1968 in heavy metal music

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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1968.

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

Cream

Songs

"Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
"Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
"Voodoo Child" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
"The House at Pooneil Corners" by Jefferson Airplane
’’Hurdy Gurdy Man’’ by Donovan
"A Trial In Our Native Town" by Savage Rose
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly^[6]
"Race With the Devil" by The Gun
"Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer

Albums

January

Day	Artist	Album
16	Blue Cheer	Vincebus Eruptum
22	Iron Butterfly	Heavy
29	Steppenwolf	Steppenwolf
30	The Velvet Underground	White Light/White Heat

February

Day	Artist	Album
	Vanilla Fudge	The Beat Goes On

June

Day	Artist	Album
14	Cream	Wheels of Fire
	Iron Butterfly	In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
	Vanilla Fudge	Renaissance
	The Crazy World of Arthur Brown	The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

July

Day	Artist	Album
17	Deep Purple	Shades of Deep Purple
29	The Jeff Beck Group	Truth

August

Day	Artist	Album
	Blue Cheer	Outsideinside

October

Day	Artist	Album
16	Jimi Hendrix Experience	Electric Ladyland
	Deep Purple	The Book of Taliesyn
	Steppenwolf	The Second

November

Day	Artist	Album
22	The Kinks	The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

December

Day	Artist	Album
20	Pretty Things	S.F. Sorrow

References

^ Barnet & Burriss 2001, p. 87 "It was not so much the music as it was his over-the-top theatrical stage show that made him instantly infamous. Thus, Alice Cooper started what many pop music historians believe was the first true prototype for heavy metal."
^ ^a ^b ^c Walser 1993, p. 10 "The sound that would become known as heavy metal was definitely codified in 1970 with the release of Led Zeppelin II, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple In Rock."
^ Hoffmann & Ferstler 2005, p. 454 "A populist blend of heavy metal and updated blues boogie, Grand Funk Railroad provided a model for rock band successes in the 1970s."
^ Frith & Goodwin 1990, p. 85 "The lack of intermediary strata between heavy metal audiences and groups was further determined by another characteristic of the music. Most of the groups that were predominant - Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, and so on - were British."
^ ^a ^b Walser 1993, p. 10 "A "second generation of heavy metal," the first to claim the name unambiguously, was also active throughout the 1970s: KISS, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Ted Nugent, Rush, Motorhead, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult. Scorpions, from Germany, became the first heavy metal band from a non-English speaking country to achieve international success."
^ Everett 2008, p. 267 "Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" may prove more influential to the post-'60s future of heavy metal than the more often-cited Led Zeppelin in the nonfunctional and nondiatonic basis of its chord relationships."

[1] Barnet & Burriss 2001, p. 87 "It was not so much the music as it was his over-the-top theatrical stage show that made him instantly infamous. Thus, Alice Cooper started what many pop music historians believe was the first true prototype for heavy metal."

[Walser3-2] Walser 1993, p. 10 "The sound that would become known as heavy metal was definitely codified in 1970 with the release of Led Zeppelin II, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Deep Purple In Rock."

[3] Hoffmann & Ferstler 2005, p. 454 "A populist blend of heavy metal and updated blues boogie, Grand Funk Railroad provided a model for rock band successes in the 1970s."

[Frith-4] Frith & Goodwin 1990, p. 85 "The lack of intermediary strata between heavy metal audiences and groups was further determined by another characteristic of the music. Most of the groups that were predominant - Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, and so on - were British."

[Walser2-5] Walser 1993, p. 10 "A "second generation of heavy metal," the first to claim the name unambiguously, was also active throughout the 1970s: KISS, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Ted Nugent, Rush, Motorhead, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult. Scorpions, from Germany, became the first heavy metal band from a non-English speaking country to achieve international success."

[6] Everett 2008, p. 267 "Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" may prove more influential to the post-'60s future of heavy metal than the more often-cited Led Zeppelin in the nonfunctional and nondiatonic basis of its chord relationships."

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