Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970

What makes a hit song? Is it a catchy vocal hook or an infectious beat? An easily identifiable lyrical theme, or maybe even a novelty dance number? Payola? Luck? Some inscrutable combination of the aforementioned?
If there’s one thing that’s predictable about pop music, it is there’s no real tried-and-true way to predict what will sell records and what won’t. At no time in the history of American popular music has this been truer than during that magical period between 1965 and 1974, which produced the bulk of most rock fans’ desert island picks.

Beginning with the snare shot that in 1965 introduced Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” the rules of pop music changed. Lyrical content and musical accompaniment had become increasingly sophisticated, and seemingly overnight, the elements that had traditionally made for a successful pop single may or may not have applied from there on out. Surefire hitmakers of previous years were seen as square and out of touch, and the world of pop music had become an inexplicable Tower of Babel that made finding a formula for pop success somewhat akin to fitting a rooster with a pair of tube socks. And nowhere during the mid-to-late-’60s could you find a more perfect microcosm of the rapidly evolving American musical landscape than in San Francisco.

Rhino Records’ recent release, Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-70, is a sprawling four-CD boxed set that chronicles the explosive burst of musical creativity that made the Bay City the very epicenter of the psychedelic rock scene. The usual suspects are here — Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company — but the sheer number of previously unheard bands, along with the surprising quality of the bulk of this material, is what makes this collection such an impressive study of ’60s rock music, as witnessed through the eyes of one supremely talented and turned-on town.

Granted, San Francisco wasn’t the only city experiencing this new musical and cultural shift. Other compilations, such as the original Nuggets boxed sets, have captured this explosion of social and musical consciousness throughout the United States and Great Britain, and regional compilations such as the Michigan Nuggets bootleg and The History of Texas Garage Bands in the ’60s series, have highlighted the musical happenings in other notable cities. But the San Francisco scene stands out above all others, in terms of not only the breadth of styles, but also in terms of how far-reaching its influence would prove to be over the years, especially considering the lack of commercial success involved.

Just down the coast, a somewhat similar musical revolution was occuring in Los Angeles. But unlike the San Francisco bands, groups like The Doors and The Byrds were cranking out hit after hit, including several No. 1s. By contrast, San Francisco’s flirtation with commercial success was mostly limited to a couple of top-10 singles by Jefferson Airplane in 1967 and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s second album Cheap Thrills, which reached the top spot on the album charts shortly after its release in 1968. So what made the level of success of these two cities so different?

Perhaps San Francisco’s lack of popular appeal could be attributed in part to the insular nature of the city’s scene. With the mass migration of youth to the Bay Area prior to the 1967 “Summer of Love,” the city was in the midst of a unique explosion of youthful rebellion, music and psychedelic experimentation. Groups like the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, who were noted for their extended instrumental explorations, failed to capture on record the excitement of their live performances. And the fact their records couldn’t ship with hits of Owsley’s Orange Sunshine didn’t help either. The magic of the San Francisco music scene relied heavily on the group experience in places like the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore Auditorium, which couldn’t be replicated on vinyl.

Another possible reason San Francisco acts didn’t sell many records is the roots-based nature of its music. “The San Francisco” sound was at heart an unpretentious mixture of blues and country influences, and for the most part lacking the “mind-blowing” sounds many listeners began to expect from psychedelic bands. Contrasted with some of the progressive sounds coming out of Great Britain, for example, the San Francisco bands sounded downright old-fashioned. In an era in which gimmickry was at times valued more than substance, the San Francisco sound was largely free of flash.