Carousel corner.(THE MUSIC)(Sound recording review)

A large portion of this issue's column is devoted to Rhino's new and spectacular "Nuggets" compilation, Love Is the Song We Sing, San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970, a, well, loving look at the explosion of indigenous bands and their novel approach to rock'n'roll in the greater Bay Area during that seminal period. We'll get to Love Is ... in greater detail below, but this is the time for full disclosure. As has been mentioned in this space from time to time, I grew up in the Bay Area--San Rafael in Marin County, went to school in San Francisco, and was smitten by the music bug at a very early age. I graduated from high school in 1967--about three blocks from Haight Street. Needless to say, if love wasn't in the air, dope certainly was, and of course the music was everywhere. I devoured anything and everything local bands had to offer, especially those who were fortunate enough to get recording contracts and radio airplay. So, I bring to Love Is ... a point of view that is part celebrant, part participant, part journalist, and part critic.

One of the unfortunate omissions in the Love Is ... package is a discography. As we noted last issue, the years 1964-65 mark the approximate line between pop music as an industry of songs versus an industry of albums. The nascent San Francisco music phenomenon was emblematic of this shift in consumer demand: virtually all releases were in LP format and virtually all are available today on CD. Accordingly, I've included a qualified discography at the end of the column.

Love Is the Song We Sing, San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 (Rhino)

Looks like it's time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the fabled Summer of Love. Taking its title (almost) from the unofficial anthem of the Summer of Love, Love Is the Song We Sing, San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 is Rhino's latest installment in its quirky, beloved "Nuggets" series (Nuggets: Original Artyfacts, 1965-1968 and Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts 1964-1969 were reviewed in Issues 75 and 89 respectively). As much as the original Nuggets was the love child of Patti Smith guitarist and producter Lenny Kaye, Love Is ... has been shepherded by British bassist Alec Palao (The Sneetches, Magic Christian--the latter with ex-Flamin' Groovies Cyril Jordan and ex-Tubes Prairie Prince). In fact, Palao has a raft of such collections and vintage reissues--mostly from the Bay Area--under his production belt. The importance of Palao's involvement is that, like Kaye, it is a musician making the critical judgments, not a producer, or (God forbid) some label suit, or (heaven preserve us) a critic.

Love Is ... begins and ends with Dino Valenti's "Let's Get Together," first sung by Valenti and finally by The Youngbloods. It is The Youngbloods' version that captured the collective imagination of the thousands who flocked to the Bay Area in search of some vague notion of Utopia, perhaps a very large group hug, a social phenomenon almost entirely and uniquely fuelled by the music ... and maybe just a skosh of grass. And what music it was. Love Is ... is in rough chronological order. The first disc, "Seismic Rumbles," touches on the pre-psychedelic acts like The Beau Brummels, Mojo Men, and We Five. While We Five's jangly folk crossover, "You Were On My Mind," is present, Palao chooses lesser known cuts for the others. It's the choice of these lesser known songs (e.g., "Want Ad Reader" instead of "Green Eyed Lady" from The New Breed) the presents the occasional puzzle. It's certainly within the collective Nuggets rubric to unearth the unworn track, but part of the appeal of the original Nuggets was presenting the one-hit wonders along side the unknown and truly weird. If the objective is to demonstrate that the psychedelic scene, for which San Francisco is best remembered, co-existed with a whole raft of pop groups with national credentials, then perhaps The Mojo Men's "Sit Down I Think I Love You," and The Beau Brummels' "Cry Just a Little" would have been more appropriate to this collection.

The second disc, "Suburbia," concentrates on bands from Marin, and the South and East Bays. It includes Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" (San Jose), People's "I Love You" (San Jose), Public Nuisance's fabulous "America" (Sacramento), and Syndicate of Sound (San Jose--of "Little Girl" fame in the first Nuggets collection, represented here by "Rumors"). In fact, there are so many San Jose bands, including Teddy and His Patches and The Stained Glass and later to include The Doobie Brothers, that it could arguably have merited a disc of its own. Perhaps the most memorable track is The Generation's "I'm a Good Woman" with the inestimable Lydia Pense on vocals. The Generation would reform in 1969 into ...