California Sounds 1968: 10 essential Los Angeles-infused records from a kaleidoscopic era

For many Los Angeles pop and rock acts paying dues in the mid-1960s music scene, 1968 marked an end.

Worldwide standard bearers the Beatles had concluded 1967 with "Magical Mystery Tour," a stylistic Pandora's box of sounds that typified the experimentation of the time (and featured George Harrison's hat-tip to Los Angeles, "Blue Jay Way").

Rock 'n' roll and folk-rock sounds were giving way to a kaleidoscopic vision of what popular music could be, an all-encompassing canvas upon which flair, long hair and dynamic self-exploration could mingle.