Albums and hits:
*”Respect” by Aretha Franklin which called for not only civil rights, but also a woman’s right to sexual pleasure
*Albums such as Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (before this album came out, people thought the Beatles were at the beginning of the end … oh, how they were wrong), and Strange Days by the Doors welcomed the public into the world of recreational drugs.
*First debut album, The Piper at the Gate of Dawn, by Pink Floyd is released in August
*The Graduate is released along with an album complete with the hit, “Mrs. Robinson,” by Simon and Garfunkel.
*One of the first reggae songs ever, “54-46 That’s My Number” by Toots & the Maytals, is released
Festivals and other musical firsts:
*Human Be-In Festival (January 14) instigates the hippie counterculture lead by college students who participated in the attrition of segregation. This festival also led to the first rock music festival later in the year …
*Kurt Cobain is born
*R. Kelly is born
*The Who perform their first concert in America.
*Monterey International Pop Festival (June 16-18)
*Our World airs as the first live and international (via satellite) musical performance by none other than the Beatles themselves. The song they sang? “All You Need is Love.” (June 25)
*The Doors disregard CBS warnings not to use the word “higher” on The Ed Sullivan Show, when Morrison sings their #1 hit, Light My Fire.
*The first Rolling Stone issue is published. (November)
*The Who destroys their instruments during a performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (so that’s where all that came from …)
*Sly & the Family Stone’s career begins.
*Both the bands Genesis and Chicago are created.
*LSD is declared illegal
