A former carnival artist, Dino Valenti became an influential figure in Greenwich Village folk circles during the early '60s. Disillusioned with New York's restrictiveness, the singer fled to California where he recorded his debut single, "Birdses," for the Elektra Records label. Valenti then moved north to San Francisco, and was about to join the formative Quicksilver Messenger Service when he was arrested and imprisoned on an amphetamine charge, the first of two incarcerations. Valenti subsequently sold the rights to several of his compositions, including the classic "Get Tog...