|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Hollywood: the Talent Magnet Nov 19, 2009
When rock 'n' roll became an established commodity and started being manufactured by professional songwriters and musicians, New York first led the way with an endless stream of great songs from the Brill Building community. They knew how to make hit records in New York, but basically used the talent as vocalists that did what the producers told them to do. But Hollywood had developed a superior studio system (Gold Star, Western, Sunset, RCA, etc.) due to the years of the motion picture studios technology. Many talented people moved out to Hollywood to make a career, and some settled in to being session musicians who could play on any sort of record they were needed for. People like Hal Blaine, Leon Russel, Larry Nechtal, Glen Campbell, Billy Strange, etc. played on thousands of hit records created by the record labels that grew up around the Strip. Some pioneers, like Eddie Cochran, set a high standard for musical talent, but knew that being a "star" was an elusive objective, but being a career musician was a living.
After the British Invasion, America's youth were inspired to become rock bands, leading to the explosion of folk-rock and garage bands that tried to get a hit record on a regional basis. But to make the big time, you needed to get on a major label, and move to Hollywood. One group in America had already done this, The Beach Boys, and they were fortunate to start their career in Hollywood, and in turn became an additional magnet for the California culture to draw more talent to the area.
So bands in the Los Angeles area had a higher standard of sudio technology and musicianship to match, and this led to a growth in musical development. People knew what show-business was; one of the best bands of this culture were the Doors, who honed their act to the degree that most folks forgot they were just that. In truth, in the entertainment industry, you have to have an act to present. Hollywood was a place were things were made up and presented as entertainment. The Monkees proved that it could be done with the right talent and the right material, plus the studio promotion machine to deliver it to the public.
The Byrds were another act that benefited from the machine. Five musicians want to make it in music: go to Hollywood, practice, write songs, get a manager, do demos, play on the Strip, sign to a major label, get a brilliant producer (Terry Melcher, strictly Hollywood) create an act (call it "Folk-rock") get promotion men to spread the word, tie in another artist on the label (Bob Dylan) to cross-promote, and you have created a rock movement just like that! Only in Hollywood!
This set celebrates the entity that Hollywood' record business was in the mid 1960's. It was the most fertile ground in America at the time. Rock critics hated it then; they were jealous of the "establishment" the machine represented, so they lauded somewhat lesser talent from places like San Francisco. But note that the best bands from SF, like the Airplane and the Dead, went to Hollywood to record!. So did the Rolling Stones during this time. And whether it was a session musician or not, they made the best records there of all time! This box makes a good example of this town and it's talent, and it's only the tip of the iceberg. This set focuses on the raw psychedelic side of the rock scene there, and leaves room for the listener to explore the other sounds, such as pop-psych, at your leisure.
Great msuic set; needs a bit more liner notes Nov 16, 2009
This set is a well-above-average compendium of the mid-60s Los Angeles music scene. The four discs containing 101 songs are divided in four genres, if you will, addressing the Sunset Strip scene, the LA subrubs, studio-groups and onset of the evolutionary synthesis that for this region lead to the rise of the singer-songwriter and soft country-rock. There are the very well-knowns, the lesser-well knowns, the local heroes and what I have to call the "why are they here?"
The songs themselves are not, however, the ones you might expect. Instead of the big hits, it's a panorama of more obscure cuts, B-sides, alternative versions and album cuts. It also contains a number of before they were famous/almost famous performers, including Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Danny Hutton and Jackie DeShannon. Doing this allows one to get a more clear understanding of just how good some of these performers were!
Rhino used the same packaging approach as it did for the San Francisco set "Love Is the Song I Sing," and a good design it is. The book format allows for the CDs and liner notes to be stored in a minimum of space without sparing content.
More or less...
To my mind, the only fault in this set - I don't see the songs being in mono an issue...as a another reviewer commented, that's the way they were release and let's be objective here...we cannot spend the funds that were spent to reissue The Beatles catalog on every group...even if it would have been a better use of the TARP and Economic Stimulus funds - is the liner notes/annotation is lean and spare. I would have preferred more text and something other than publicity photos. At the same time, I found the breakdown of the LA AM radio stations and clubs delightful.
1 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Another consumer who does not like mono Nov 13, 2009
Just had to add my two cents worth when I saw the lively discussion. I always want stereo when it is available and I am certainly not alone in this. I have been very angry in the past with Rhino because of this same issue-songs and collections being issued in mono when known stereo versions that are exactly the same as the mono mixes and sound really great are available. I can only hope that if Rhino gets enough low reviews that they will listen and at least issue collections that include both versions.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great music of course, but also the best book in the series Nov 10, 2009
You know the music's good. Hits, rarities, you name it, all from the great L.A. scene of the mid-sixties. Given recent trends in the Nuggets series, you know the packaging is going to annoy you, but hey, just slide those CDs out carefully the first time and put them in your own slim-line cases for protection and storage. It's really not that big a deal. But I'm here to alert you now about the CONTENT of the accompanying book for this Los Angeles set. It's the best of the series. Others have complained here on amazon about how Where the Action Is "skimps" on content. Well, not quite. True, there aren't as many pages as in the San Francisco set, but what's here is great. In a quick easy format, you get snapshot profiles of all the bands, personnel listings, and a timeline detailing everything of importance that happened on "the scene." After the paragraph long band capsules, you get profiles of all the clubs and discothèques of Sixties L.A. And then you get intros to the various radio stations that played this music in L.A. at the time. Best of all, it's a fast read, with no fluff and no filler. To tell you the truth, I've always found those earlier Nuggets books to be a little wearisome. Sure the great information is there, but you have to dig through a lot of wide-eyed wonder and elaboration to get to it. With Where the Action Is, it's all front and center. Nobody's on a nostalgia trip (except for maybe a little in the introduction), and you'll finish up knowing a whole lot more about the L.A. scene than you do about S.F. in Love is the Song We Sing. Sure, there are fewer words here, but they're the right words with the right information. This is the most succinct, most helpful and most entertaining companion book that Nuggets has put out, and I own them all. Looking forward to the Boston Scene, you guys!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
No regrets on this purchase Nov 07, 2009
This is one fun package. Rhino continues with the book format started with their San Francisco collection. Great to place on a bookshelf in your library and much easier to enjoy than your typical box set. The descriptions of the various selections are literary, even eloquent. I was only familiar with a few of the groups. That should not be a deterrent for getting this package. The more familiar groups in the collection anchor the more obscure entries. They will transport you back to a time in your life, real or imagined. There are some surprises in store for the unitiated. Jackie DeShannon with the Byrds. She sings so sweetly. What a poignant song. Peter Fonda! Who would have thunk! Yes he did sing "breezy-cool". Hey Rhino, we're waiting for a New York Nuggets. Hey, even Boston to D.C., the whole Northeast!
|
| |
|
![Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V%2Beipy8-L._SL75_.jpg "Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]")
![Across the Universe [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T24FuHPEL._SL75_.jpg "Across the Universe [Blu-ray]")
![Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F27VzUl%2BL._SL75_.jpg "Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]")
![Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RQUEopdlL._SL75_.jpg "Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]")
