Then you have the sort of next tier down: Country Joe & the Fish, It's a Beautiful Day, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Seatrain, the Sons of Champlin and the Flamin' Groovies. If that sounds like a lot of Summer of Love stuff, well it is, and one of the four discs carries that sub-title. The other discs are named Suburbia, Seismic Rumbles and The Man Can't Bust our Music. Even within these themed groupings there's lots of diversity---a sampling of Seismic Rumblings includes the Charlatans, the Beau Brummels, Dino Valenti and the Grass Roots right alongside the pre-Grateful Dead outfit, the Warlocks.

Part of the experience here is discovering a forgotten or obscure track that strikes a chord, and you'll find many of them. Perhaps it'll be "Lemonaide Kid" by Kak, "Sometimes I Wonder" by the Harbinger Complex or "Up and Down" by the Serpent Power. This box comes in a truly deluxe package; it's actually a coffee-table book with the four discs tucked into the back cover.

The liner notes are extensive so when you find yourself particularly enjoying "Human Monkey" by the Frantics you can flip to the corresponding page and find out that three members of the group would go on to join Moby Grape.

There's also an extensive collection of artist portraits that make for fun viewing; most were probably taken for record company promotions but I don't think the picture of a banjo-wielding Dan Hicks flipping the bird was meant for general consumption.