nickel revolution

It’s interesting to note that the year of 1968 held many changes and new opportunities for The Nickel Revolution. Rock and roll music had evolved and the messages in music were stronger than ever. Why?

Music is a reflection of the times and our country was going through many changes and challenges, consequently the songwriters and bands were responding with songs that would become anthems for many.

The year begins for The Nickel Revolution on an “easy feeling,” and the band goes into the studio to record Sweet, Sweet Lovin’ a cover of the Platters hit. Kent Saunders added his excellent vocals. The second recording was Ron Honeybear Hort singing, “Treat Her Right,” by Roy Head.

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The main point of talking about these songs is very clear as it relates to 1968. The year begins with an easy R&B feel for The Nickel Revolution and by the end of the year a heavier rock and roll version of the band emerges. Look at the clothes and style of the band. At the beginning of the year the band wears suits, including tuxes for some shows, and by the end of the year The Nickel Revolution is no longer in matching outfits. Individual style, custom-made clothes with each member expressing their own taste and appearance and long hair.

As 1968 began, we were a show band and the line up included Kent Saunders (lead guitar), Ron Honeybear Hort (keyboards), JohnBerman (sax), Scott Jeffy (bass), Louie Lenz (rhythm guitar) and Jerry Lenz (drums). By early spring, Kent Saunders and John Berman would leave to join other R&B show bands as The Nickel Revolution was moving toward a different sound. Keith Luer is added to the band on lead guitar, bringing original songs and a new rock flavor to the band.

Oddly enough, it was the same year that the band would win, “Best New Material” Award and the Connie Awards in May and be contracted with Mercury Records/Phillips label for the Candy Floss recording of Oscar Crunch, a bubblegum song. It’s awkward because this happened when the band was changing its sound and direction.

Oscar Crunch would become a local and regional hit for the band in the Midwest and radio play included eastern states as well. The Nickel Revolution were booked and packaged with bubblegum groups, but they only played one bubblegum song. Audiences didn’t mind, nor did the concert promoters and venue managers as The Nickel Revolution drew audiences.

Looking back at the music and news headlines of 1968 will demonstrate just how much change was taking place. One interesting story of that year for the band happened when a few of the guys traveled to Chicago to buy clothes and “hang out.” We had finished a gig in Wisconsin and part of the band returned to Minneapolis while Louie, Scott, Jerry and Rich Lindquist (one of our roadies) headed to the Windy City. We traveled in Louie’s brand new 1968 Ford Torino. It was dark blue with a white racing stripe down the center of the car, so it did stand out.

The band checked into a hotel and went out to cruise the streets of Chicago. Especially the north side where the emerging hippie shops were. We had our first real experience of being “hassled” by the cops. The corruption of Mayor Daley’s administration was legendary, including the police force.

Some undercover cops in an unmarked, beat up old dodge, pulled us over. It was unnerving as the car and the cops did not look right. The two “officers” looked like bar slobs. They made us get out of the car and sit on the curb while they searched our vehicle—and there was no traffic infraction or probable cause to search the car, nor did we give them permission to search us and the car. They were mad and disgusted to not find any pot or other illegal substances. They yelled at us and told us to get, “the hell out of Chicago,” noting our Minnesota plates and ID’s. The long hair didn’t help and they said we looked like girls. Fortunately we saved our comments about them for later. Daley’s welcoming committee taught us a lesson—be careful in a corrupt city. This was just a few short weeks before the huge anti-war protests in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention where the police brutalized the protesters. There are plenty of articles and photos online to demonstrate how bad the situation was.

The leading news stories of 1968:

<>Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy assassinated two months apart.

<>The National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam launches the Tet Offensive

<>1968 – Civil Rights Act of 1968, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act

<>Shirley Chisholm becomes first black woman elected to U.S. Congress

<>Police clash with anti-war protesters in Chicago, outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention

<>U.S. signs Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

<>United States presidential election, 1968 (Richard Nixon elected president)

Now let’s look at the changes in music and the Billboard Top 100 of 1968

1.	Hey Jude	The Beatles
2.	I Heard It Through The Grapevine	Marvin Gaye
3.	Love Is Blue	Paul Mauriat
4.	Love Child	Diana Ross &The Supremes
5.	Honey	Bobby Goldsboro
6.	Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay	Otis Redding
7.	People Got To Be Free	The Rascals
8.	This Guy’s In Love With You	Herb Alpert
9.	Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)	JohnFred &His Playboy Band
10.	Woman Woman	Gary Puckett &The Union Gap
11.	Mrs. Robinson	Simon &Garfunkel
12.	Who’s Making Love	Johnnie Taylor
13.	Hello I Love You	The Doors
14.	Tighten Up	Archie Bell &The Drells
15.	Young Girl	Gary Puckett &The Union Gap
16.	HarperValleyPta	Jeannie C. Riley
17.	Those Were The Days	Mary Hopkin
18.	Little Green Apples	O.C. Smith
19.	The Good, The Bad And The Ugly	HugoMontenegro
20.	Bend Me, Shape Me	American Breed
21.	Cry Like A Baby	The Box Tops
22.	Magic Carpet Ride	Steppenwolf
23.	Green Tambourine	The Lemon Pipers
24.	Midnight Confessions	The Grass Roots
25.	For Once In My Life	Stevie Wonder
26.	It’s A Beautiful Morning	The Rascals
27.	Spooky	Classics Iv
28.	Abraham, Martin AndJohn	Dion
29.	Stoned Soul Picnic	5th Dimension
30.	Chain Of Fools	Aretha Franklin
31.	Mony Mony	Tommy James &The Shondells
32.	Classical Gas	Mason Williams
33.	Cowboys To Girls	The Intruders
34.	I Love How You Love Me	Bobby Vinton
35.	The Ballad Of Bonnie AndClyde	Georgie Fame
36.	I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You	Bee Gees
37.	Grazing In The Grass	Hugh Masekela
38.	Angel Of The Morning	Merrilee Rush &The Turnabouts
39.	Fire	Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
40.	(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls	Dionne Warwick
41.	Born To Be Wild	Steppenwolf
42.	The Horse	Cliff Nobles &Co.
43.	Lady Willpower	Gary Puckett &The Union Gap
44.	Slip Away	Clarence Carter
45.	I Wish It Would Rain	The Temptations
46.	Jumpin’ Jack Flash	The Rolling Stones
47.	Light My Fire	JoseFeliciano
48.	(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone	Aretha Franklin
49.	La-La Means I Love You	The Delfonics
50.	Girl Watcher	The O’kaysions
51.	Different Drum	Stone Poneys F/Linda Ronstadt
52.	Stormy	Classics Iv F/ Dennis Yost
53.	Yummy Yummy Yummy	OhioExpress
54.	Hold Me Tight	Johnny Nash
55.	The Look Of Love	Sergio Mendes &Brazil66
56.	Sunshine Of Your Love	Cream
57.	Dance To The Music	Sly &The Family Stone
58.	Turn Around Look At Me	The Vogues
59.	Over You	Gary Puckett &The Union Gap
60.	Reach Out Of The Darkness	Friend And Lover
61.	Simon Says	19l0 FruitgumCo.
62.	Revolution	The Beatles
63.	Bottle Of Wine	The Fireballs
64.	Lady Madonna	The Beatles
65.	Love Is All Around	The Troggs
66.	MacarthurPark	Richard Harris
67.	Take Time To Know Her	Percy Sledge
68.	Hurdy Gurdy Man	Donovan
69.	White Room	Cream
70.	I Got The Feelin’	James Brown
71.	Nobody But Me	The Human Beinz
72.	1,2,3, Red Light	1910 Fruitgum Co.
73.	Think	Aretha Franklin
74.	You Keep Me Hangin’ On	Vanilla Fudge
75.	Goin’ Out Of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You	The Lettermen
76.	The Unicorn	The Irish Rovers
77.	Baby, Now That I’ve Found You	The Foundations
78.	Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing	Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
79.	The Fool On The Hill	Sergio Mendes &Brazil’66
80.	Susan	The Buckinghams
81.	Time Has Come Today	Chambers Brothers
82.	I Say A Little Prayer	Aretha Franklin
83.	IndianLake	The Cowsills
84.	I Thank You	Sam And Dave
85.	Elenore	The Turtles
86.	Hush	Deep Purple
87.	Here Comes The Judge	Shorty Long
88.	My Special Angel	The Vogues
89.	I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite	Tommy Boyce &Bobby Hart
90.	Stay In My Corner	The Dells
91.	Both Sides Now	Judy Collins
92.	The House That Jack Built	Aretha Franklin
93.	You’re All I Need To Get By	Marvin Gaye And Tammi Terrell
94.	The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo]	Manfred Mann
95.	Suzie Q (Part One)	Creedence Clearwater Revival
96.	Do You Know The Way ToSanJose	Dionne Warwick
97.	If You Can Want	Smokey Robinson &The Miracles
98.	Say It Loud-I’m Black And I’m Proud (Part 1)	James Brown
99.	I Love You	People
100.	Piece Of My Heart	Big Brother &The Holding Company

If you are familiar with the music, it is very easy to see the contrasting sounds and the emergence of more, “message music” as you look at the Billboard Top 100 for 1968. Interesting to note that Here Comes The Judge by Shorty Long came in at number 87, because at the beginning of the same year, The Nickel Revolution recorded a version of Here Comes da Judge for Candy Floss Productions which was never released (available on Amazon and iTunes). You can see the story on this blog in an earlier entry.

Back to the changing music of 1968, let’s look at two artists and their releases. The first is Dion with Abraham, Martin And John (number 28 on the chart above).

Dion Dimuci was the lead singer in a 50s Doo Wop group, Dion and the Belmonts and he had a lot more to say in his 1968 recording.  Abraham, Martin And John which was in reference to the assassinations of  President John F. Kennedy, the Reverend Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy.

 

 

 

Another true reflection of the changing times, anger over the Viet Nam war and musicians working to bring more message music, is  John Fogerty’s song Fortunate Son recorded by his group, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Here are the lyrics:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays “Hail to the Chief”
Oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord

It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no Senator’s son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one, no

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh
But when the tax men come to the door
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes

It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one, no

Yeah, some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh

It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no military son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one

It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate one, no, no, no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me
I ain’t no fortunate son, no, no

1968 truly was a year of change and you can see how The Nickel Revolution was changing and evolving in their sound, direction and style.

We welcome your comments and feedback on this blog. You can post here and share this with your friends via Facebook and Twitter (see easy links). If you want to email us any questions or comments: NickelRevolution@gmail.com

Visit our YouTube Channel to listen to our recordings

See these great websites for further insights to Twin Cities bands from the 50s, 60s, 70s:

http://www.jeanneandersen.net/musichighlights.html

http://minniepaulmusic.com/

© 2011 © 2012 Jerry Lenz, Lenz Entertainment Group All Rights Reserved