(Rhino/Warner Music)

The title comes from "Get Together", the Summer of Love anthem written by Dino Valenti and popularized by the Youngbloods: the folk-rock pioneer's acoustic demo and the Jesse Colin Young fronted hit version bookend this stunning 77-song, four–CD anthology. However, Love Is the Song We Sing is not entirely given over to feel-good mantras and groovy vibes. Instead, it makes a strong case for the notion that the San Francisco scene of the 1960s was as much about rocking out as wearing flowers in one's hair.

It doesn't take long for this to become perfectly clear. Track 5, "Can't Come Down" by the Warlocks, finds the band that would soon become the Grateful Dead slamming home an anti-authoritarian screed that's part Bob Dylan, part greaseball garage rawk. And the entire second disc, "Suburbia", suggests that bad-attitude Brits such as the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones were as big an influence on Bay Area psychedelia as anything that could be eaten, smoked, or otherwise ingested. (The psychotropic side of the era's music is not ignored, though; if Mad River's "Amphetamine Gazelle" doesn't have you scratching at the bugs underneath your skin, you're probably too far gone for rehab.)

Throughout, compiler Alec Palao does an impeccable job of combining iconic tracks such as Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and Santana's "Evil Ways" with big-bucks-on-eBay obscurities like Kak's "Lemonaide Kid" and "Red the Sign Post" by Fifty Foot Hose. And while Rhino is known for its stylish packaging, the label has outdone itself here. From artist-drummer Prairie Prince's phantasmagorical cover to the accompanying 120-page hardcover book to the music itself, Love Is the Song We Sing adds up to a gold mine of cultural inspiration and the reissue of the year.