''The Rock Machine Turns You On'' was the first bargain priced
sampler album
A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record labe ...
. It was released in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an international marketing campaign by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, the
Columbia label then active in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
A 1969 edition (Number ASF 1356) bought in South Africa has a different sleeve (yellow with cut-outs in the Rock Machine boxes) and psychedelic multicoloured vinyl. It also has a completely different track list, significant tracks being
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After som ...
's "Piece of my Heart" and
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
's "Suzanne".
Marketing campaign
The ''Rock Machine'' marketing campaign was initiated in the US in January 1968, by CBS's American parent,
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
, under its president
Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
. The campaign was intended as a promotion for its expanding roster of
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
acts, who included
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
The Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
,
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...
,
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
,
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...
,
Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
,
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
, and
Blood, Sweat and Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...
. Early promotional material in ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' 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 (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 1954 ...
.
Sampler album
As part of its highly successful campaign,
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
released ''The Rock Machine Turns You On'', the first budget sampler
LP, in the UK in 1968. The album was priced at 14
shilling
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s and 11
pence
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
(£0.75), less than half the cost of a full priced LP at the time. It entered the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
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 Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
's ''Top Gear''. CBS competed actively for this new market against other “progressive” labels such as
Elektra,
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
,
Immediate, and the EMI subsidiary
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
, who followed with similar samplers of their acts. Although some of the featured artists were already stars, others such as Leonard Cohen,
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
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 is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
, 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
Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation.
Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...
in 1996, but it lacked the Simon and Garfunkel track for licensing reasons.
[
]
Track listing
Side 1
#"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" is a 1967 song by Bob Dylan first released on ''John Wesley Harding''. It features Pete Drake on pedal steel guitar, and two other Nashville musicians, Charlie McCoy on bass guitar and Kenneth Buttrey on drums, both of ...
" - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
- from the LP ''John Wesley Harding
''John Wesley Harding'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on December 27, 1967, by Columbia Records. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album marked Dylan's return to semi-acoustic instrumentation and folk ...
''
#"Can't Be So Bad" - Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...
- from the LP '' Wow''
#"Fresh Garbage" - Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
- from the LP ''Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
''
#"I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar" - The United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
- from the LP ''The United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
''
#"Time of the Season
"Time of the Season" is a song by the British rock band 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. Over a year after its origin ...
" - The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
– from the LP ''Odessey and Oracle
''Odessey and Oracle'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records.
The album was recorded primarily between June and August 1967. The sessions took place at ...
''
#"Turn on a Friend" – The Peanut Butter Conspiracy
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy was an American, Los Angeles-based, psychedelic pop/psychedelic rock, rock group from the 1960s. The band is known for lead singer Barbara Robison and for briefly having Spencer Dryden of Jefferson Airplane as a ban ...
– from the LP '' The Great Conspiracy''
#"Sisters of Mercy" – Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
– from the LP '' The Songs of Leonard Cohen''
Side 2
#"My Days Are Numbered" – Blood, Sweat and Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...
– from the LP ''Child Is Father to the Man
''Child Is Father to the Man'' is the debut album by Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in February 1968. It reached number 47 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart in the United States.
History
As a teenager, Al Kooper went to a concert for jazz trumpe ...
''
#"Dolphins Smile" – The Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
– from the LP ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers
''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records. The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blen ...
''
#" Scarborough Fair / Canticle" – Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...
– from the LP ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme'' is the third studio album by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on October 24, 1966, in the United States by Columbia Records. Following the success of the ...
''
#"Statesboro Blues
"Statesboro Blues" is a Piedmont blues song written by Blind Willie McTell, who recorded it in 1928. The title refers to the town of Statesboro, Georgia. In 1968, Taj Mahal recorded a popular blues rock adaptation of the song with a prominent sli ...
" – Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
– from the LP ''Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
''
#" Killing Floor" – The Electric Flag
The Electric Flag was an American soul rock band, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield forme ...
– from the LP ''A Long Time Comin'
''A Long Time Comin is the first album by American rock band the Electric Flag, released in 1968. The album has a mix of musical styles, including soul along with blues and rock, with a horn section.
It opens with an updated take on the Howlin' ...
''
#"Nobody’s Got Any Money In The Summer" – Roy Harper – from the LP '' Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith''
#"Come Away Melinda
"Come Away Melinda" is a song written by Fred Hellerman and Fran Minkoff. An anti-war song, its first release was by Harry Belafonte in May 1963. The song was subsequently recorded by many other singers.
Recordings
The song was first release ...
" – Tim Rose
Timothy Alan Patrick Rose (September 23, 1940 – September 24, 2002) (unofficial website by long-term correspondent of Rose's) was an American singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in London, England, and had more success in E ...
– from the LP ''Tim Rose''
#"Flames" – Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as "Velvet Opera", was a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band, Richard Hudson, John Ford and Paul Brett, would later become members of The Strawbs, Hudson For ...
– from the LP ''Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Machine Turns You On, The
1968 compilation albums
Sampler albums
Rock compilation albums
CBS Records compilation albums
Albums with cover art by Milton Glaser