Perfect played keyboards on the album and, over the following few years, married John McVie and became a full member of Fleetwood Mac.
- Pink Floyd played the first two nights of the final stop on their US tour at The Bank club in Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles area.
- During the recording of “The White Album”, Ringo Starr told John Lennon that he was temporarily leaving The Beatles because, in his words, he was not playing well, felt unloved and felt left out. Ringo subsequently went on holiday to Sardinia with his family.
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Soft Machine and Big Brother And The Holding Company performed at the New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, New York. Janis Joplin also performed with Big Brother And The Holding Company. The concert was part of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's North American tour and attracted approximately 18,000 people. The atmosphere was disrupted by a heavy police presence because of a violent fight involving thrown chairs that had taken place at the same venue during the previous festival day on August 2.
- Brazilian guitarist, songwriter and producer Andreas Kisser was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He became known as the lead guitarist of the metal band Sepultura.
- Eighteen-year-old Bruce Springsteen joined Earth in August 1968, a heavy blues-rock trio or quartet that mainly played cover versions of Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, Cream and Chicago blues.
- James Brown performed at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
- Pink Floyd performed the final concert of their North American tour at The Bank club in Torrance, California.
- The Dells spent their third week at No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart with „Stay In My Corner“.
- Blues musician Albert King performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.
- Jeannie C. Riley's album “Harper Valley P.T.A.” received a gold certification. The single “Harper Valley P.T.A.” ultimately sold more than six million copies, and Riley became the first woman to top both the US pop and country charts with the same song.
- Mary Hopkin released “Those Were The Days” in the United States.
- The Beatles released the single “Hey Jude” on the A-side and “Revolution” on the B-side through Apple Records, their first release on their own Apple Records label. The single was released in both the UK and the US; “Hey Jude” became the group's biggest hit, spending nine weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 1 on 23 charts worldwide and selling more than eight million copies. The song received three Grammy nominations but did not win any of them.
- At 6:00 p.m., Elvis Presley hosted a dinner for the cast and crew of the film “Charro!” at Goldwyn Studios. He then left for Las Vegas for a short stay at the Aladdin Hotel.
- Big Brother and the Holding Company released the album “Cheap Thrills”.
- Simon and Garfunkel began a five-week run at No. 1 on the UK album chart with “Bookends”. The duo’s fourth studio album included the songs “America”, “Mrs. Robinson”, and “A Hazy Shade of Winter”. “Bookends” is a concept album tracing the journey of life from childhood to old age.
- During a recording session for her fifth album at CBS Studios in Nashville on August 28, 1968, Tammy Wynette recorded the song “Stand By Your Man”. Producer Billy Sherrill suggested during the session that she finish a song he had started working on, and they completed it together in just 15 minutes. The song became Wynette’s signature hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its release on September 20, 1968, and selling more than two million copies.
- The Beach Boys scored their second No. 1 single in the UK with “Do It Again”, which became their second and final UK chart-topper. In the US, the song reached No. 20.
- At Trident Studios in London, The Beatles began recording a new John Lennon song, “Dear Prudence”. They built the song instrument by instrument using the studio’s eight-track equipment. John Lennon and George Harrison played guitars, while Paul McCartney played drums because Ringo Starr had left The Beatles on August 22.
- The Doors received a gold record for “Hello, I Love You”, which reached No. 1 in the US and No. 15 in the UK. The band and many fans disliked its lighter sound. Ray Davies of The Kinks pointed out the strong similarity between the main guitar riff and the song “All Day and All of the Night”, leading to an out-of-court settlement under which the UK royalties were paid directly to Davies.
- During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, police in riot gear violently confronted protesters demonstrating against the Vietnam War. The Doors, Graham Nash, and Chicago wrote songs about these events.
- American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michelle Lynn Johnson, professionally known as Me'Shell NdegéOcello, was born in Berlin, Germany. She grew up in Washington, D.C.
- Howlin’ Wolf performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.
- The first edition of the Isle of Wight Festival was held, with Jefferson Airplane and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown as the headliners.
- Janis Joplin performed on the first of two evenings at the Palace of Fine Arts festival in San Francisco.
- Mary Hopkin released her debut single “Those Were the Days” on The Beatles’ Apple label. The song was produced by Paul McCartney and reached No. 1 in 18 countries worldwide.
- The Beatles released their first single in the UK on their own Apple Records label. The single contained “Hey Jude” and “Revolution”.
- The Byrds released their sixth studio album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” through Columbia Records. The album marked a significant departure from their previous psychedelic folk-rock sound toward country and bluegrass and reached No. 77 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Gram Parsons also contributed to the album. The album is considered one of the first major country-rock albums and became an important milestone for the emerging Los Angeles country-rock scene of the 1970s.
- The Crazy World of Arthur Brown released their self-titled album in the UK.
- Yes performed at the Civic Centre in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, England.
- Big Brother and the Holding Company released the album "Cheap Thrills" in the United States.
- Danny Kirwan joined Fleetwood Mac.
- At the first Isle of Wight Festival, held from August 31 to September 1 over two days at Hells Field near Godshill, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Orange Bicycle, Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention and Tyrannosaurus Rex performed. Tickets cost 25 shillings.
- London Records released The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man" in the United States, inspired by an anti-war demonstration in London attended by 25,000 people. The single reached only No. 48 in the United States because a number of radio stations refused to play it because of lyrics perceived as subversive. The original cover depicted police officers beating a demonstrator and was quickly withdrawn from sale. Decca Records did not release the single in Britain at the time.