Rock Machine sampler albums
Encyclopedia
The Rock Machine Turns You On was the first bargain priced sampler album
. It was released in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an international marketing campaign by Columbia Records
, who were known in Europe as CBS.
. The campaign was seen as a means of promoting its expanding roster of rock
and folk rock
acts, who included Bob Dylan
, The Byrds
, Simon and Garfunkel
, Leonard Cohen
, Moby Grape
, Spirit
, Taj Mahal
, and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Early promotional material in Billboard
magazine stated:
The design of the "Rock Machine" logo, used in subsequent publicity material, including album covers, was by Milton Glaser
.
, in the UK in 1968. The album was priced at 14 shillings and 11 pence
(£0.75), less than half the cost of a full priced LP at the time. It entered the UK Albums Chart
in June 1969, several months after its first release, rising to no. 18, and was estimated to have sold over 140,000 copies.
The Rock Machine Turns You On influenced a generation of music fans. At the time, what was then called "underground music" was starting to achieve some commercial success in Europe, bolstered by new radio and tv programmes such as John Peel
's "Top Gear". CBS competed actively for this new market against other “progressive” labels such as Elektra
, Island
, Immediate
, and the EMI subsidiary Harvest
, who followed with similar samplers of their acts. Although some of the featured artists were already stars, others such as Leonard Cohen and Spirit were only starting to become known in Europe, and the album made a major contribution to their success.
Some years later, the affiliated company, Epic Records
, used a similar format for The Rock Machine Still Turns You On, Vols. 1 and 2, in 1983.
A version of The Rock Machine Turns You On was issued on CD by Sony Records in 1996, but it lacked the Simon and Garfunkel track for licensing reasons.
Sampler album
A sampler is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase a selection of artists signed to a particular record label...
. It was released in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an international marketing campaign by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, who were known in Europe as CBS.
Marketing campaign
The Rock Machine marketing campaign was initiated in the US in January 1968, by Columbia Records under its president Clive DavisClive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
. The campaign was seen as a means of promoting its expanding roster of rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
acts, who included Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Moby Grape
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
, Spirit
Spirit (band)
Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/progressive rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California.- The original lineup :...
, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Early promotional material in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine stated:
"The Rock Machine...it's the happening sounds of today. Out of it comes the biggest, hottest rock list that ever started off any month. And with our Columbia Rock Machine, the most exciting and meaningful merchandising campaign we've ever devised..... It's all here - the talent, the product and the big concept to make it all happen. Now, doesn't that turn you on?"
The design of the "Rock Machine" logo, used in subsequent publicity material, including album covers, was by Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser is a graphic designer, best known for the I Love New York logo, his "Bob Dylan" poster, the "DC bullet" logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the "Brooklyn Brewery" logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968.-Biography:Glaser was born into a Hungarian...
.
Sampler album
As part of its highly successful campaign, CBS Records released The Rock Machine Turns You On, the first budget sampler LPGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, in the UK in 1968. The album was priced at 14 shillings and 11 pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
(£0.75), less than half the cost of a full priced LP at the time. It entered the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
in June 1969, several months after its first release, rising to no. 18, and was estimated to have sold over 140,000 copies.
The Rock Machine Turns You On influenced a generation of music fans. At the time, what was then called "underground music" was starting to achieve some commercial success in Europe, bolstered by new radio and tv programmes such as John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's "Top Gear". CBS competed actively for this new market against other “progressive” labels such as Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, Immediate
Immediate Records
Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.-History:...
, and the EMI subsidiary Harvest
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
, who followed with similar samplers of their acts. Although some of the featured artists were already stars, others such as Leonard Cohen and Spirit were only starting to become known in Europe, and the album made a major contribution to their success.
Follow-ups
CBS released a second, similar, sampler album in the UK in 1968, Rock Machine I Love You. The company followed up these LPs in 1970 with three double sampler albums - Fill Your Head with Rock, Rockbuster, and Together!.Some years later, the affiliated company, Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, used a similar format for The Rock Machine Still Turns You On, Vols. 1 and 2, in 1983.
A version of The Rock Machine Turns You On was issued on CD by Sony Records in 1996, but it lacked the Simon and Garfunkel track for licensing reasons.
Side 1
- "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
- from the LP John Wesley HardingJohn Wesley Harding (album)John Wesley Harding is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's eighth studio album, released by Columbia Records in December 1967.Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to acoustic music and traditional roots, after three albums of electric rock music... - "Can't Be So Bad" - Moby GrapeMoby GrapeMoby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
- from the LP WowWow/Grape Jam-Side one:# "The Place and the Time" - 2:07# "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" - 2:58# "Bitter Wind" - 3:09... - "Fresh Garbage" - SpiritSpirit (band)Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/progressive rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California.- The original lineup :...
- from the LP SpiritSpirit (Spirit album)Spirit's self-titled debut album is one whose multifarious experimentalism owes a lot to the contemporary successes of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It marked the humble beginnings and grand aspirations of its eponymous authors... - "I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar" - The United States of AmericaThe United States of America (band)The United States of America was an American experimental rock and psychedelic band whose works are an example of early electronic music in rock and roll.-History:...
- from the LP The United States of AmericaThe United States of America (album)The United States of America is a 1968 album by The United States of America. Produced by David Rubinson, it was released by Columbia Records in 1968. The album was the only release by The United States of America when they were still together and received positive reviews on its release, charting... - "Time of the SeasonTime of the Season"Time of the Season" is a song by The Zombies, featured on their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. It was written by keyboard player Rod Argent and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in August 1967.-Song information:...
" - The ZombiesThe ZombiesThe Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
– from the LP Odessey and OracleOdessey and OracleOdessey and Oracle is the third studio album by British pop rock band The Zombies, released on 19 April 1968 by Date Records. It is among the most critically acclaimed albums of popular music.-Album information:... - "Turn On A Friend" – The Peanut Butter ConspiracyThe Peanut Butter ConspiracyThe Peanut Butter Conspiracy was an American psychedelic pop/rock group in the 1960s.They formed in Los Angeles in August 1966 out of the folk-rock group "The Ashes", who included John Merrill , Barbara "Sandi" Robison , Alan Brackett , Spencer Dryden , and Jim Cherniss...
– from the LP The Great Conspiracy - "Sisters of Mercy" – Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
– from the LP The Songs of Leonard Cohen
Side 2
- "My Days Are Numbered" – Blood, Sweat and Tears – from the LP Child Is Father to the ManChild Is Father to the ManChild Is Father to the Man is the debut album by Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in February of 1968. It reached number 47 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart.-History:...
- "Dolphins Smile" – The ByrdsThe ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
– from the LP The Notorious Byrd BrothersThe Notorious Byrd BrothersThe Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in January 1968 on Columbia Records . Musically, the album represents the pinnacle of The Byrds' psychedelic experimentation, with the band blending together elements of folk rock, psychedelic rock,... - "Scarborough FairScarborough Fair"Scarborough Fair" is a traditional ballad of the United Kingdom.The song tells the tale of a young man, who tells the listener to ask his former lover to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she...
/ Canticle" – Simon and GarfunkelSimon and GarfunkelSimon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
– from the LP Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and ThymeParsley, Sage, Rosemary and ThymeParsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is the third album by Simon & Garfunkel, released in the United States on October 10, 1966. Its name comes from the second line of the album's first track, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", an English folk song from the 16th century, paired with a counter-melody and... - "Statesboro BluesStatesboro Blues"Statesboro Blues" is a blues song in the key of D written by Blind Willie McTell; the title refers to the town of Statesboro, Georgia. Covered by many artists, the version by The Allman Brothers Band is especially notable and was ranked #9 by Rolling Stone in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar...
" – Taj MahalTaj Mahal (musician)Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
– from the LP Taj MahalTaj Mahal (album)Taj Mahal is the debut American blues album by Taj Mahal.-Track listing:# "Leaving Trunk" – 4:51# "Statesboro Blues" – 2:59# "Checkin' Up on My Baby" – 4:55... - "Killing Floor" – The Electric Flag – from the LP A Long Time Comin'A Long Time Comin'A Long Time Comin' is the first album by American rock band The Electric Flag, released in 1968. The meat of the album is Soul along with Blues and Rock with a horn section...
- "Nobody’s Got Any Money In The Summer" – Roy HarperRoy HarperRoy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
– from the LP Come Out Fighting Ghengis SmithCome Out Fighting Ghengis SmithCome Out Fighting Ghengis Smith is English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper's second album and was released in 1968.-History:... - "Come Away Melinda" – Tim RoseTim RoseTimothy Alan Patrick Rose , best known professionally as Tim Rose, was an American singer-songwriter, who spent much of his life in London, England and had more success in Europe than in his native country...
– from the LP Tim Rose - "Flames" – Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera – from the LP Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera