Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Riot On the Sunset Strip - Standells
2. You Movin' - Byrds (1)
3. You I'll Be Following - Love (1)
4. Dr. Stone - Leaves (1)
5. Go And Say Goodbye - Buffalo Springfield
6. Zig Zag Wanderer - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
7. Gentle As It May Seem - Iron Butterfly
8. Candy Cane Madness - George, Lowell & The Factory
9. If You Want This Love - West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
10. Baby My Heart - Fuller, Bobby Four
11. All Night Long - Palace Guard
12. It's Gonna Rain - Sonny & Cher
13. For My Own - Guilloteens
14. Take a Giant Step - Rising Sons (1)
15. One Too Many Mornings - Association
16. Time Waits For No One - Knack (1)
17. Take It As It Comes - Doors
18. Pulsating Dream - Kaleidoscope (1)
19. Tripmaker - Seeds
20. People In Me - Music Machine (1)
21. Saturday's Son - Sons Of Adam
22. Eventually - Peanut Butter Conspiracy
23. Swim - Penny Arkade
24. Third Eye - Joint Effort
25. Girl In Your Eye - Spirit (1)

Disc 2:

1. Jump Jive & Harmonize - Thee Midniters
2. Back Up - Light (1)
3. To Die Alone - Bush (4)
4. Get On This Plane - Premiers (1)
5. Little Girl Little Boy - Odyssey (2)
6. Hideaway - Electric Prunes
7. Listen Listen - Merry Go Round
8. She Done Moved - Spats
9. Grim Reaper of Love - Turtles
10. See If If Care - Ken & The 4th Dimension
11. He's Not There Anymore - Chymes
12. Back Seat '38 Dodge - Opus 1
13. Eternal Prison - Humane Society
14. Revenge - Others (1)
15. Come Alive - Things To Come
16. Acid Head - Velvet Illusions
17. Guaranteed Love - Limey & The Yanks
18. Love's The Thing - Romancers
19. Underground Lady - Fowley, Kim
20. Pretty Little Thing - Deepest Blue (1)
21. You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else - Whatt Four
22. Hippy Elevator Operator - W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band
23. That's For Sure - Mustangs (1)
24. Tomorrow's Girl - Fapardokly
25. Everything's There - Hysterics
26. Our Time is Running Out - Yellow Payges

Disc 3:

1. Action Action Action - Allison, Keith
2. Rebel Kind - Dino Desi & Billy
3. High On Love - Knickerbockers
4. Fan Tan - Jan & Dean
5. Halloween Mary - Sloan, P.F.
6. Somebody Groovy - Mamas & The Papas
7. Daydreaming - Thorinshield
8. Just Can't Wait - Full Treatment
9. Yellow Balloon - Yellow Balloon
10. Times To Come - London Phogg
11. No More Running Around - Lamp of Childhood
12. Little Girl Lost And Found - Garden Club
13. Mothers and Fathers - Moon (1)
14. My Girlfriend is a Witch - October Country
15. Montage Mirror - Nichols, Roger
16. Flower Eyes - Pasternak Progress
17. Come Down - Common Cold
18. Jill - Lewis, Gary & The Playboys
19. Daily Nightly - Monkees
20. Night Time Girl - Modern Folk Quartet
21. Don't Say No - Oracle
22. Tin Angel (Will You Ever Come Down) - Hearts & Flowers
23. Rainbow Woman - Hazelwood, Lee
24. Poor Old Organ Grinder - Pleasure (4)
25. Baby Please Don't Go - Ballroom (3)

Disc 4:

1. Sit Down I Think I Love You - Furay, Richie & Stephen Stills
2. Splendor In the Grass - DeShannon, Jackie & The Byrds
3. November Night - Fonda, Peter
4. Roses and Rainbows - Hutton, Danny
5. Lemon Chimes - Dillards
6. Here's Today - Rose Garden (2)
7. I Love How You Love Me - Tempo, Nino & April Stevens
8. Words - Boyce, Tommy & Bobby Hart
9. Your Used To Ride So High - Motorcycle Abeline
10. Los Angeles - Clark, Gene
11. Once Upon a Time - Buckley, Tim
12. Darlin' You Can Count On Me - Everpresent Fullness
13. I'll Search the Sky - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
14. Come To the Sunshine - Parks, Van Dyke
15. Heroes and Villains - Beach Boys
16. She Sang Hymns Out of Tune - Kincaid, Jesse Lee
17. Sister Marie - Nilsson (1)
18. Last Night I Had A Dream - Newman, Randy
19. Life is a Dream - Harrison, Noel
20. Marshmallow Skies - Nelson, Rick (1)
21. I Think I Love You - Shannon, Del
22. Change is Now - Byrds (1)
23. Truth is Not Real - Sagittarius
24. You Set the Scene - Love (1)
25. Inner-Manipulations - McGuire, Barry

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1015 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-21
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: 1.33 pounds

CD Description
In Los Angeles during the mid-'60s, music was everywhere--from the garages of Orange County, to the dingbat apartments of the San Fernando Valley, to the bungalows of Laurel Canyon. But without a doubt, the epicenter of the music scene was the Sunset Strip, where "freaks"filled the rock clubs lining the famed Hollywood thoroughfare.. Encompassing four discs arranged thematically to cover different aspects of the pop, rock, club and Top 40 sounds of the era, Where the Action Is! compiles 101 tracks that mix many of the city's brightest stars (The Byrds, Love, The Doors, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, The Mama & The Papas, Lowell George, Iron Butterfly, The Monkees) with talented artists whose stellar songcraft sadly flew under the radar (The Seeds, Jameson, The Electric Prunes, Modern Folk Quintet, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Spirit, The Everpresent Fullness, Kaleidoscope, The Standells, The Bobby Fuller Four).

Customer Reviews

A good companion to the previously issued San Francisco set
Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968 [Box set] is a worthy addition to the growing "Nuggets" catalogue and covers the LA scene of the mid/late sixties. Like another reviewer I found the earlier SF collection slightly more to my old Hippie taste - perhaps the LA scene was just a little bit more commercial - but this collection does contain plenty of genuine nuggets!

It is very well presented in a 48 page book format with the 4 CDs slotted into recesses at the back - bit of a scuff risk if played a lot, but quite secure. The book has full track details as would be expected from the likes of Andrew Sandoval and Alec Palao, and featurettes on the LA radio stations and clubs of the era. It is well illustrated and very informative and will look very nice on your shelf!

The 101 tracks fill the 4 CDs and Amazon has provided audio clips for your delectation. Bill Inglot ferreted around in the tape vaults to find these gems and Dan Hersch and Andrew Sandoval remastered them to sound fresh and exciting. Where the Action Is! Is lovingly produced by people who have an obvious love of the music featured, and considerable knowledge of the era.

Don't be put off by the speculation and guesswork of the "reviewers" who "reviewed" this collection before it was actually released - it is a good sounding and good value set. Most of the material has been available before - but not these remasterings - but there are three previously unreleased tracks featured as well. Once Upon a Time by Tim Buckley, Sit Down I Think I Love You by Stephen Stills & Richie Furay and Words (Demo) by Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. You know you want to hear them!

Where the Action Is! Is probably not the best introduction to the Nuggets series, but if you have the others then it will not disappoint. Some great music, well presented and reasonably priced must deserve five stars even if it's not perfect!

Partner for "Love Is The Song We Sing"
Having been a fan of West Coast music for over 40 years, this was a must have. The packaging is book form again, and it makes a perfect partner for the San Francisco book box set, Love Is The Song We Sing. The book is a mine of information and includes a "time-line" of miscellaneous facts for the period in question.

The music contains nearly all the familiar bands that you would expect, but not necessarily the track or version that you might anticipate. Examples are Byrds: You Movin' (from the preflyte sessions);Beach Boys: Heroes and Villains (alternate take). One for the completists is the Tim Buckley track Once Upon A Time (previously unissued). Another early track is the Stills/Furey version of Sit Down I Think I Love You - classic West Coast!

Overall, this is a very good package with much music to enjoy, especially for anyone who loved the era. I don't consider it quite as good as the San Francisco set, hence only 4 stars, but this is a personal opinion on the music itself - it's still worth purchasing.

Additions to the first comment
An interesting choice, and since as a long-term music fan I've not heard of a lot of this stuff I'm sure it will be of benefit to most. The Heroes and Villains mentioned will doubtless be the alternate take already released on the 1990 and 2001 CD issues of Smiley Smile/Wild Honey. The 'Come to the Sunshine' is the original Van Dyke Parks version (not the mushy Harpers Bizarre version), which AFAIK hasn't been released on CD before and is a classic worth the price of admission. Joni presumably not included as the set ends in 68 and she's only just arrived from Canada then? As for Zappa, I guess this is a Warners-umbrella box.
Looking forward to it, hence the estimated 4 stars.