This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1968.
Bands formed Accept (as Band X) Alice CooperBarnet & 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." Black SabbathWalser 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." (as Earth) Breakout Deep Purple Edgar Broughton Band Free Grand Funk RailroadHoffmann & 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." Humble PieFrith & 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." Led Zeppelin Meat Loaf NazarethWalser 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." Rush (as The Projection) Sir Lord Baltimore Sweet Warpig Writing on the Wall
Bands disbanded Cream
Songs "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf "Voodoo Child" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron ButterflyEverett 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." "Race With the Devil" by The Gun "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer
Albums
January DayArtistAlbum 16Blue CheerVincebus Eruptum 22Iron ButterflyHeavy 29SteppenwolfSteppenwolf 30The Velvet UndergroundWhite Light/White Heat
February DayArtistAlbum Vanilla FudgeThe Beat Goes On
June DayArtistAlbum 14CreamWheels of FireIron ButterflyIn-A-Gadda-Da-VidaVanilla FudgeRenaissanceThe Crazy World of Arthur BrownThe Crazy World of Arthur Brown
July DayArtistAlbum 17Deep PurpleShades of Deep Purple 29The Jeff Beck GroupTruth
August DayArtistAlbumBlue CheerOutsideinside
October DayArtistAlbum 16Jimi Hendrix ExperienceElectric LadylandSteppenwolfThe Second
November DayArtistAlbum 22The KinksThe Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
December DayArtistAlbum 20Pretty ThingsS.F. SorrowDeep PurpleThe Book of Taliesyn
References