Rhino Records and 'Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968'

Posted 2 months ago

Artist:

Del Shannon

Wow - Great news for this garage rocker from Rhino Records, which has released a new 4CD compilation Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968!

For anyone who has the original Nuggets 4-CD box (and the British equivalent), this looks cool as another 'lost gems' audio treat.

Unfortunately, a CD collection like this may soon be a relic itself! Glorious Noise reports that Rhino Records has "....laid off most of their employees. Why? Because of the "fundamental transformation of the physical new release and catalog business." Which translates to no more awesome box sets with crazy, unique packaging and informative, well-written, well-researched liner notes. And that's just really fucking sad."

Indeed. Rhino seems to have been the mainstay in putting together these great compilations of classic rock n roll over the past fifty years. It will not be the same for sure.

But back to the release of Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968 - you can read a fantastic LA Weekly interview with Andrew Sandoval, the creator of this set, in which he speaks of why it took three years to get this box set done: "So we conceptualized the four different discs that we would do, and then we all made lists of groups. And we had this long list of groups. Then I basically started picking the songs for each group, and I had other people contribute, and give me their mix CDs of stuff they thought should be on it, and whittled it down. Then it went to licensing, and licensing took a long time. Because a lot of these labels, especially Universal, which owns the biggest amount of old labels, they couldn't find any paperwork related to records that they owned. For instance, the Modern Folk Quartet, as their best known, we requested "Night Time Girl." They couldn't find anything, wouldn't claim ownership. And, I was looking at my single, and I said, 'On this one record, they were called the Modern Folk Quintet. Would you try again?' And they were like, 'Oh yeah. Your license is approved.' That's all it took."

[LA Weekly also had a fine preview of the Box set - read it here.]

The promo notes read: " WHERE THE ACTION IS! encompasses four discs arranged thematically to cover different aspects of the pop, rock, club and Top 40 sounds of the era. The first covers some of the most notable bands that performed in the clubs of Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Disc two features a sampling of the musicians who began life in South L.A., East L.A. and such far-flung suburbs as Riverside and Bakersfield. The third delves into the artistry of L.A.'s producers, arrangers and Wrecking Crew of studio players. The final disc takes us from the nascent seeds of folk rock to the first blooms of canyon rock, country rock and full-blown psychedelia in the region. It also shows how rock pioneers such as Del Shannon and Rick Nelson took their own stabs at fitting in with "the kids." Among the many highlights are: an alternate take of The Beach Boys' "Heroes And Villains," Warren Zevon and producer Bones Howe performing "(You Used To) Ride So High" as The Motorcycle Abeline, "Take A Giant Step" by The Rising Sons, "Acid Head" by The Velvet Illusions," local scenester Kim Fowley's "Underground Lady," Jan & Dean's "Fan Tan," The Monkees' "Daily Nightly," Jesse Lee Kincaid's "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune," "Come To The Sunshine" by Van Dyke Parks, "Sister Marie" by Nilsson and "Hippy Elevator Operator" by The W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band."

I'm all for archiving lost rock classics - among many, Bomp and Voxx have done this for years. But without Rhino in the picture, who's going to pick up the large upfront costs to do this? Ah, modern times rock 'n roll.

So for a eulogy/funeral of sorts, let's slap some mid-60s LA rock vids below and call it a psychedelic smoke-out for this Friday!

The Music Machine - The People in Me