The 12 best Sixties "San Francisco Sound" rock albums

September 30, 10:08 PMSF Music ExaminerDerk Richardson

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For more than 40 years, San Francisco bands have had to live up to, manifest their refusal of, or (not so) simply transcend the legacy of the Summer of Love.

For better or worse, the acid-drenched, blues-and-folk-influenced San Francisco scene of the late 1960s forced the world to focus on one city as a musical and cultural fountainhead, momentarily, at least, eclipsing New York, Detroit, and Chicago, and going head-to-head, so to speak, with the Los Angeles of the Doors, Buffalo Springfield, and the Byrds.

As a Bay Area native who came of age musically somewhere between the release of Elvis Presley's first RCA LP and Joni Mitchell's Blue, the "San Francisco Sound" provided the backdrop for more than a few of my formative teenage experiences.

Thus, this list of the best albums of the San Francisco's psychedelic era is steeped in a deep well of emotional associations. But it also has been filtered through a set of critical standards honed during four decades of study, reflection, and, hopefully, refinement. (Why are Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bayou Country and Green River missing? Because at the time I appreciated John Fogerty's swampy vehicle only as a brilliant singles band.)

Still, I can't help but rank the entries of this essential library in the order of how often I actually go back and either listen to them in their entirety or tap them for my weekly radio show.
 
1. Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow (1967, RCA).

2. Harvey Mandel, Cristo Redentor (1968, Phillips/Mercury).

3. Mother Earth, Living with the Animals (1969, Mercury/Wounded Bird).

4. Moby Grape (1967, Columbia).

5. Big Brother & the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills (1968, Columbia).

6. Santana, Abraxas (1970, Columbia).

7. Country Joe & the Fish, Electric Music for the Mind and Body (1967, Vanguard).

8. Boz Scaggs (1969, Atlantic).

9. The Youngbloods, Elephant Mountain (1969, RCA).

10. Grateful Dead, Live/Dead 1969 (Warner Bros.).

11. Steve Miller Band, Sailor (1969, Capitol).

12, Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968, Capitol).

And if you need to start with a box set compilation to get a mind-blowing overview and sample such heretofore unmentioned bands as the Charlatans, the Beau Brummels, the Sons of Champlin, the Loading Zone, the Grass Roots, It's a Beautiful Day, and We Five, check out the astonishing various artists compilation:

Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965–1970 (2007, Rhino).

Jefferson Airplane: