Rolling Stone issue #18 had a cover date of September 28, 1968. 32 pages. 35 cents. Cover photo of Pete Townshend by Baron Wolman.
This is the first boost in the page count since issue #3 went to 24 pages from 20 in the first two issues. And no increase in the cover price. In fact, the price would remain 35 cents (cheap!) until issue issue #54 in 1970 when it would go up to half a buck. (By then the magazine would be a whopping 56 pages long.)
This issue featured ten full-page ads and nine album reviews as well as extensive political coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It’s definitely starting to feel more like the Rolling Stone we imagine.
Features: A Rock and Roll Guide to Politics (“Everybody’s Chicago Blues”); The Rolling Stone Interview with Pete Townshend (Part 2); The Blues Are the Truth: A Profile of Buddy Guy by Barry Gifford; Jerry Wexler: A Man of Dedication by Sue C. Clark; Smokey Robinson by Michael Lydon.
News: Rock and Roll Shrivels Hearing (summarizing a study published in the New York Times); Record Industry Hits Stride of Billion Dollars; Black Artists Finally Get Television Show; Country Joe Sees Viet Action; Janis Leaves Big Brother & Co; Cheetah Club Blows It Again.
Columns: Visuals (“West Pole”) by Thomas Albright; Country & Rock by Jon Landau (where he covers Buffalo Springfield’s Last Time Around and the Byrd’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo); Random Notes includes a bit about why the new Stones album was delayed and also tidbits about Rhinoceros, the Archies, Janis Joplin, and Frank Zappa.
Full-page ads: Song of Innocence by David Axelrod on Capitol; Avenue Road by Kensington Market on Warner Bros; Arlo by Arlo Guthry on Reprise; Honkey Blues by Sir Douglas Quintet + 2 on Smash/Mercury; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown on Track; Cheap Thrills by Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company on Columbia; Boogie with Canned Heat on Liberty; Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour by the Smothers Brothers on Mercury; In The Woodland Of Weir by the Little Boy Blues on Fontana; Limelight Records: The Electronics of Your Mind.
More ads: Heads Up by the Heads on Liberty; Jimi Hendrix (“now on ampex stereo tape, 8-track cartridge, and cassette); Cosmic Remembrance by Kali Bahlu on World Pacific; Through The Eyes Of Terry Ber on World Pacific; Outsideinside by Blue Cheer on Philips; People World by Jim & Jean on Verve Forecast; Bill Graham’s Fillmore West.
Reviews: West Side Soul by Magic Sam on Delmark (by Barry Gifford); Anthem of the Sun by the Grateful Dead on Warner Bros (by Jim Miller); Tape from California by Phil Ochs on A&M/David Ackles on Elektra/These Twenty-Three Days in September by David Blue on Reprise (by Arthur Schmidt); Waiting for the Sun by the Doors on Elektra (by Jim Miller); Eli and the Thirteenth Confession by Laura Nyro on Columbia (by Jon Landau); Truth by the Jeff Beck Group on Epic (by Al Kooper); Gary Burton Quartet in Concert on RCA Victor (by Jerrold Greenberg).
Subscription offer: New subscribers could get a free copy of the Procol Harum’s Shine On Brightly (with 50 cents for shipping and handling). $6 for 26 issues; $10 for 52.
Previously: Issue 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.