POP BOX RE-UPLOADED

1/14/2012: RE-UPPED

ROCK BOX HERE: http://crystalsphere1.blogspot.com/2011/07/la-gemstones-rock-box-compilation-5-cds.html

SOME NOTES BY JASON PENICK: http://lagemstones.blogspot.com

Found a kindred spirit in the world of music stealer blogs. A dude named Jason Penick who compiled TEN DISCS worth of rock and pop from the L.A. area circa 1964-69. Basically an extension of NUGGETS I and L.A. NUGGETS. I had been bumping the set on the reg since I found it last year, but the 128kbps MP3s just weren't doing the job.

So, I found Jason on a message board and asked him if he would mind if I scoured around to try and replace some of the songs with 320kbps versions, while also trying to find more dedicated mono and single mixes as opposed to stereo. He was game. That was about six months ago. Personally I spent probably six hours per week finding just the right tracks, sending them back to him, getting his feedback/marching orders, then scouring again. Between the two of us it became something resembling a part-time job.




Click for full size tracklists

L.A. GEMSTONES is two "box sets" of five discs each. This is the first of the two, THE POP BOX. THE ROCK BOX should drop sometime around the holidays. I'll let Jason explain the difference:

So what you’ve got here is not one but two companion box sets, divided roughly between the most vital of Southern California “pop” and “rock” acts from the years 1964 to 1969. If you’ve already examined the track listing and are questioning how the Grass Roots’ pleasantly inoffensive “Where Were You When I Needed You?” somehow qualifies as “rock” while Elvis Presley’s raucous and sexy “A Little Less Conversation” falls under the category of “pop”, the answer is… I’m not exactly sure why! The basic rule of thumb while compiling these sets was that the Rock Box would contain mostly guitar-driven bands that one could have actually seen in concert had they been cruising the Sunset Strip in the mid-to-late sixties, while the Pop Box would focus on those acts that were more at home in the confines of the recording studio and in certain cases could not have even played their material live in a rock club environment. Still, it would be foolhardy of me to say that the lines between these sets are not blurred at times. Nevertheless, it’s my sincere hope that the track selection and running order of both the Pop Box and the Rock Box are thematically consistent and to your liking.

For those who care about such things as how the tracks here actually got selected, I’ll offer some insight. The most important thing to mention is that I tried my best to adhere to a strict set of rules while compiling these sets. Rule number one was that, even though these discs are not affiliated with the Nuggets series in any official sense, I wanted ZERO OVERLAP with either the Rhino Nuggets 4-cd box, or their two limited-edition Nuggets from the W.E.A. Vaults sets. As such, these new collections can exist comfortably alongside the previously mentioned compilations, as well as the Nuggets from the U.K., San Francisco Nuggets and Children of Nuggets box sets. While every effort was made to ensure that both L.A. Gemstones collections are presented in as close to exact chronological order as possible, those who don’t have 10+ hours to kill listening to both sets in order might just wanna mix the files in with the rest of the previously listed sets and set the whole thing on shuffle for a non-stop blast of sixties’ rock and pop action!

This is Jason's baby, I'm just here to help. He envisioned the tracklist based on history and knew every nook and cranny of the scene on a historian's level. He knows the specific context of every track in the big picture. Many songs are super rare and several are needledropped from rare 45s specifically for this set. I could never have constructed such a thing.

I did make the art/liner notes, mostly today. Do you realize how hard it is to find high resolution photos of specific clubs in 1966 LA? Welp.

Anyway, enjoy! And don't forget to check out Jason's awesome blog!

DISC 1 multiupload.com/O3G1TKOE5N
DISC 2 multiupload.com/5QOQYZE55Q
DISC 3 multiupload.com/SFHHVQYDKY
DISC 4 multiupload.com/8XCVKRNRLB
DISC 5 multiupload.com/1Q3PV54KZC
NOTES multiupload.com/OIY30Z83G3

320