From Born to Be Wild to Dazed and Confused

Rock Music’s Revolution in 1968

John Einarson (Author) , Mars Bonfire (Foreword)

From Born to Be Wild to Dazed and Confused

Rock Music’s Revolution in 1968

John Einarson (Author) , Mars Bonfire (Foreword)

Hardback ~~$32.00~~ $28.80

Hardback $32.00

Hardback $32.00

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Description

Emerging from a period of protest and social unrest, 1968 was the year that ushered in gut-punching sounds that would define classic and hard rock—the formation of bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath rolled away the light sounds of psychedelic music and Flower Power. Celebrated music journalist & author John Einarson provides the first detailed account of this crucial period.

Einarson begins by examining the birth of psychedelic music and experimentation beginning in 1965 and the resultant Summer of Love, showing how The Who and The Jimi Hendrix Experience planted the seeds for the harder rock sounds at The Monterey Pop Festival. Music and popular culture always reflect prevailing social and political conditions, and 1968 was no exception. Events like the Tet Offensive, student protests around the world, the My Lai massacre, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Chicago Democratic National Convention protests, and the election of Richard Nixon set the stage for a more visceral music that reflected the sense of alienation, frustration, and violence among young people who rejected the vacuous platitudes of Flower Power.

Einarson traces the evolution of a harder rock sound throughout the year as well as the formation of pivotal hard rock and heavy metal bands in 1968, including Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin who would provide the all-important foundation for what we know today as classic rock.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: More Than A Feeling

Chapter 1: The Times They Are A-Changin’

Timeline of significant events: 1967
Chapter 2: If You’re Going To San Francisco
Chapter 3: There’s Something Happening Here

Timeline of significant events: 1968
Chapter 4: Everywhere I Hear the Sound of Marching, Charging Feet, Boy
Chapter 5: I Like Smoke ‘n’ Lightning, Heavy Metal Thunder
Chapter 6: Rock My Plimsoul
Chapter 7: You Say You Want A Revolution

Timeline of significant events: 1969
Chapter 8: Teenage Wasteland
Chapter 9: I Know It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll…
Recommended Listening
Notes
About the Author

Product details

Published	Apr 01 2025
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	224
ISBN	9781538197776
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations	1 BW Photo
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

John Einarson

Foreword

Mars Bonfire

This book joins up all the dots! An interesting read about rock music getting heavier in 1968.

Jim McCarty, drummer for Yardbirds and Renaissance, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
“This is amazingly detailed research and information. John Einarson has created a resource that present and future rock scholars will go to quite often. He's got everything in the book, short of Jimmy Page's shoe-size and Hendrix's guitar string gauge. Well done, I must say.”

John Kay, founder and leader of Steppenwolf
Covering the multifaceted road to classic rock, John Einarson offers history, context, and occasional personal anecdotes, digging deep to uncover how 1967’s optimistic, psychedelic sounds gave way to 1968’s darker, heavier bands. From Monterey Pop to Woodstock and Altamont, music and drugs got harder as AM radio gave way to FM. Half a century later, FM radio remains focused on nonstop classic rock. From Born to be Wild to Dazed and Confused: Rock Music’s Revolution in 1968 explains why.

John Cody, musician, teacher, and author of Happy Forever: My Musical Adventures with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, and More
John Einarson’s impressive knowledge of rock and roll history is outshone only by his deep passion for music. He has written an engaging and impeccably researched account of how hard rock —and its derivatives —were born out of the ashes of a turbulent time. This will strike a power chord with music fans all over. Rock on!

Lisa M. Roth, producer, music documentaries; “Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf” and “RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World”