Every Baby Boomer Alive Remembers These 4 Classic Country Jams From 1968

In 1968, the world was in the midst of a collective psychedelic trip, eyes locked on the rock ‘n’ roll soundscape expanding outward like a sonic Big Bang. Meanwhile, the country music world was plenty busy on its own, releasing hit after hit that would come to define the genre for decades to come. That’s especially true of these four classic country jams from 1968, which every baby boomer alive still remembers and can likely still sing by heart.

“Folsom Prison Blues (Live)” by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash first released “Folsom Prison Blues” on his 1957 album Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar!, but it wasn’t until its 1968 re-release that the track really hit its stride. This evolution was in no small part due to the fact that the 1968 recording featured Cash singing “Folsom Prison Blues” in Folsom Prison in California. The electric response of the crowd was one that a studio recording simply could not replicate, no matter how talented the musician.

“Fist City” by Loretta Lynn

One of the greatest examples of country star Loretta Lynn’s ability to write songs that are as biting as they are funny and catchy comes from her 1968 track, “Fist City”. She insults the “other woman.” She kind of insults her own man. And through every single lyrical shot fired, she reminds anyone willing to look her man’s way that she has a one-way ticket to Fist City with their name on it.

“Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette offered a much different kind of feminine anthem with the September 1968 release of her future country standard, “Stand By Your Man”. If her song were to exist in the same canon as Lynn’s, Wynette’s track would be what the woman sings to her man after she’s done beating up the other woman. A somewhat troubling lack of accountability for the man in this equation, maybe. Nevertheless, “Stand By Your Man” is one of Wynette’s best-loved tracks.

“Little Green Apples” by Roger Miller

Finally, Roger Miller had no small shortage of genre-defining songs in the 1960s, and every baby boomer alive will recognize his classic country tune from 1968, “Little Green Apples”. This track is one of Miller’s more sentimental offerings. But there’s plenty of cheeky humor mixed in, too. “And if that’s not loving me, then all I’ve got to say / God didn’t make the little green apples / It don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The post Every Baby Boomer Alive Remembers These 4 Classic Country Jams From 1968 appeared first on American Songwriter.