San Francisco Nuggets: Love Is The Song We Sing 1965-1970
Compilation box set
Rhino Records

Remember those Fabulous ’60s? The marches, the protests, the be-ins?

Um, if you’re reading this, odds are against it. I mean, I was BORN in the ’60s, but as for remembering the Summer of Love, I don’t think that’s possible.

Yet, I, like many other music geeks, love the music of the ’60s. The wide variety of sounds that became touchstones for a generation is incredible. And of course there are the famous “˜scenes’ — the most famous in the U.S. was based in San Francisco starting about 1965.

Most everyone knows the major songs and groups from that era. The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and others revered to this day as musical pioneers, even demi-gods. But there were a lot of other bands that contributed to the sound of San Francisco, even if many of them left the scene as quickly as they started.

Rhino Records rounded up some of those songs and groups as part of their first 4-CD set of Nuggets: Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era. Now, Rhino returns to the ’60s, and specifically concentrates on the San Francisco scene, with Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970.”

This is a 4-CD collection containing 77 songs ranging from the predictable (“Get Together” by the Youngbloods, “Evil Ways” by Santana, “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin), to the “Oh, they were from Frisco?” (“Psychotic Reaction” by the Count Five), to some rarities by known artists (“Roll With It” by The Steve Miller Band, “Mexico” by Jefferson Airplane, and the 45 version of “Dark Star” by the Grateful Dead) to the totally unknown or forgotten (cuts by bands like Teddy And His Patches, Kak, and Salvation).

The set is an excellent overview of the vast amount of musical styles and forms emanating from that area in the late ’60s. It tries to balance the well known and the unknown, provides the listener with some honest-to-goodness rarities (including a phenomenal live cut of “Somebody To Love” by The Great! Society — right before Grace Slick bolted to Jefferson Airplane), and gives a great overview of not only what music has stood the test of time, but what bands were important in San Francisco at that time and place.

That’s why there’s a lot of cuts by Country Joe And The Fish, The Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Sons of Champlin, and The Charlatans. Those groups didn’t make a major, long lasting impact overall, but the fans of the ’60s certainly knew of them.

The CDs come packaged with a wonderful book with essays and several rare photos of many of the scenemakers. The only drawback is that the CDs are placed inside an insert in the back, and the die-cuts aren’t deep enough for the CDs to be removed easily. I was afraid that I was going to break one in half before I got the CD into my computer. However, thankfully, it did not break and I was soon able to rip the songs onto my iPod.

This is a tremendous collection, and one that any serious music geek should own. Many of these songs have never been anthologized, and the well-known cuts fit well with the unknown cuts. So, put on your poncho, get your patchouli, and groove to the sounds of the ’60s.

Heavy”¦