Just a week or so after tackling Rhino’s massive Big Star release, Keep An Eye on the Sky, I’m back writing about another huge effort from Rhino, Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 – 1968. Once again Rhino has released a beautifully constructed, painstakingly researched, and essential four-disc set, this time covering a crucial period in the evolution of rock and roll in Southern California. Few if any other labels are doing this sort of thing these days. If they have the resources, they don’t have the interest, and if they have the interest, they often don’t have the resources. Rhino is presently in the position of having both, but as I said in my Big Star story, we will have to wait to see what the future brings for the label.
At first glance, Where the Action Is!, would seem to be an all-star assemblage of early tracks from bands that went on the bigger things. Disc One (”On the Strip”) features songs from a veritable “Who’s Who” of ’60s California bands who made a name from themselves on L.A.’s Sunset Strip. They include the Byrds, Iron Butterfly, the Doors, the Buffalo Springfield, Sonny & Cher, Captain Beefheart, and Love. Then there are surprises from the Bobby Fuller Four, the Leaves, the Standells, the Seeds, and the Music Machine, bands often written off as one-hit wonders. Finally, there are the tracks heretofore known only to hard-core pop junkies. These efforts come from bands like the Palace Guard, the Sons of Adam, the Joint Effort, and the Guilloteens. Of particular historical interest are songs from a young Lowell George with his band The Factory, and The Rising Sons, led by Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal. There’s the Association with a wonderful cover of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings,” and a typically offbeat, and typically compelling track from Spirit, “Girl in Your Eye.” (more…)
The hyperbole machine went into overdrive earlier this year over a new Scottish group that was going to be the next Band That Matters. That band, of course, was Glasvegas, and their debut record is fine, but it’s the kind of album that’s easier to dispassionately admire than it is to love. You might look like a hipster if you own it, but if you play it at your next party, prepare to see a bunch of your guests start glancing at their watches.
He’s 67 years old now. The still-full head of hair is graying. There are a few extra pounds around the midsection of the once lanky frame. His eyes reflect a sadness that most of us will never understand. Remarkably, especially given his tragic history, Brian Wilson is writing and producing some of the most vital music of his career these days. His most recent album, 
It’s the curse of the debut album: the artist, unsure of who he/she is or what he/she ought to sound like strikes out in all directions — a power ballad here, a blues grinder there, a piano pop-tune way over yonder. The artist can be forgiven for their somewhat schizoid aim since the label has put all the weight of the company, as well as one’s own career path, down on their freshman shoulders. With that in mind, W. Axl Rose is the oldest freshman in the history of music, as his magnum opus Chinese Democracy has finally seen the light of day. The good news is that it isn’t the unmitigated failure we expected, yet it is far from the triumphant return from exodus his handlers would like you to believe.
Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun
