Customer Reviews

Summer Of Love Vol. 2: Turn On { Various Artists }

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Summer Of Love Vol. 2 is a nicely mixed selection of trippy pop songs, many of which blared from countless shirt-pocket ALL-TRANSISTOR radios in 1967. What makes this CD unique is that nearly every tune was purposely re-mastered using the original monaural mixes. Sonically, this CD is excellent, having been re-mastered by Bill Inglot who really has an ear for great sound.

This is a great compilation from the "flower power era". Contains "psuedo-psychedelic" anthems, a "groovy" collection of "mind expanding" "folk-rock" hits from the "hip" artists of that time & genre. Also included are some very rare, hard to find gems that make for the perfect representation of the "Summer of Love" and rapidly changing music scene in the "Psychedelic - 60's"!

It's me again, the "music fan from California."

I left a song off my list, so just wanted to complete the review:

That Acapulco Gold -- The Rainy Daze. One of those stupid lead-singer-singing-through-a-megaphone ditties. Remember "Winchester Cathedral"? This is like that song, but a thinly-veiled ode to marijuana. Throw-away filler.

The two really great cuts in this collection make it worth owning. That Acapulco Gold by the Rainy Daze and Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by the Hombres are true gems of the era. The rest of this stuff is fairly unremarkable.

Some of the songs on this album were selections for the terrific original "Nuggets" album, which you'd be lucky to find anymore. However, while "Nuggets" shined throughout, this album is a very mixed bag.

The standouts:

I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night-- The Electric Prunes. A great psychedelic classic, with a bumblebee guitar riff.

Incense and Peppermints -- Strawberry Alarm Clock. A period piece, but still a great single.

Renaissance Fair -- The Byrds. A track from their fantastic "Younger Than Yesterday" album. Great Crosby/McGuinn tune. "I think that maybe I'm dreaming..."

Back On The Street Again -- The Sunshine Company. The best song by this group. Irresistable folk-tinged song with terrific harmony. Very happy sound, but melancholy lyrics.

My World Fell Down -- Sagittarius. This should've been a big hit when it was released. Instead, it's one of those rare gems that any true '60s fan should have. What a cool song. Great harmonies, instrumental parts, very well produced.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale -- Procol Harum. How can you not like this song? Rolling Stone voted it one of best singles of all time. Sort of "When A Man Loves A Woman" filtered and distorted through "Mr. Bojangles," with a healthy dose of extremely cryptic lyrics thrown in for good measure.

The filler:

Are You Gonna Be There -- The Chocolate Watch Band. So-so sneering Rolling Stones clone.

Epistle To Dippy -- Donovan. Donovan at his most wimpy and precious. Even the geeky song title should tell you something. Ugh! Turn it off!

Love Every Day -- Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. Well, if you like Peter & Gordon, I guess you'll like this easy-listening stuff. Otherwise....

The Beat Goes On -- Sonny and Cher. As irritating as always.

Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) -- The Hombres. Amusing back in the '60s as a fun novelty song. Pretty embarrassing and silly now.

Twelve Thirty -- Mamas And Papas. Not one of their best songs.

Let's Live For Today -- The Grassroots. Never cared much for this song (or group).

It's A Happening Thing -- The Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Their one semi-hit. You can tell why they only had one hit.

Six O' Clock -- The Lovin Spoonful. Not one of their best songs.

You can find a lot of the good songs on other albums such as the (subsequent to the original "Nuggets") "Nuggets"-series records that Rhino released. Maybe those will have a better gem-to-filler ratio than this album.