deadmilkboy's Full Review: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psyched...
Somewhere in between rockabilly and the boom of punk rock that was embodied early on by bands like The Stooges and The New York Dolls, therein lies the music of NUGGETS: ORIGINAL ARTYFACTS FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA (1965-1968). The British Invasion seemed to have taken American roots music, particularly R&B and early rock & roll, and adapted the sound into something more virtuoso and rough-sounding, and you can hear the influence of bands limited to not just The Beatles and The Stones, but also The Yardbirds or even Them! from Belfast. Around the time psychedelia was burgeoning, young Americans were so amazed by the naturally traditional sound being resold to their shores that they took it upon themselves to form their own bands and use the over-the-shore recordings as their own template.
The tracks on the original compilation, developed in 1972 by Elektra records founder Jac Holzman and future Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, seem largely composed of the sounds of young men eager to capture lightning in a bottle despite their inexperience. Kaye once said that NUGGETS was produced after Holzman got one of the first cassette machines and that his stint as a freelance A&R scout for Elektra wasn't unearthing anything major. Whereas Holzman was inclined to whittle down his record collection into one mix of really good songs from otherwise banal albums, Kaye felt more like tapping back into the teenage music he heard as a Jersey boy. In the early 1970s, musical compilations were basically limited to infomercial-promoted K-Tel bargain releases. The songs on NUGGETS were prized pieces of collectable rock-pop music, all of which were released as 45s, that often sounded like they were taken straight from a turntable. The majority of them oozed attitude, primitive instrumentation, fuzzy guitars, solid harmonies and hooks, and even, in some cases, great sonic bedlam. There are no great claims at artistry, but mostly just raucous, life-affirming songs about hunger, violence, strife, and even love in a few simple, straightforwardly juvenile expressions.
The categories one could place the hundred-plus songs on Rhino Records' classic deluxe boxed-set reissue of NUGGETS are simple enough, so much so that "garage rock" and "frat rock" have become as common and heavily used as Kaye and Holzman's original compilation has spawned many imitators and successors. The influence of NUGGETS now is also inescapable, as bands like The Ramones, The Clash, The Pretenders and countless others who have been anthologized on later Rhino-distributed packages picked up on this music and built from it as well. Indie rock in the 1980s and 1990s bear the stamp of these bands perhaps to an even more obvious degree. And if there was a new millennium NUGGETS comp, bet on The Hives, The Strokes and The White Stripes as inevitable choices amongst many of the underground garage rockers who you can hear Little Stevie crank out on your FM radio. Speaking of which, quite a few of these songs get airplay on even the most predictable assortment of FM radio standards, as I can attest to hearing songs like "Talk Talk," "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" and "Psychotic Reaction" during a recent A-Z music marathon on one particular station.
NUGGETS can be seen as a capsule of a particular point in time, but there's no denying the ramifications and the still-uplifting nature of the original recordings included on all four discs in this package. There are some obscurities in this mix (likely more of them in the appended three volumes in the Rhino box than on the original Kaye compilation, wherein many of these songs held actual chart placements), but mostly there are vibrant, youthful tunes that slipped through the cracks or were ignored outright. No matter what industry machinations may have disrupted this flow of underage amateur musicians (producer Gary Stewart notes that for a time, 63% of those under 20 were playing in rock bands), the great chunk of the songs on this compilation not just were deserved local hits, but also broke into the pop charts, adding a little spontaneity and fire to the musical scene. No matter how much these bands may have owed to their inspirations, and they surely owe their existence, music like those contained in NUGGETS or the more recent Rhino girl group compilation, One Kiss Can Lead to Another, fly in the face of revisionist history that pundits adhered to in the wake of rock & roll's cataclysmic string of casualties and controversies.
Without further ado, here's a rundown of the 118 tracks that compile the NUGGETS boxed set. Disc one is the original double-LP package released in 1972. The boxed set contains generous track-by-track annotations by Mike Stax, so I'll refrain from excessive regurgitation and offer up basic single-sentence observations about each tracks for posterity, and maybe information about chart placement or songwriting/producing credits as well.
Volume 1
1. "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)," The Electric Prunes. Trippy, drone-powered mini-epic about falling in love with a mirage and waking up helpless. A powerful rocker which went to #11 in 1966 and opens the album strong.
2. "Dirty Water," The Standells. An L.A. based band talks about Chicago, home of the dirty River Charles, cool muggers and thieves, and plenty of frustrated women, against a swaggering electric guitar lick. Peaked at #11 in 1965.
3. "Night Time," The Strangeloves. Restless, stomping groove about anticipating nocturnal escapism with a classic bridge wherein the lead singer behind this NY trio of singer/songwriters asks the ladies to turn up their radio and in turn, turn him on.
4. "Lies," The Knickerbockers. A poker-faced but infectious take on Beatles pop that expands the role of the guitar in ways that would inspire countless other bands who could be easily lumped into Lennon/McCartney territory.
5. "Respect," The Vagrants. A hollering faithful and funky take on the Otis Redding song that would be rendered obsolete once it was reinterpreted by a powerhouse female vocalist named 'Retha.
6. "A Public Execution," Mouse & the Traps. A dizzying facsimile of Dylan circa Highway 61 Revisited featuring a Ronnie Weiss lead vocal that apes Robert Zimmerman to uncanny effect.
7. "No Time Like the Right Time," The Blues Project - The great Al Kooper, who played with Dylan in the mid-1960s and was there for the first Blood, Sweat & Tears LP, fills this rollicking, soulful number with tasty organ and a nice supply of hooks.
8. "Oh Yeah," The Shadows of Knight - If the British could tart up old blues standards into something groovy and rhythm-heavy, why couldn't these Chicago natives do the same? A Bo Diddley cover that gets by on its pre-glam stomp and thick, repetitive bass line alone.
9. "Pushin' Too Hard," The Seeds. Two chords, a salty lead vocal, some well placed harmonies, and a pair of eccentric solos on electric piano and guitar add up to one of the boxed set's definitive examples of simplistic rock bliss.
10. "Moulty," The Barbarians. Legend has it that a group of session musicians known as the Hawks played on this track, a somewhat overreaching half-monologue/half-rocker about the band's drummer, Victor Moulton, who had a hook for a left hand.
11. "Don't Look Back," The Remains. This Boston outfit opened for the Beatles in 1966 North American shows, but this hard-charging Zombies/Stones hybrid penned by Billy Vera couldn't take off and become the pop hit it so richly deserved to be.
12. "An Invitation to Cry," The Magicians. Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon went on to write "Happy Together" and "She'd Rather Be with Me" for the Turtles, but this sad little ballad concerns a wedding invitation sent to an ex-lover delivered with enough soul to make you sympathize with the guy instead of question his sanity.
13. "Liar Liar," The Castaways. These Minneapolis natives look mostly like they stepped out of high school, but the drummer and organist composed one heck of a pop song, spooky and spirited at the same time.
14. "You're Gonna Miss Me," The 13th Floor Elevators. Everything a growing boy needs: an electric jug, bluesy guitar and the mighty howls of Roky Erickson, whose performance alone raises a concern: Why aren't there more of this band on the boxed set?
15. "Psychotic Reaction," Count Five. When angst goes untreated, a perfectly solid shuffling rocker that beats Mick Jagger at not getting any satisfaction morphs at the drop of a hat into a frenetic workout wherein the instruments seem to surge towards a halt. The most successful single on the original compilation, peaking at #5 in 1966.
16. "Hey Joe," The Leaves. Predating Hendrix's immortal slow-burning classic cover by a year, this Top 40 take on the old standard of jilted Joe and his gun-waving vengeance is fuzzy and fast-paced, over before you even know it.
17. "Romeo & Juliet," Michael & the Messengers. One of the best covers on the set, a blue-eyed, brisk, organ-fuelled run-through of the Reflections' pop hit "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet."
18. "Sugar and Spice," The Cryan Shames. The Nuggets have as much to do with folk as much as blues and rock, so we got this harmonic, jangling sweetheart of a tune.
19. "Baby Please Don't Go," The Amboy Dukes. An otherwise underwhelming copycat of Them's take on the classic blues standard given permanence by the Nuge.
20. "Tobacco Road," Blues Magoos. Much shorter than the previous song, this J.D. Loudermilk cover has an incendiary jam in the midst of another ferocious stomping rhythm worthy of David Bowie.
21. "Let's Talk About Girls," The Chocolate Watchband. Don Bennett, a black session singer, did lead vocals on this libidinous blues workout and co-wrote the band's best song, which opens the fourth disc.
22. "Sit Down, I Think I Love You," The Mojo Men. Wistfully arranged by Van Dyke Parks and written by Stephen Stills, this San Franciscan Nugget went Top 40 in the spring of 1967 on clouds of mandolin, Dobro and keyboards.
23. "Run, Run, Run," The Third Rail. A snappy pop song about the fast-moving modern world wherein the New York Stock Exchange reports that heart attacks have soared and the Great Society has crashed.
24. "My World Fell Down," Sagittarius. Producer Gary Usher, vocalist Glen Campbell and drummer Hal Blaine are just a few of the suspects behind this unabashedly grand Brian Wilson homage.
25. "Open My Eyes," Nazz. A wizard, a true genius, Todd Rundgren's early foray into eccentric pop borrows a little from The Who at the beginning, but his knack for harmony and solid guitar work are just two mentionable things about this classic song.
26. "Farmer John," The Premiers. A mock live atmosphere that opens up with a call for "Kosher Pickled Harry" and proceeds to become a classic Chicano garage rocker, worthy of Top 20 placement in 1964.
27. "It's A-Happening," The Magic Mushrooms. The rather goofy, nearly-satirical nature of the freak-out lyrics do nothing to take away from the bizarre backwards guitar and harsh riffage of this wild acid rocker.
Volume 2
1. "Talk Talk," The Music Machine. Having toiled in L.A. folk, this band wound up detuning their guitars and getting in touch with their inner angry youth to yield an urgent, stunning rocker. Went to #15 in 1966.
2. "Last Time Around," The Del-Vetts. The fuzzy, metal-friendly guitar and the pronounced, pounding bass makes this one of the set's greatest revelations in regards to the added content.
3. "Nobody But Me," The Human Beinz. A bunch of young white men from Cleveland covered an Isley Brothers classic and were so damn good, they got played on black R&B stations. Nobody can do the crossover like they do.
4. "Journey to Tyme," Kenny & the Kasuals. Inspired heavily by The Yardbirds musically but sung with ferocious conviction by Kenny Daniels and heavy enough on its own, this nonetheless failed to make a name for itself nationally on two separate releases.
5. "No Friend of Mine," The Sparkles. Stands alongside "You're Gonna Miss Me" as one of the most scorching rockers to come out of Texas around this time, with an admirably p*ssed-off lead vocal by (Un)Lucky Floyd.
6. "Outside Chance," The Turtles. The same band that brought you "Happy Together" managed to knock this Warren Zevon-penned (alongside Glenn Crocker), Bones Howe-produced track of a similarly bittersweet optimism.
7. "Action Woman," The Litter. The opening track on the very first Pebbles compilation, but this bracing and blistering effort from Minneapolis, MN's the Litter is a nugget all the way.
8. "Spazz," The Elastik Band. I love weird things, and this completely wacked-out effort with sharply-picked guitar licks, oddball lyrics delivered with lunacy by David Cortopassi (someone slipped LSD in his drinking water) and a bizarrely bluesy/angelic bridge has to be heard to be believed.
9. "Sweet Young Thing," The Chocolate Watchband. The bastard children of the Stones come back swinging with original vocalist Dave Aguilar doing a wild, guttural Mick Jagger impersonation.
10. "Incense and Peppermints," Strawberry Alarm Clock. The psychedelic sixties at its hummable zenith, a chart-topping track which was sung by an outside vocalist (Chris Mumford), features a future Skynyrd guitarist in Ed King and was initially slated for B-side consumption.
11. "I Ain't No Miracle Worker," The Brogues. Not too many females turn up on these recordings, but Nancie Mantz and Annette Tucker were the songwriting team behind the great "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" and this hard-hitting anthem, too. Two members of the Broques transferred to the Quicksilver Messenger Service.
12. "7 and 7 Is," Love. Arthur Lee had his finger on the punk rock scene by nearly a decade with this musical battering ram that charges along with such ferocity that it takes an atomic bomb to sedate the group. Covered by both the Ramones and Rush.
13. "Time Won't Let Me," The Outsiders. Hot stuff even to this day, written and produced by guitarist/sax man Tom King and sung by Sonny Geraci, who holds his own against brass, bass and a colorful Hammond organ. Another one of the lucky few to crack the Top 10.
14. "Going All the Way," The Squires. The tempo is more eerie but the rhythm and the sharp guitar sounds ensure something lovely and raw at the same time. This is a lost jangling gem.
15. "I'm Gonna Make You Mine," The Shadows of Knight. These guys finally stop treading on Bo Diddley and Van Morrison to offer up a lustful, crunchy track which might as well be a precursor to the Stooges. Yowser!
16. "The Trip," Kim Fowley. After coining the phrases "Alley Oop" and "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow," the multifaceted Fowley invites you to "a world of frogs and green fountains and flying dogs and silver cats and emerald rats..." Feel like a one-way ticket, kiddies?
17. "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," The Seeds. I just recently heard this in a commercial. Sky Saxon managed to pen a solid pop tune that lacks the ramshackle appeal of "Pushin' Too Hard" but managed to catch the ears of one Alex Chilton in time. One slot shy of cracking the Top 40, damn it!
18. "Why Do I Cry," The Remains. This band deserved more attention than the world forgot to give them, despite boasting enough talent to land a contract with Epic. This time written by vocalist/guitarist Barry Tashian, who delivers when it comes to the bridge.
19. "Laugh, Laugh," The Beau Brummels. San Franciscan Merseybeat with production duties handled by Sylvester Stewart and a melancholy disposition that naturally landed the group an immortal guest spot on The Flintstones.
20. "The Little Black Egg," The Nightcrawlers. A swirling folk-rocker with three-part harmony and eccentric lyrics concerning a "little black egg with the little white specks." I first heard this covered by the Cars, yet this is much more in the spirit of the era, and, therefore, a Nugget.
21. "I Wonder," The Gants. Wherein Sid Herring of Greenwood, Mississippi, steps up to the plate with a melody borrowed from the Beatles and more poignant lyrics of unrequited love than most of the harder tunes.
22. "I See the Light," The Five Americans. The blipping organ and groovy Texas blues shuffle keep this Dale Hawkins-produced effort by a band who later hit with a song called "Western Union" a smooth transaction.
23. "Who Do You Love," The Woolies. Not exactly dripping with the sort of grit required of Bo Diddley's original, but it is a catchy enough pop interpretation that reminds me of Tommy James.
24. "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)," Swingin' Medallions. A Farfisa-fuelled frat rock romp meant to be sung along with barrels of beer and a cadre of friends. Did Bruce Springsteen really cover this song live?
25. "Live," The Merry-Go-Round. Mature, harmonious SoCal pop song made a minor splash (it peaked at #63) and was originally featured, along with nine other tracks on this set, in the original follow-up CD to the Kaye original.
26. "Steppin' Out," Paul Revere & the Raiders. Punchy number about a young man who gets drafted and comes back to hear the news that he's been cheated on. They one-up themselves later on in this set, however.
27. "Diddy Wah Diddy," Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. The first single released by the gravel-voiced maverick on A&M and best of the blues covers on this entire set (penned by John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon). Jerry Handley's bass and Doug Moon's lead guitar are smoking, but it's the Captain and his harp which dominate. Quite accessible given the fact that it came out before Trout Mask Replica.
28. "Strychnine," The Sonics. This is the first of three songs by this Tacoma-formed outfit that looks rather vanilla, but know how to throw down a seriously spontaneous groove and are led by a man named Gerry Roslie, who sings and plays piano in the spirit of Little Richard. Be prepared to fall in love.
29. "Little Girl," Syndicate of Sound. Inspired by "Hey Joe" and the Searchers, never has putting a girl down ever been this infectiously woven into a pop song. It went to #8 in 1966.
30. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet," Blues Magoos. The Brooklyn-based group previously heard covering "Tobacco Road" went to #5 on this wild, organ-and-guitar-packed romp in the vein of the Dave Clark Five.
31. "Shape of Things to Come (from the motion picture Wild in the Streets)," Max Frost & the Storm Troopers. Written by Mann/Weill of Brill Building infamy and performed by a group of studio musicians, but still quick and catchy.
Volume 3
1. "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)," The Hombres. Went to #12 in 1967, but this is kind of an oddity, with a Huckleberry Hound-voiced singer going all Dylanesque over a lazy, funky groove.
2. "Fight Fire," The Golliwogs. Tom Fogerty sang lead in this early band with brother John, and they would soon establish their own identity stepping away from Liverpool and into the swamp.
3. "At the River's Edge," New Colony Six. Love the ascending-descending bass run and the harmonica, but this is a song about suicide, so dance wisely.
4. "Jack of Diamonds," The Daily Flash. Seattle outfit draw out guitar feedback for over 10 seconds and proceed onto a harmonica-charged Yardbirds-style rocker.
5. "Follow Me," Lyme & Cybelle. Warren Zevon in his early days playing guitar and backing up female vocalist Violet Santangelo on this Sonny & Cher-styled acoustic folk song.
6. "It's Cold Outside," The Choir. Although penned by guitarist Danny Klawon, the solid musicianship behind this minor hit song feels unsurprising given its lead guitarist, Wally Bryson, went on to form the Raspberries.
7. "Beg, Borrow, and Steal," The Rare Breed. The guitar line that apes another song featured on the later disc of this set, but dumb fun nonetheless provided you don't bring up having to go now.
8. "She's About a Mover," Sir Douglas Quintet. A two-step guitar shuffle with percussion and Vox organ, plus a singer who may as well be a dead ringer for Ray Charles, right down to the "What'd I say?" interjections.
9. "Little Bit O' Soul," The Music Explosion. Taking an obscure U.K. single and turning it into an uplifting bubblegum rock classic, this was a hair close to making it to #1.
10. "Put the Clock Back on the Wall," The "E" Types. The song has a solid stop-start arrangement, a killer chorus and enough upbeat yet brooding musical touches to ensure another lost classic.
11. "Falling Sugar," The Palace Guard. The story of three Canadian brothers who relocate to Canada hoping to be music stars despite no evident talent, but manage to wind up on record with a group of decent, Mersey-aping musicians, one of whom is a 15-year-old drummer who would go on to form the Merry-Go-Round (see disc two's "Live").
12. "Run, Run, Run," The Gestures. A surf-infused, moody track with a vocal harmony that almost sounds like Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby," but doesn't detract from the overall energy of this song.
13. "I Need You," The Rationals. A faithful, slightly spirited take on a classic Kinks track.
14. "Knock Knock," The Humane Society. Doomy, thunderous rhythm, four creepy guitar notes and a lead singer who will not be denied makes for one of the most nightmarish, intense songs about stalkers you'll ever hear. Naturally, it was thrown on the flipside of a pre-Tiny Tim version of "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me."
15. "Primitive," The Groupies. A lurching, lusty effort from the Lower East Side with a booming drum beat and John Lee-inspired guitars, and one of those songs that managed to capture the ear of the Cramps in due time.
16. "Psycho," The Sonics. It's hard to imagine anyone ever doing a solid enough cover of this track, another barnstorming effort featuring some of Gerry Roslie's most unhinged howls of the three sampled Sonics selections.
17. "So What!!" The Lyrics. A collector's dream but available here in all its glory, singer Chris Gaylord adapts his real life experience dating a rich girl into a relentless, venomous blues rocker.
18. "You Must Be a Witch," The Lollipop Shoppe. Anguished, gothic blues rock charged with dread and desire in equal measure.
19. "A Question of Temperature," The Balloon Farm. Lots of primitive electronics and a breathy lead vocal make this a rather before-its-time track, especially in regards to Suicide, also from NYC, and the mid-1980s English pop scene.
20. "Maid of Sugar-Maid of Spice," Mouse & the Traps. Like going from "Like a Rolling Stone" to "Tombstone Blues," but this feels less Dylanesque if only because the Mouse's raspy howl is more horny than ever before. Even the guitarist feels liberated from formula.
21. "You Ain't Tuff," The Uniques. This Louisiana-based, rip-roaring blues punk number (produced by Dale Hawkins) originally appeared on the sixth volume of Mindrockers, another Nuggets offshoot.
22. "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White," The Standells. The follow-up to "Dirty Water" is a bit more laid-back in its rhythm but still has plenty of attitude, especially in the ad-libbed finale wherein Dick Dodd makes damn sure you take him for who he is.
23. "She's My Baby," The Mojo Men. A total departure from "Sit Down, I Think I Love You," definitely more in John Lee territory. And, by the way, this song amongst a few others ("Psychotic Reaction," the coming "Johnny Was a Good Boy" and "Codine") overlap with the recent San Francisco Nuggets package.
24. "Story of My Life," Unrelated Segments. Opens up with fleet-fingered bass runs and then gets down to the nitty gritty, as the lead singer of this Detroit outfit learns the hard way about money not being able to buy love and all.
25. "I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time," The Third Bardo. Very indebted to the Doors, but with a Jaggeresque lead singer and a particularly prickly guitar solo.
26. "Mirror of Your Mind," We the People. Another fairly rare recording of bashed-away blues rock that lacks restraint and is all the better for it.
27. "Bad Little Woman," The Shadows of Knight. Once again proof that a band like this should follow their libido rather than merely in the footsteps of established musicians.
28. "Double Yellow Line," The Music Machine. Hard to follow "Talk Talk," but the group offer a solid, fuzzy funk number with trippy organ fills and plenty of soul.
29. "Optical Sound," The Human Expression. Kind of sounds like the Seeds using reverb and fuzz tones to create a whirling psychedelic atmosphere. Very good stuff.
30. "Journey to the Center of the Mind," The Amboy Dukes. Finely-constructed classic rock staple gets its psychedelic points across largely thanks to the six-string slinging madness of Ted Nugent.
Volume 4
1. "Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)," The Chocolate Watchband. Third time's really the charm for this band, who still sound uncannily Stonesy but deliver a sharp statement of square pegs trying to fit into round holes.
2. "Too Many People," The Leaves. A folksy but fiery statement of purpose from the same band who tried on "Hey Joe" for size back on the original album.
3. "(Would I Still Be) Her Big Man," The Brigands. A factory worker frets about what should happen if the ruse he uses to impress a rich girl wears thin. A bit anxious and fairly sympathetic for a garage number.
4. "Are You a Boy Or Are You a Girl?" The Barbarians. Ditching the Hawks and keeping the spotlight away from solely shining on drummer Moulty, this snide but peppy rock number bests the original album's contribution hands down.
5. "Wooly Bully," Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs. God bless Domingo Samudio and his Farfisa compact organ for writing this monster of a song, which still sounds stupid fresh today.
6. "I Want Candy," The Strangeloves. An earlier top 20 hit for the band who scored on disc one with "Night Time," a bit more eclectic and blessed with a Bo Diddley beat. This went to #11, whereas the Bow Wow Wow version stalled at #62. Go figure.
7. "Louie Louie," The Kingsmen. This is the one that scared the pants off of people before there was such a thing as the PMRC. And it went to #2, baby.
8. "One Track Mind," The Knickerbockers. The follow-up to "Lies" shows that these guys don't need anybody's "Help!" in doing killer Beatles impersonations, although this was written by a pair of outside songwriters.
9. "Out of Our Tree," Wailers. A very Sonics-styled basher that champions insanity, these Tacoma guys don't have an ace up their sleeve like Gerry Roslie, but they do alright.
10. "I Think I'm Down," Harbinger Complex. I think this song is about a guy whose horse, Joe, gets in the way of his love life, but the fuzzed-out guitar throughout is a nice touch.
11. "What Am I Going to Do," The Dovers. A shimmering, well-produced melancholy pop song rescued from obscurity.
12. "Codine," The Charlatans. West Coast country rockers before there were Eagles and an early roots rock group before the Band released their first LP, with some really strong harmony vocals.
13. "Johnny Was a Good Boy," The Mystery Trend. The boy next door snaps one day and commits some serious crime, which goes unnoticed but is the source of some serious grief. A killer melody may hold a clue.
14. "Stop-Get a Ticket," Clefs of Lavender Hill. Naggingly catchy pop song about not letting the love of your life take the train out of your life. It peaked at #80.
15. "Complication," The Monks. A group of American servicemen formed a wild new band whilst in Germany dressed in black robes and shaving tonsures onto their heads. The music is direct, brutal and outraged, with lyrics like "People go...to their deaths for you!" Quite the catch.
16. "The Witch," The Sonics. This is it, the last straw! Now I have to buy a copy of Here Are the Sonics even if I wind up with the same three songs on this set. They are now officially my favorite of all the bands on this set.
17. "Get Me to the World on Time," The Electric Prunes. The band was practically interchangeable as the liner notes exemplifies, but the efforts of this band, the producer and the songwriters do add up to a decent follow up to "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)."
18. "Mr. Pharmacist," The Other Half. I wonder if I recommended this to my friends, would they all be happy in the end? A very bouncy, riff-heavy endorsement of a certain medicine man.
19. "Open Up Your Door," Richard & the Young Lions. The young band who wrote this upbeat, call-and-response rocker were none too pleased with the notion of being saddled with session players, and so their legacy was sadly shortened.
20. "Just Like Me," Paul Revere & the Raiders. The band got a #11 pop hit with this song, and it may as well be their finest three minutes on record, solid in every aspect from the vocals to the backbeat.
21. "You Burn Me Up and Down," We the People. This song is so potently loud, it may be enough to smash the mirror of your mind simply by turning this up to even 8. Glad to hear this sexually-charged Nugget so near the end of the collection.
22. "I Live in the Springtime," The Lemon Drops. Number one in my heart if not on the charts, this swirling celebration of life packs a solid rhythmic guitar as well as a particularly classic solo by some Ricky Erickson (no relation to Roky).
23. "Mindrocker," Fenwyck. Written by the team behind the Knickerbockers' "One Track Mind," the synergy of the various instruments once again adds up to something that sounds both pretty and raw.
24. "Hold Me Now," The Rumors. Regarding the liner notes' description of this song, where we learn this literally had 15 seconds of fame being used in a McDonald's commercial, I'm lovin' it.
25. "Love's Gone Bad," The Underdogs. This band was signed to Motown's subsidiary label written by Holland/Dozier/Holland themselves, so this explains the really solid, professional R&B groove.
26. "Why Pick on Me," The Standells. The band lost their bass player and were said to have hated this single, but the exotic Tamblyn organ stretches the band's sound out and still has as much going for it as their other featured selections.
27. "Bad Girl," The Zakary Thaks. A group of teenagers from Corpus Christi, TX, wrote and recorded this urgent, competent slice of Southern punk rock straight from a Battle of the Bands victory.
28. "Blackout of Gretely," Gonn. Recorded by a group of Iowa bad boys in the back room of an electronics store, this sounds too good and this set is almost over. I'm crying, people.
29. "Voices Green and Purple," The Bees. Clocking in at 1:35, this song compacts the experience of dropping acid with more energy and inspired madness than almost all of the songs to have referenced taking trips in this entire set.
30. "Blues Theme (from the motion picture The Wild Angels)," Davie Allen & the Arrows. The boxed set ends on a biker movie note with this fuzzed-out instrumental featured in a Roger Corman flick, performed by a man who would go on to score such motor-revvin' cult flicks as Devil's Angels and The Born Losers.
Rhino has followed up their NUGGETS series three times in the wake of this release, with the more international-minded Nuggets II, the revivalist sounds of the Children of Nuggets and even ventured into flower-filled San Francisco. However, there's no denying that the original is a mammoth achievement not just in terms of how it was the first truly legendarily compilation album, but how much fun the music contained therein is. Just listening it to it by yourself is enough to launch visions of starting your own musical project (here's my ideal band name for the time being: Reep Ded). NUGGETS: ORIGINAL ARTYFACTS FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA (1965-1968) remains essential listening for anyone whose love for rock and roll knows no boundaries or no formal training. It's about the thrill of the sound, the ramshackle charms and conviction of overwhelmed young men who felt they could fulfill their chance at a one-song glory. And from the looks of it, they all managed to do so and, in some cases, then some. A must-buy.
1. I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) (2:59)2. Dirty Water (2:48)3. Night Time (2:32)4. Lies (2:44)5. Respect (2:15)6. Public Execution (2:49)7. No ...More at Meijer
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![Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 [Box]](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/cf/56/c7/2005904479-177x150-0-0.jpg)
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