Search - Various Artists :: Summer of Love: Gold

I'm a believer !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 02/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Summer of Love: Gold may not be the most complete CD set out there; but these two CDs do a rather good job of giving us the great music from the summer of 1967 anyway. The sound quality is great and I like the artwork, too.



The first album kicks off with Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)." San Francisco was a major place to be during the "summer of love" in 1967; and Scott sings this so sweetly it amazes me. The percussion and guitars work well, too. Jefferson Airplane's ""Somebody To Love" celebrates the human need for romantic partners; this certainly connects well with the summer of love. The electric guitars on "Somebody To Love" are pretty awesome, too.



The Mamas & The Papas turn in a somewhat autobiographical ballad entitled "Creeque Alley;" they harmonize so well on this and the guitar arrangement works so well, too. Listen also for Spanky & Our Gang doing their great hit "Sunday Will Be The Same." This song is beautiful to hear every time I hear it; and the very, very subtle twist of psychedelic rock with something sounding like traditional softer rock or even folk rock really makes this a masterpiece. I am sure that you'll enjoy "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" very much. The Strawberry Alarm Clock do a great job on a bona fide psychedelic number called "Incense And Peppermints;" the guitars on this rock and they sing and play this one very well. The use of both major and minor keys really makes "Incense And Peppermints" very special. The CD ends strong with The Beach Boys doing their hottest hit probably ever, "Good Vibrations."



The second CD continues the hits. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" has a great beat to it as he sings out of how this woman really struck him as the one for him; and The Monkees rock real well with their "I'm A Believer." This tune, which sounds almost light today, really rocked back then and people ate this up like anything. The Monkees sing really well of how they found the girlfriends for them. The Music Explosion performs "Little Bit `O Soul" to perfection; the guitars are sublime and the drums, percussion and more make this a rockin' tune that can't be beat!



Aretha Franklin's "Respect" really showcases Aretha's special vocal talents; this song has a great beat with perfect harmonizing by the backup vocalists, too. Aretha's excellent diction bolsters her performance and "Respect" remains a number most people recognize even all these years later. Procol Harum ends the second CD with their huge hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." This song uses what sounds like an organ very well; and the music combined with the terrific lyrics makes this a solid hit that can never be forgotten.



People will complain that this two CD set offers not a single song by either The Grateful Dead or The Beatles--and they have good reason to complain. I have to take off one star for this; but at the same time no two CDs could ever truly capture the full extent of the great music from the "summer of love." You would need more CDs to do that. Nevertheless, I still recommend this two CD set for lovers of classic rock; and casual fans of classic rock should consider this a great two CD set to get for their collections.

"

+ 1/2 stars...SUMMER OF LOVE Is Hit-And-Miss Collection

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 08/26/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Beatles ushered in the Summer of Love in 1967 with the release of SGT PEPPER and their single "All You Need Is Love." Hip-O's 31-track collection attempts to recreate that magical time and--overall--does a decent job. Of course, there are no Beatles tracks (licensing restrictions, you know), but there are plenty of big hits: "Happy Together," "Incense and Peppermints," "Windy," "Respect," "I'm a Believer" and "Good Vibrations" are all No. 1's. [However, "I'm a Believer" and "Good Vibrations" were both hits in 1966; Hip-O should have used "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "Heroes and Villains" to be historically correct.]



San Francisco--the epicenter of the Summer of Love--is represented by the Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe & the Fish, but where are the Grateful Dead, Moby Grape or Quicksilver Messenger Service? Instead, we get lightweight pop like the Sunshine Company's "Happy" (which didn't even crack Billboard's Hot 100). And how can you have a Summer of Love album without Donovan, who personified the era?



While SUMMER OF LOVE GOLD doesn't get it completely right, this is an enjoyable look back at the music of 1967. RECOMMENDED



"

1967: The Greatest Year in Pop Music History

Eric Marshall | Hammond, IN United States | 02/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In a review that I did about three years ago here about the Joni Mitchell album "Blue" I argued that 1971 was the greatest year in Rock and Roll history. But what about pop music in general? That would go to 1967 because it was the first year records sales went over a billion dollars and it was the only year in which all the genres-Rock, pop, soul, country, blues, jazz, etc. came together (check all the songs that came out that year). It was the year in which The Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band" took everyone off guard and to have it at the center of the music year is beyond explaination. Of course, it was the summer that was known as "The Summer of Love" and as what author Joel Slevin wrote in the first paragraph to his book of that title: "'The Summer of Love NEVER happened. It was a creation of the media." Speaking of that Rolling Stone magazine, as part of their 40th anniversary as a publication, did an entire issue to that year and the highlight comes from an essay written by U.S. historian Sean Wilentz called "The Legacy of '67" and he writes that it was the defining year of the 60's because it was that year 'the generation gap' arised up and believes that the term "summer of love" and the emergance of hippies was a sign that America was having a nervous breakdown and I think he hints at the fact that it started with the murder of President Kennedy four years earlier (the greatest tragedy in American history because the 60's never happens had he lived). And with that, music itself began to come apart after 1967 beginning with the "nightmare alley" that was 1968 and as the decade ended, the medium joined America as it too was having a nervous breakdown (I think music is still having it) filled with songs of drugs ("George left his home in Tuscon, Arizona for some California grass"), talk of Vietnam ("It wasn't me that started that crazy Asian war"), and bad language ("Kicks out the jams mother----er!"; "Because I'm the son of a bitch that named you Sue"). So here it is more than 40 years after it happened and now this country is having another nervous breakdown over things that was started by stupid people. That makes me scared to death considering that we don't have music to shut off every problem for a few minutes. That's what the artists in 1967 did. Oh did I mention that another fact to why '67 was great from all the rest was that there wasn't a single song released by "The Artist of the 60's" Bob Dylan?"