Seeing as it’s been rather a long time since the last YouTube-playlist-y piece on here, what better excuse could I have than to celebrate an anniversary; in this case, 40 years since the original release, by Elektra, of the double-album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-68.
Compiled and annotated by then-rock critic and later Patti Smith Group bassist & collaborator Lenny Kaye, the album contained 27 examples of records that, though at the time recent, had been more-or-less completely forgotten about, or still more ignored, by most rock & pop fans. The styles & sounds contained within the grooves can & have been described in many ways: punk rock, primitive fuzz, folk-rock, horn rock, psychedelic dementia, protest rock, but the one that seems to have stuck most ineluctably is ‘garage rock’.
Largely produced by young teenage or college-age groups intent on presenting their own take on the all-conquering ‘British invasion’ acts that based their approach on bastardised & cannibalised versions of American rhythm & blues material (the Rolling Stones, Them & the Pretty Things all being key points of reference), the music proved to be a major discovery to those who’d assumed the U.S. pop scene in the latter part of the 60s was - beyond the U.K. bands - the preserve of Motown, sing-a-long bubblegum anthems and Californian longhairs. (Indeed, it’s worth noting that all but 5 of the 27 songs made at least some impression on the Billboard listings of the time.)
The snottily aggressive two- & three-chord stomps, sitting alongside trendy exploitation pieces based around the wonder drug of the age, LSD, made for a potent and heady cocktail, and within 4 years, the album had been reissued by Seymour Stein’s Sire label, coincidentally around the same time as the debut release by a band of scruffy-looking street toughs from Long Island, allegedly brothers but who cares - the Ramones.
And that proved to be the album’s initial musical influence; so many young musicians on both sides of the Atlantic went gaga for this stuff, and before long, it was being cited as a benchmark for all the bands keen on replicating the stance, the style, the attitude, of the likes of the Standells, the Blues Magoos, the Chocolate Watch Band and the 13th Floor Elevators. As importantly, the record kicked the doors wide-open for dozens more enthusiasts & collectors to wade in & re-issue, even if only semi-legally, their own favourite curiosities & treasures, and series the likes of Pebbles, Rubble and Back from the Grave all swelled out into the offing, eagerly gobbled up by hungry converts of all ages.
In 1998, Rhino Records paid the album its ultimate compliment: taking the original compilation, and adding a further 91 songs to make a 4-CD box-set that is, and looks likely to remain, the ultimate introduction to a fascinating, enthralling & utterly fabulous sound.
If I’ve managed to convey a little of the excitement that this music generates, then this has not been a total waste of time, at least. But of course, the only way to really experience music is to hear it - so: the usual drill. Click on the title above to link through to a YouTube playlist of 5 favourite tracks from the original album, or if you prefer, have a look & listen to each song individually. If the sounds are new to you, and do their job properly, then pretty soon you should be scurrying off to Amazon, iTunes or Spotify to ferret out some more. And oh, how I envy you on your voyage of discovery!
The Electric Prunes: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night), 1966
The Standells: Dirty Water, 1966
The Remains: Don’t Look Back, 1966
