Pop Culture in 1967: Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll
Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1967 (Top 10)
- “To Sir with Love” - Lulu
- “The Letter” - The Box Tops
- “I’m a Believer” - The Monkees
- “Light My Fire” - The Doors
- “I Think We’re Alone Now” - Tommy James and the Shondells
- “Respect” - Aretha Franklin
- “Happy Together” - The Turtles
- “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” - Frankie Valli
- “Ruby Tuesday” - Elvis Presley (Rolling Stones Cover)
- “All You Need is Love” - The Beatles
News in Music, Through the Year
January 4th - The Doors release their eponymous debut album.
January 14th - At the Human Be-In in San Francisco, live music is provided by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and several other groups.
February 16th - “Aretha Franklin Day” is declared in Detroit, Michigan.
March 11th - The Beatles appear on American Bandstand and announce work on a new album. This will become
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
March 25th - The Who perform their first concert in the United States in New York City.
March 31st - Kicking off a UK tour with Cat Stevens in London, England, Jimi Hendrix of Buster and the Battery finishes his band’s set by lighting his guitar on fire. A Rock tradition is born.
May 1st - Paul McCartney reveals that all four of the Beatles have “dropped acid”. On the same day, Elvis Presley makes a statement announcing his “disappointment” that the Beatles have taken to using psychedelic drugs.
May 2nd - After begging with Capitol Records for more time, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys release
Smile to widespread commercial and critical acclaim. The leading single, “Good Vibrations” quickly goes platinum.
June 1st -
Sgt. Pepper’s, widely seen as the most influential Rock album of all time is released by the Beatles.
June 16th - 18th - The Monterey Pop Festival, one of the first of its kind, is held, with over 55,000 in attendance.
June 25th - In the first ever worldwide television broadcast, the Beatles perform “All You Need is Love” with Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, and members of the Who singing backup vocals. Elvis Presley was invited to attend, but was undergoing rehab at the time and so was forced to pass.
August 23rd - Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein is saved from a potentially fatal overdose of carbitral, a form of barbiturate, when Paul McCartney follows him home after a recording session at Abbey Road, suspecting that something was up with him. McCartney rushes Epstein to the hospital and the doctors there manage to save his life, much to the relief of the band.
September 17th - The Doors are banned from
the Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison refuses to change the line “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” from “Light My Fire”.
October 14th - Tammi Terrell faints and collapses into duet partner Marvin Gaye’s arms onstage during a performance at the Hampton University Homecoming in Virginia. She was later diagnosed with a brain tumor, and die from brain cancer in 1970 at the age of 24.
October 18th - The first issue of
Rolling Stone rolls off the presses in San Francisco, California. The inaugural cover features John Lennon biting his lip and winking at the camera.
November 22nd - Otis Redding records “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay”.
December 5th - George Harrison begins recording tracks for
Wonderwall Music, what will ultimately become his first solo album.
December 10th - Otis Redding and his backing band, the Bar-Keys survive a crash landing of their plane outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Considered a “very close call” by the injured pilot, the plane nearly crashed into Lake Monona, which would surely have been fatal. Besides scrapes, bruises, and a few broken bones, no one is seriously hurt.
1967 in Film: The Year’s Biggest
The Graduate - Romantic comedy-drama. Directed by Mike Nichols and starring Dustin Hoffman (in his film acting debut), Marilyn Monroe, and Ann-Margret Presley. By far the highest grossing film of the year,
The Graduate won an Academy Award for Best Director for Nichols and was nominated for six other categories as well. The performances of the three stars were widely praised, and Monroe was said to give “the finest performance of her career”. The film would go on to be iconic of the era, a bona fide classic.
The Jungle Book - Animated musical-comedy. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and produced by Walt Disney.
The Jungle Book would be the last film to be personally approved by Disney before his passing the year before. This, combined with beautiful animation, fantastic voicework, and a superb score catapulted the film into massive critical and commercial success.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - Comedy-drama. Directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn. Massively influential for its rarely positive depiction of interracial marriage, the film became a box office smash as well.
Bonnie and Clyde - Biographical/Action. Directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Incredibly successful and controversial at the time for its graphic on screen depictions of violence and sexuality,
Bonnie and Clyde would be pointed to as a major influence on the start of the “New Hollywood” era to follow. To the millions of young Americans involved with the counterculture, the film became a rallying cry to attack the establishment and was very popular.
Everyone’s Favorite Television Programs in 1967
Star Trek - Starring William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Leonard Nimoy.
Batman - Starring Adam West, Burt Ward, and Ceser Romero.
Bewitched - Starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York.
Green Acres - Starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor.
The Andy Griffith Show - Starring Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, and Ronnie Howard.
1967 in Sport
January 15th - The first “Super Bowl” is held between the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers. The Packers win 35 - 24.
The World Series: The St. Louis Cardinals continue the “Curse of the Bambino”, defeating the Boston Red Sox 4 games to 3. Cardinal Pitcher Bob Gibson is declared World Series MVP.
NBA Finals: The Philadelphia 76er’s go 4 games to 2 over the San Francisco Warriors.
Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 2 over the Montreal Canadiens during Canada’s centennial year.
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson for his management of the War in Rhodesia.
Other Headlines from the Year
Throughout - Activist Ralph Nader’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed” helps raise the alarm about unsafe automotive designs in U.S. cars. In response, President Kennedy orders the foundation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The board’s foundation will shortly thereafter lead to new safety standards including head rests, energy-absorbing steering wheels, shatter-resistant windshields, and safety belts.
December - The first successful human to human heart transplant is carried out by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa.
April - In Loving v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court rules 6 - 3 that state bans on interracial marriage are unconstitutional under the 14th amendment’s “equal protection” promise.
Throughout - The People’s Republic of China tests its first Hydrogen bomb.
Throughout - The United Kingdom and Ireland officially apply once more for admission into the European Economic Community (EEC). Again, French President Charles de Gaulle blocks their admission, fearing that their membership would be a “trojan horse” for American influence into the organization.
Summer - Late in the summer of 67', Ann Margret, having finished filming for her role as Helga Brand in the latest James Bond film You Only Live Twice, found herself once again offered the role of Catwoman by ABC for their Batman television series, following the departure of actress Julie Newmar. Still intrigued by the prospect of joining the show, Margret would nonetheless surprise the producers after she instead began expressing more interest in playing as a relatively new Batman villianess from the comics instead, that of Poison Ivy, who premiered in the comics the year before. Excited at the prospect of bringing in the wife of Elvis Presley into the show, the character of Poison Ivy was quickly written into the new season with a large role, as the new love interest as well as enemy of the caped crusader; a character who's introduction would inadvertently also later on would give the Eco-Environment movement one of it's most prominent symbols and icons.
One major and important contribution to the Batman comic book lore resulting from the introduction of Poison Ivy into the show would be in giving a clearly defined origin story for the the comic book villianess, who lacked one at that point in time in the comics. This new origin, created by the shows executive producer William Dozier, would reveal that the character of Poison Ivy, born Pamela Isley, would have been a young childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, whose path of villainy as a eco-terrorist later in life would put the Batman at odds with his great sense of justice, and his heart. With a new origin and a major role in the new season, Margret's addition to the cast, alongside that of Yvonne Craig's casting as Batgirl, would help breathe new life into the shows declining ratings, allowing it to live beyond a third season and be green lite for a fourth season, scheduled for 1968.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: Politics as Usual?
I'm so glad you enjoyed the update. 
