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WHERE THE ACTION IS! compiles 101 tracks that mix many of the city's brightest stars like The Byrds, Love, The Doors, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, The Mamas & The Papas, Lowell George, Iron Butterfly, with talented artists whose stellar songcraft sadly flew under the radar The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, The Everpresent Fullness, The Bobby Fuller Four.
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Reviews:
No cheese, please...
Outstanding collection of nuggets, indeed. Although I have a number of tracks scattered on other recordings that are contained on this collection, my biggest criticism is what others have said about the storage sleeves for the cds. "Total cheese". Why they couldn't have put good, recessed trays inside that would be more accessible as well as better protection is beyond me. Same goes for the "Love is the Song We Sing" collection. A superb gathering of music, brought down by cheesy cd-storage. Rhino needs to re-think this one. But all the music on both collections is nice venture into a time when the gloves were off musically and audio pugilism was on all radios and stereos. Recommended.
it's where the action was!!!
a compilation as ambitious as this one will always lead to the inevitable question- but what about??? in this case, the mothers of invention, strawberry alarm clock, clear light to name a few. but why quibble? enjoy a trip back to the music scene of LA. in all it's tie-dyed, psychedelic glory. if this cd piques your interest i'd suggest domenic priore's book riot on sunset strip which further details the time.
Out Of The Garage And Into My Living Room
Nice 4 CD package from the good folks at Rhino. Another excellent edition of the "Nuggets" series. Songs well selected and well researched. Unfortunately, although this over $25 item was supposedly eligible for "free shipping", I was charged the standard shipping rate through some screw up, either by me or by Amazon.
Good music, so-so commentary
Some people have complained about the packaging of this collection (without ever discussing the music) and some have bemoaned the fact that the music is released in mono instead of stereo (although many of the songs were recorded in mono). Both complaints miss the point. This is a fine collection of music. I grew up in this era, but over 60 of the 101 songs here are new to me or are in new mixes, which is impressive. Yes, I could do without the Monkees, The Doors, and Love, all of whom are already heavily anthologized, but the obscure tracks make up for them.
The liner notes don't measure up, though. The San Francisco box had solid essays discussing the whole scene and how the music both influenced and fed off the local culture and demographics. The LA box gives a small photo of each band and the usual brief essay on the recording of each song, but we miss that comprehensive overview. The time line along the bottom of the pages doesn't help much because an isolated incident every month or two doesn't give any depth. According to page 10, the Rolling Stones (not exactly an LA band) recorded "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" in September of 1965, but I'm about 99% certain that the song was being played when I graduated from High School in June of that year. Maybe a typo, or maybe my memory is faulty, but I noticed it.
YEW, NO SKIPS!
Boy, I cringe these days when I see a Rhino or Psychic Circle (go read my review of That Driving Beat) box I want. The cheapness of them these days amazes me. Rhino lately has been known for the worst jackets ever made: the Girl Group hat box comes to mind, along with Doors Pittsburgh LP-like slip jacket, and various booklets glued into the jacket. This 'book' format is new. The new issue of Hitsville is done this way, really great, and the Aerosmith box, too. These give you REAL PLASTIC HUBS, golly geez! But Rhino, nooooo, they slide 'em right flat against the cardboard. This is a milestone in their recent streak of cheapness. By the time they get them in (or you get them out, I guess, I was careful) the disks look used. They already have light marks on them. And you have to go out and buy jewel boxes. What kind of boneheads think of this? Is it so much to ask for Rhino to have a little more respect for the music by giving decent packaging. It's bad enough their pressings are so cheap they often skip (gee, I hope they solved this problem now.) They need to take few lessons from Motown, Columbia, or Jazz Man/Now Again. By the way all you Nuggets, Pebbles freaks, go check out Midwest/Carolina/Florida/Texas Funk. They gratfully did not issue these as a box set. Both Rhino and Psychic Circle need to stop issuing boxes out of cheapness and issue them individually. It's too dangerous to do this cheaply.
