Have You Heard? Rhino's CALIFORNIA GROOVE II [2010]

I think we can all agree that some really cool things have come out of France: fries, bread, toast, dip sandwiches, connections and kissing, to name but a few. And from David Dutreuil and his small but dedicated team at Warner/Rhino France came the magnificent series of three 4CD box sets (and a single disc Special Edition) known as California Groove. The illustration of a woman on the cover seems like a hybrid of Pat Benatar and Terri Nunn to me. Does it remind you of anyone?

California Groove II was released in July 2010 and like the first volume was sold exclusively in France. The four discs are filled with 69 songs from 1969-2010 that includes many holdover artists from the previous compilation. Again, there a quite a few of my favorite songs as well as a couple new to me I discovered from the album itself. There is one track on the set that stands out like a dated artifact of late Eighties, however. Not gonna call him out but the song is on the fourth disc and was released in 1987. You'll know it when you hear it. This time around, I like about three discs worth of the album. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing (early April 2016), California Groove II is the only California Groove set still available through the usual channels with both new and used copies selling for suspiciously low prices. There are a few reviewers who say the album suffers from inconsistent mastering but I didn't notice anything suspicious or disappointing but as always your mileage may vary. Also, if you really like what you hear and you want to hear more, many of the original out of print vinyl albums that the majority of the songs are sourced from have been released on compact disc in Japan over the past 40 years (AOR/Westcoast music has always been crazy popular in the Land of the Rising Sun) as well as by specialty labels here in the US like Wounded Bird, Collector's Choice Music and others.

	title	artist	year
1	Love Song	Robert Lamm	1974
2	Jealousy	Michael Franks	1982
3	The Good Life	Bill LaBounty	1988
4	Don't Let Me Go	Nielsen/Pearson	1980
5	Moolah Moo Mazuma	Sanford Townsend Band	1976
6	What You Won't Do for Love	Bobby Caldwell	1978
7	Young Blood	Rickie Lee Jones	1979
8	Marina Del Ray	Marc Jordan	1978
9	Further Notice	Larsen-Feiten Band	1980
10	Hi-Fly	Ben Sidran	1979
11	I Gotta Try	Michael McDonald	1982
12	Nothin' But a Heartache	Lauren Wood	1979
13	Steal Away	Robbie Dupree	1980
14	Best of Friends	Lenny White & Twennynine	1979
15	Is It You?	Lee Ritenour	1981
16	Magnificent Madness	John Klemmer	1980
17	On the Line	Peter Cetera	1981
18	Lowdown	Boz Scaggs	1976
19	Let's Just Say Goodbye	David Sanborn	1981
20	Long As We're Together	Debra Laws	1981
21	Street Player	Chicago	1979
22	If You Love Me	John O'Banion	1981
23	South Bay Strut	The Doobie Brothers	1980
24	Dancin' By Myself	Ambrosia	1978
25	Baby Come Back	Player	1977
26	Wrong Side of the Track	David Roberts	1982
27	Over the Line	Greg Guidry	1982
28	Between a Rock and a Hard Place	Jerry Corebtta	1978
29	I'm Ready	Narada Michael Walden	1982
30	Matinee Idol	Yellowjackets	1981
31	Knock the Walls Down	Steve Kipner	1979
32	City Girl	Stephen Bishop	1980
33	Listen for the Love	Pages	1978
34	All for a Reason	Alessi	1977
35	Takin' It to the Streets	The Doobie Brothers	1976
36	Lonely Boy	Andrew Gold	1976
37	A Lifetime We	Robert Lamm	1974
38	Reminiscing	Little River Band	1978
39	Midnight at the Oasis	Maria Muldaur	1973
40	Davy	Sergio Mendes	1975
41	Carolina Caroline	Jonathan Edwards	1977
42	Rosalee	Michael Johnson	1981
43	You Might Need Somebody	Turley Richards	1980
44	One Way or Another	Fifth Avenue Band	1969
45	How Does It Feel (To Be in Love)	LeBlanc and Carr	1977
46	Mixed Up Guy	Jimmy Webb	1977
47	Elena	The Marc Tanner Band	1979
48	Lost in the Shuffle	Danny Kortchmar	1980
49	Alexis	James Gang	1973
50	Vehicle	The Ides Of March	1970
51	Hearts in Trouble	The Dukes	1979
52	So Wrong	Patrick Simmons	1983
53	Talk to Me	Fiona	1985
54	Sailing	Christopher Cross	1979
55	Warm Weather	Pieces Of A Dream	1981
56	Broken Wings	Mr. Mister	1985
57	Moonlight Over Paris	PM	1988
58	King of Hearts	King Of Hearts	1994
59	This Is Not the Right Time	Sven Larsson	2010
60	Island Fever	Jack Wagner	1987
61	Cool Breeze	The Jeremy Spencer Band	1979
62	Lost in a Mind Game	State Cows	2010
63	Video Band	Smooth Reunion	2008
64	Which One of Us Is Me	Jay Gruska	1984
65	Sure Enough	Tom Scott	1982
66	Right Before the Dawn	Nightshift	2007
67	Just This One Night	Deodato	1982
68	New York Bars	Brenda Russell	1983
69	Monkey See Monkey Do [Live 1980]	Crossfire & Michael Franks	1980

In time for the Holiday Shopping Season, My California Groove Package was released in November 2010 featuring a 160 page notebook, a unique one sheet 2011 calendar and a California Groove Special Edition compact disc with 18 tracks from 1970-1983. Most of the songs had already appeared on the first two compialtions in the series but there were three or four songs making their first appearance beneath the California Groove banner. The lone track from California Groove Special Edition unavailable on Spotify can be heard here. It's a tasty track from 1982 that features three members of Toto as the backing band and Jay Graydon as executive producer.

	title	artist	year
1	Genevieve	Andrew Gold	1978
2	Steal Away	Robbie Dupree	1980
3	Beanie G. And The Rose Tattoo	Daryl Hall and John Oates	1974
4	T.W.A. Sari	Eye To Eye	1983
5	Biggest Part Of Me	Ambrosia	1980
6	B'Wanna-He No Home	Michael Franks	1977
7	Your Life My Friend	Orleans	1975
8	Sleepin' In The Daytime	Jimmy Webb	1970
9	Who'll Be The Fool Tonight	Larsen-Feiten Band	1980
10	Never Gonna Let You Go	David Roberts	1982
11	Ghost Town	Poco	1982
12	Hummingbird	Seals & Croft	1972
13	It Doesn't Matter	Firefall	1976
14	Survival	Marc Jordan	1978
15	Ride Like The Wind	Christopher Cross	1979
16	I Keep Forgettin'	Michael McDonald	1982
17	You're So Vain	Carly Simon	1972
18	Lotta Love	Nicolette Larson	1978