VA - Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968 (2022) @ Flac

Review by Tim Sendra

After the initial rush of Beatlemania ebbed and Swinging London seemed like old news, the epicenter of musical and cultural change shifted quite dramatically to Los Angeles. Thanks to the rise of the Byrds, the glittering lights of the Sunset Strip, and the glut of teenagers looking for the latest thing, the city became the place to be for hustlers, geniuses, beach bums, psychedelic dreamers, and unbalanced weirdos. A lot of those people ended up in bands, and Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968 does a very good job at capturing the highs and lows of the scene. It's a fine companion to Rhino's Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968, checking in on many of the same bands and covering very similar territory. It is very fertile ground -- definitely enough to support a multi-disc collection every couple of decades -- and each of the three discs is replete with treasure that's likely to be familiar to dedicated fans of garage rock, folk-rock, psychedelia, early examples of country-rock, and sunshine pop. Songs by Sonny & Cher, the Bobby Fuller Four, the Monkees, the Seeds, or the Mamas & the Papas aren't going to take anyone by surprise. (Though the first-ever appearance of a Mothers of Invention song on a legit comp is something of a coup.) Some of the deeper dives, like the avant-psych of "Computer Girl" by Urban Renewal Project (an early incarnation of Sparks), the "Good Vibrations"-meets-vaudeville weirdness of the Royal Teens' "Chicanery" or Moorpark Intersection's thrilling slice of fuzz- and echo-drenched drama pop "Yesterday Holds On" -- might prove bracing to even the most hardy of followers of '60s music.

The collection does a very fine job of making sure to shine some light on every nook of the scene. There are as many fine examples of fiery garage rock -- much of it, like the Candy Company's fine jangler "Run," rare even by collector's standards -- as there are carefully concocted pop songs by studio pros, as many one-shots by obscure bands as there are classics. It's not odd to find Buffalo Springfield's pristine folk-rock ballad "Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It" next to Merrell Fankhauser & H.M.S. Bounty's swaggering acid rocker "Drivin' Sideways (On a One-Way Street)" or the Velvet Illusion's tripped-out "Acid Head" nestled beside the Association's breezy "Along Comes Mary." It makes perfect sense since that's what a night out on the Strip might sound like to a more adventurous musical traveler. To the listener many years later, it makes for an endlessly entertaining time capsule with the well-chosen bands and songs flickering past like ghosts of an enchanted era. Of course, Heroes and Villains only documents a small segment of what was going on in the world of music -- and it inconveniently ignores all the great soul music that was making a splash all around the city at the time -- but it does the job with admirable attention to detail, from the sound quality to the well-researched liner notes, and along the way makes this particular blip in time and space sound and feel like a truly golden age.

CD1 (30 / 1:19:14)

 01. The Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday (Single Version) 

 02. Paul Revere and The Raiders - Kicks 

 03. The Bobby Fuller Four - Let Her Dance 

 04. Sonny & Cher - But Youre Mine 

 05. Merrell and the Xiles - Tomorrows Girl 

 06. Lee Hazlewood with Suzi Jane Hokom - Sand 

 07. The Velvet Illusions - Acid Head 

 08. The Association - Along Comes Mary 

 09. Ruthann Friedman - Dont Say No 

 10. The Mamas and The Papas - Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon) 

 11. The Misunderstood - I Cried My Eyes Out 

 12. The Whatt Four - Our Love Should Last Forever 

 13. The Rogues - Wanted Dead Or Alive 

 14. The Seeds - The Wind Blows Your Hair 

 15. The Syndicate - My Babys Barefoot 

 16. The Music Machine - Point of No Return 

 17. The Royal Teens - Chicanery 

 18. Kaleidoscope - Keep Your Mind Open 

 19. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - A Childs Guide to Good and Evil 

 20. The Second Helping - Floating Downstream On an Inflatable Rubber Raft 

 21. The Grass Roots - Lets Live for Today 

 22. The Roosters - She Sends Me 

 23. The Odds and Ends - You Dont Love Me 

 24. The Sanctions - Help Yourself 

 25. Somebodys Chyldren - Im Going Back to New York City 

 26. Kim Fowley - The Trip 

 27. Glad - Say What You Mean (Single Version) 

 28. Diane Hildebrand - Come Looking for Me 

 29. The New Wave - Where Do We Go from Here 

 30. Stone Poneys - New Hard Times 

CD2 (30 / 1:19:07)

 01. The Mothers of Invention - Hungry Freaks Daddy 

 02. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Zig Zag Wanderer 

 03. The Urban Renewal Project - Computer Girl 

 04. The Peanut Butter Conspiracy - The Most Up Till Now 

 05. The Millennium - It Wont Always Be the Same 

 06. Fapardokly - The Music Scene 

 07. The Prophets of Old - Just Cant Wait 

 08. The Misunderstood - She Got Me 

 09. The Satans - Makin Deals 

 10. Bobby Jameson - Viet Nam 

 11. The Leaves - With None Shoes 

 12. The Odds and Ends - Be Happy Baby 

 13. The Royal Teens - Tears in My Eyes 

 14. The Parade - Sunshine Girl (Promo-only Stereo Mix) 

 15. Nilsson - Mr Richlands Favorite Song 

 16. The Beach Boys - Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock) 

 17. Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends - Always You 

 18. Tim Buckley - Carnival Song 

 19. Michael Blodgett - Fire Engine Sky 

 20. Sagittarius - Im Not Living Here 

 21. The Churchill Downs - Dont Turn the Light Off 

 22. The Touch - No Shame 

 23. Spirit - Uncle Jack 

 24. Children of the Mushroom - August Mademoiselle 

 25. The Rose Garden - Long Time 

 26. The Candy Company - Run 

 27. Jim and the Lords - Too Many People 

 28. The No-Na-Mees - Just Wanna Be Myself 

 29. The Heros - Say It With a Smile 

 30. Mark Eric - Move With the Dawn 

CD3 (30 / 1:19:15)

 01. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Yellow Brick Road 

 02. Love - She Comes in Colors 

 03. The Merry-Go-Round - Time Will Show the Wiser (Album Version) 

 04. The Laughing Wind - John Works Hard 

 05. The Human Expression - Calm Me Down (Promo Single Version) 

 06. The Byrds - Why 

 07. The Heros - I Can OnlyGive You Everything 

 08. Grains of Sand - Golden Apples of the Sun 

 09. The Moorpark Intersection - Yesterday Holds On 

 10. Ruthann Friedman - Windy 

 11. Buffalo Springfield - Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It 

 12. Merrell Fankhauser and HMS Bounty - Drivin Sideways (On a One Way Street) 

 13. Peppermint Trolley Company - 9 O clock Business Man 

 14. The Electric Prunes - The Great Banana Hoax (Extended Mix) 

 15. Chris and Craig - Isha 

 16. Strawberry Alarm Clock - Sit With the Guru 

 17. The Forum - Trip On Me 

 18. Hearts and Flowers - Road to Nowhere 

 19. Gene Clark with The Gosdin Brothers - So You Say You Lost Your Baby 

 20. International Submarine Band - Luxury Liner 

 21. Del Shannon - Runnin On Back 

 22. The Parade - She Sleeps Alone 

 23. Chad and Jeremy - Pipe Dream 

 24. Boystown - End of the Line 

 25. The Paper Fortress - Summer Magic 

 26. The Chyldren - Cut Your Lawn 

 27. Steppenwolf - A Girl I Knew 

 28. Iron Butterfly - Flowers and Beads 

 29. Clear Light - Black Roses 

 30. Georgy & The Velvet Illusions - Hippy Town 

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