List of Best Selling Rhythm & Blues Singles number ones of 1968

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Singer Otis Redding
Otis Redding had a posthumous number one with "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay".

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs is a chart published by Billboard that ranks the top-performing songs in the United States in African-American-oriented musical genres; the chart has undergone various name changes since its launch in 1942 to reflect the evolution of such genres. In 1968, it was published under the title Top Selling R&B Singles in the issue dated January 6, Best Selling R&B Singles through the issue dated March 30, and Best Selling Rhythm & Blues Singles thereafter. During that year, 20 different singles topped the chart, based on playlists submitted by radio stations and surveys of retail sales outlets.[1]

Unusually, the year started and ended with different versions of the same song at number one. In the issue of Billboard dated January 6, Gladys Knight & the Pips were at number one with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", the song's sixth week in the top spot.[2] In December, Marvin Gaye's version of the song reached number one and held the peak position for the final three weeks of the year. Gaye had actually recorded his version before Knight recorded hers, but Berry Gordy, owner of the Motown record label, refused to allow it to be released.[3] After Knight's version became a success, Gaye's version was included on his album In the Groove and was released as a single by popular demand. It ultimately outperformed Knight's version, becoming Motown's biggest-selling single to date, and has come to be regarded as the definitive version of the song.[3] It was Gaye's third chart-topper of 1968, following "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By", both duets with Tammi Terrell.

In March, Otis Redding reached number one with his song "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay", which spent three weeks in the top spot. Redding had died in a plane crash in December of the previous year just days after recording the track,[4] and the song, which also topped the all-genre Hot 100 chart, was the first posthumous number one in the history of that listing.[5] "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells, "Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela and Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" also topped both charts in 1968.[6] Redding, Bell & the Drells and Masekela all topped the R&B chart in 1968 for the first time, as did Tammi Terell, the Intruders, the Dells and Johnnie Taylor.[7][8] The Dells have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in recognition of their long and successful career, and the Intruders are considered to have been an early influence on the Philadelphia soul sound, which grew in prominence in the 1970s.[9][10]

Chart history

File:Marvin Gaye 1966 (cropped).jpg
Marvin Gaye had three number ones ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "You're All I Need to Get By" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine") in 1968, two of them duets with Tammi Terrell.
Singers Archie Bell and the Drells
"Tighten Up" was a chart-topper for Archie Bell & the Drells.
File:Hugh-Masakela in 2013 (cropped).jpg
South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela (pictured in later life) topped the chart with "Grazing in the Grass".
Music group The Intruders
The Intruders were an early influence on the Philadelphia soul sound. Their single "Cowboys to Girls" topped the chart for a week.
Key
Best charting R&B single of 1968 Indicates best-charting R&B single of 1968[11]
Issue date Title Artist(s) Ref.
January 6 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Gladys Knight & the Pips [2]
January 13 "I Second That Emotion" Smokey Robinson & the Miracles [12]
January 20 "Chain of Fools" Aretha Franklin [13]
January 27 [14]
February 3 [15]
February 10 [16]
February 17 "I Wish It Would Rain" The Temptations [17]
February 24 [18]
March 2 [19]
March 9 "We're a Winner" The Impressions [20]
March 16 "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" Otis Redding [21]
March 23 [22]
March 30 [23]
April 6 "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" Aretha Franklin [24]
April 13 [25]
April 20 [26]
April 27 "I Got the Feelin'" James Brown [27]
May 4 [28]
May 11 "Cowboys to Girls" The Intruders [29]
May 18 "Tighten Up" Archie Bell & the Drells [30]
May 25 [31]
June 1 "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" Stevie Wonder [32]
June 8 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell [33]
June 15 "Think" Aretha Franklin [34]
June 22 [35]
June 29 [36]
July 6 "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" The Temptations [37]
July 13 "Grazing in the Grass" Hugh Masekela [38]
July 20 [39]
July 27 [40]
August 3 [41]
August 10 "Stay in My Corner" The Dells [42]
August 17 [43]
August 24 [44]
August 31 "You're All I Need to Get By" Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell [45]
September 7 [46]
September 14 [47]
September 21 [48]
September 28 [49]
October 5 "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (Part 1)" dagger James Brown [50]
October 12 [51]
October 19 [52]
October 26 [53]
November 2 [54]
November 9 [55]
November 16 "Hey, Western Union Man" Jerry Butler [56]
November 23 "Who's Making Love" Johnnie Taylor [57]
November 30 [58]
December 7 [59]
December 14 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye [60]
December 21 [61]
December 28 [62]

References

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