Sound Of Young Sacramento CD - Import

"The Sound of Young Sacramento" doesn't have quite the same ring as the "The Sound of Young America" slogan at use in Motown during the 1960s. And the Bill Rase Recording Studio and Talent Center is not even a millionth as well known as Motown's studios. But like Motown, it recorded a good deal of music in the mid-1960s. Much of this was of local Sacramento rock bands, done with (even by standards of the time) primitive equipment, for singles that were intended as vanity pressings to sell at live shows or give to friends and family. This CD is a compilation of 30 such tracks from 1965-1967, all symptomatic of various facets of the American teen garage sound of the era. Now, this could not be said to be an authoritative overview of the mid-1960s Sacramento scene. There is nothing by the most well-known groups from the area (the New Breed, Kak, the Oxford Circle), "well-known" being a relative term as even those groups are all but unknown except to waist-deep-in-the-big-muddy '60s collectors. Even so, it can be said that if these sounds are an indicator, Sacramento was not an especially notable exponent of the garage sound, and indeed was a quite generic (if prolific) one. The main culprit, as also occurs on numerous other compilations of this sort? A paucity of quality original songwriting, combined with derivative arrangements and underdeveloped musical and instrumental skills. It's so-so garage music without a distinctive regional brand, although it does traverse the range of '60s teen rock, from elementary fuzzy bluesy rants to Zombies-ish beat ballads. The few cuts that stand out from the crowd a little are the Walking Flour's "I Want to Be Your Driver," which sounds a hell of a lot like they studied the Blues Project's first album inside out, and the Chelsea Sidecar's "Thinking of You," which strongly recalls the country-rock of the late 1964, early 1965 Beatles (in fact, it sounds a good deal like the Rutles' parody of that particular era, "It's Looking Good"). Some particularly weird second-handisms here are the Gallery Production's obscure Buffalo Springfield cover "Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It," in which the group simply goes back and forth on two chords in the bridge instead of negotiating the subtle chord changes, and the Organized Confusion's "That I Love You," which inserts a snippet of the bridge from the Syndicate of Sound B-side "You." ~ Richie Unterberger

30 "Nuggets from the Golden State" focus on the very best teen garage & folk rock group's from California's capitol from 1965-67, feat. Opposite Six, Liberty Lads, Fugitives, Kix, Coachmen, Children of the Stone, Kee-Notes, Living End, Reflections & othe

Recorded from 1965 to 1967.

Contains 30 tracks.

Performers include: The Opposite Six, The Mergers, The Hustlers, The Insurgents, The Psy-Kicks, St. George & The Dragons, The Liberty Lads, The Fugitives, Kix, The Coachmen, Children Of The Stone, The Kee-Notes, The Living End, The Reflections.

Liner Note Author: Alec Palao.Mojo (Publisher) (6/00, p.118) - "...Comprises Sacramento's sonic heights...[with] furious freak-out guitar and infectious harmony....For garage maniacs only."