Bay Area

San Francisco and its sister city by the bay, Berkeley, were the center of the rock ’n’ roll universe in the second half of the ’60s, during the multicolored, mind-bending explosion of the psychedelic sound. The heady hippie boogie of the Grateful Dead’s tough-luck travelogue “Truckin’,” the blues-baked, raw-throated roar of Janis Joplin on Big Brother & The Holding Company’s “Piece of My Heart,” and the psychedelic salsa of Santana’s simmering, conga-slapping classic, “Black Magic Woman” wafted through the Haight-Ashbury air, spreading the word to the rest of the world that this was where it was all going down.

The Bay area lights a fuse for post-punk provocateurs and hip-hop heroes in Next Steps.

Long after the echo of psychedelia’s last licks had faded, the Bay Area’s freewheeling atmosphere became a breeding ground for new generations of sonic revolutionaries. Romeo Void revved up the new-wave era, putting a post-punk spin on sexual politics with their college-rock smash “Never Say Never.” Right before he became a martyr of the mid-’90s hip-hop wars, 2Pac let loose one of his last West Coast battle cries — with pop princess Jewel crooning behind him — on “Holla at Me.” And Michael Franti & Spearhead opened their arms wide to the world at large with their blend of pop, hip-hop, R&B, and reggae on the sunny “Say Hey (I Love You).”

From fierce to folkie, cult faves come to the forefront in Deep Cuts.

With its rep as a bohemian haven, the Bay Area has always been known as a place where the underdog rises to the top. The Flamin’ Groovies may have seemed out of step when they started out in the psychedelic ’60s, but when they unleashed “Shake Some Action” in ’76, they fulfilled their destiny as pioneers of power pop and punk. Speaking of punk, even amid the madness of the ’80s S.F. hardcore scene, Flipper stood out with the bludgeoning, bottom-heavy blast of tracks like “Way of the World.” And on the other end of the spectrum, sadcore kings Red House Painters stirred up the softly swelling sonic breezes blowing long and lonesome through “Grace Cathedral Park,” immortalizing that San Francisco spot in the process.

In the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, amid the clang of the cable cars and the wind off the waterfront, musical mavericks have been making their stand for decades. Most folks know the Bay Area as the home of ’60s psychedelic sorcerers like the Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, but it’s also given birth to two generations of punk pioneers, from hardcore provocateurs the Dead Kennedys to pop-punk world-beaters Green Day. And along the way, the Bay has seen the rise of proudly left-of-center cult heroes (American Music Club, Joanna Newsom) and worldwide superstars (Metallica, Journey, 2Pac). From the feverish funk-rockin’ fury of Sly & The Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher” to the ska-punk blast of Rancid’s “Time Bomb,” here’s everything you need to get in step with the Bay Area beat.