Sunday, May 6, 2018

Some Music Hiding Down There - San Diego Nuggets, 1965-68



In 2007, Rhino released the Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets, 19651970 box set and followed up that with 2009's Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968 box set. But so far, there's been no "Nuggets" box set for California's second largest city, San Diego. 

For the uninitiated, San Diego may not seem like a hotbed of musical activity. But this is where Iron Butterfly, The Cascades and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap started. Those three groups alone issued six albums in 1968. San Diego was also home to Bob Mosley of Moby Grape, Joel Scott Hill (of The Strangers and later Canned Heat), and a wide variety of rock, pop, soul and R&B performers.

So below is a track list for a four-CD box set that I'm titling, Some Music Hiding Down There: San Diego Nuggets, 1965-1968. For the most part, these were all A or B sides of singles, and I've arranged them chronologically by year.

DISC 1
  1. Why? – The Other Four
  2. What Good am I (without You) – Mickie Champion
  3. The Animal in Me – The Orfuns
  4. So What!! – The Lyrics
  5. Sweet Sixteen – Lenni Groves
  6. I’m Gonna Get Some Love – The California Sons
  7. I Really Love You – The Accents
  8. A Million Years Ago – Lenni Groves
  9. Duck “All Over Town,” Parts 1 & 2 – Arlene Williams
  10. She’ll Love Again – The Cascades
  11. I Can’t Get Through to You – The Outcasts
  12. The Hurt Still Lingers On – Mickie Champion
  13. Bye Bye Baby – Lenni Groves
  14. Searching for My Love – The Other Four
  15. What Do You Want to Do (Little Darlin’) – The Accents
  16. Oh-No – The Man-Dells
  17. They Can’t Hurt Me – The Lyrics
  18. Rising Sun – The Deep Six
  19. Baby Please Dance with Me – The California Sons
  20. Kids Together – Ervin Rucker
  21. Longer Than Forever – Garnet Sykes
  22. Good Show – Lennie Groves
  23. Bonnie – The Man-Dells
  24. She’s Alright – Ervin Rucker
  25. Strollin’ Blues – The Deep Six
In 1965, tiny soul label Musette Records opened up shop and issued about a dozen singles that are highly prized today by collectors. The R&B tracks by Garnet Sykes, Mickie Champion, Arlene Williams and Lennie (aka Lani) Groves are from Musette, as are the two tracks from The Other Four, the only garage rock band on the label. The Deep Six, a folk-pop band, released a self-titled album in 1966 on Liberty Records. The Outcasts was a pre-Union Gap band of Gary Puckett. The Cascades had had a huge hit with "Rhythm of the Rain" in 1962. Although the group continued performing and releasing records through 1972, they would never have anything approaching that initial success. "So What!!" by The Lyrics has become something of a '60s garage rock classic (it was featured on the box set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era). 

DISC 2
  1. I Can Make It with You – The Hard Times
  2. Cheryl’s Goin’ Home – The Cascades
  3. Hey Love – Mr. Clean and The Soul Inc.
  4. Once and For All Girl – The Other Four
  5. On the Run – The Accents
  6. There'll be a Time – The Hard Times
  7. She Didn’t Care – The Contrasts
  8. I Wanna Shout – The Deep Six
  9. Patricia’s Delight – Willie Bovain and The Rocks
  10. Patricia (Here I Come) – Janis And Prince And The Mix Breed
  11. Ooh Poo Pah Doo – Esse and the Showmen
  12. Cry Baby – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
  13. All’s Fair in Love and War – The Cascades
  14. You’re Bound to Cry – The Hard Times
  15. My Son – The Lyrics
  16. The Things We Say – The Deep Six
  17. He’s the One – The Accents
  18. Your Ma Said You Cried in Your Sleep Last Night – The Other Four
  19. So Glad – The Lyrics
  20. Come to Your Window – The Hard Times
  21. Image of a Girl – The Deep Six
  22. Run Away – The Outcasts
  23. I’m Gone – The California Sons / The Magic Mushroom
  24. How Do You Tell a Girl – The Other Four
  25. Little Bit of Heaven – The California Suns
  26. Baby Can’t You Feel It – San Diego Marauders (with Ervin Rucker)
The Hard Times was a house band for the TV show "Where the Action Is" and recorded one album, Blew Mind, released in 1967. The Accents single "On the Run" b/w "He's the One" was the last by a group that was very popular in San Diego, but never found much success outside of their hometown. Gabe Lapano of the group went on to replace original lead singer John Gummoe in The Cascades. The California Sons/Magic Mushroom/California Suns puzzle took a bit of work to figure out. The California Sons recorded "Cry Baby" b/w "I'm Gone." The exact same song was re-released soon afterward on a different label, but credited to The Magic Mushroom. And then the California Sons changed their group name's spelling to California Suns. See more about them below.

DISC 3
  1. These are the Words – The Other Four
  2. That’s All I’ll Do – The Hard Times
  3. C’mon Baby (Blow Your Mind) – The Deep Six
  4. Soul in the Morning – Willie Bovain Trio
  5. The Masked Grandma – The California Suns
  6. Shake a Tail Feather – The Roosters
  7. Say That You Love Me – Love’s Special Delivery
  8. Mr. Custer – The Search
  9. Hey Little Girl of Mine – The Cascades
  10. Baby, I Can’t Stop Myself – Johnny Parris & Co.
  11. True Love – Big Daddy Rucker
  12. Wait – The Lyrics
  13. Too Young – The Search
  14. Don’t Look Down on Me – Iron Butterfly
  15. Mr. Man – The Lyrics
  16. Never to Leave – Two Bits
  17. Everybody’s Searchin’ – The Search
  18. I’ll Run – Johnny Parris & Co.
  19. Rooster Walk – The Roosters
  20. Woman, Woman – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
  21. Flying on the Ground – The Cascades
  22. I’m Goin’ Home – Big Daddy Rucker
  23. Things Must Change – Two Bits
  24. Climate – The Search
  25. Don’t Talk to Strangers – Chris Gaylord
  26. On the Run – The 7 Sons
From what I've read, "The Masked Grandma" was originally planned as a song for Jan & Dean. But when Jan Berry was hurt in a car crash and the duo went into hiatus, the song was offered to the California Suns. Both Johnny Parris & Co. and Two Bits are actually former Cascades singer John Gummoe and session musicians. "Don’t Look Down on Me" was on the A-side of Iron Butterfly's first single and has never been released on any of the band's albums, compilation or otherwise. Chris Gaylord was the original singer of The Lyrics, but instead of a garage rock shouter, "Don't Talk to Strangers" has him doing his best Bob Dylan impression.  

DISC 4
  1. The Direction – Framework
  2. Never Hurt Again – Pale Fire
  3. Smoking at Windsor Hill – Brain Police
  4. Unconscious Power – Iron Butterfly
  5. Young Girl – The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
  6. They Said No – The Hard Times
  7. Why’d He Go – The Lyrics
  8. You’re Going Home – Framework
  9. Eye Girl – Pale Fire
  10. Wake Up to My Voice – The Lyrics
  11. Possession – Iron Butterfly
  12. Just Do Your Thing - Big Daddy Rucker
  13. Please Help Me – The Generations
  14. Lady Willpower – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
  15. My World of Wax – Brain Police
  16. Back Home – Pale Fire
  17. Give to Me Your Love – The New Phoenix
  18. Can’t See You Anymore – The Lyrics
  19. I’m Gonna Move – Framework
  20. In-a-Gadda-da-Vida [single version] – Iron Butterfly
  21. Maybe the Rain will Fall – The Cascades
  22. Over You – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
  23. You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want to Discuss It) – Rhinoceros
  24. Ups and Downs – Pale Fire
  25. Tarnished Angel – Anita May and Interstate 5
  26. Set Me Free – The Generations
  27. Christmas in the Ghetto – Big Daddy Rucker
"Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap is probably the biggest hit on this collection. It went to #2 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. And most people don't need an introduction to Iron Butterfly's "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida." I mercifully use the shorter single version :). Rhinoceros featured some former members of Iron Butterfly. Ervin "Big Daddy" Rucker is often confused with Ervin "Big Boy" Groves. It doesn't help that Rucker often worked with Groves and recorded some of his songs. But in fact, they were two different people. I thought a holiday song by Rucker was as good a way as any to end the collection.

There are dozen or so songs that I wanted to include in this collection, but I've sadly been unable to track them down so far. These include the first some rare sides of Musette Records, the first single by the California Sons, B-sides from The Outcasts, and others. But even without these songs, this is a great collection that shows off a wide variety of styles from the growing Navy town on the Mexican border.

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