The title of 'Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965 - 1968' would seem to imply that the four discs included are replete with classic acid-rock tracks. While there are a fair share of psychedelic numbers, when one lists this box set for sale on ebay, the genre is identified as 'garage & surf'. There are other genre's, such as mainstream pop and country-rock that also find space on these discs, so diversity is one triumphant chord for 'Nuggets'. The liner notes also reveal that the producers sought to cull material from the rich netherland of obscure, local releases which deserved better than they got in the highly competitive world of rock and roll in the glorious 1960's. I believe this set scores on all counts, and in fact only errs by digging too deep into the proverbial barrel, where some deserving dregs (thought to be nuggets) should still be residing. But even this miscalculation is forgivable, because most people will find they have a penchant for those tracks that were local to them in the late 1960's, rather than tracks that were only popular in some far off metropolis. Also, given that there are 118 tracks offered here (almost 30 per disc, on average), this ultimate compilation could never have completely pleased anyone. What it does do is to serve as a library, a cultural time capsule, encompassing the attitude, sound, and peculiarities of the hippie generation.
I categorized the 118 tracks into five groups. The easiest group to single out were the big hits. There are eighteen songs, pretty much evenly divided over the four discs, that charted at least number 17 or higher nationally, nine of them in the Top Ten. There is only one that rose to number one, and it isn't 'Louie Louie'. It's 'Incense and Peppermints'. Each and every one should be readily recognizable to anyone who lived through the decade and held an interest in pop music. While most are readily attainable on less expensive compilations, some are fairly rare, such as 'Dirty Water' by the Standells, 'Little Girl' by the Syndicate of Sound, 'Let It All Hang Out' by The Hombres, and 'Journey To the Center of the Mind', perhaps the quintessential Nugget, by the Amboy Dukes.
Secondly, I listed songs that are definitely deserving of inclusion on these discs, but which made a far more modest impression on the pop charts of the day. Some, such as 'Tobacco Road' by The Blues Magoos and 'Baby Please Don't Go', again by the Amboy Dukes, had no chance of chart success because they were either too lengthy (over four minutes) or too drenched in the blues. I counted seven such tracks on discs one, and another seven on disc four, among them 'Lies' by the Knickerbockers, 'I Live In the Springtime' by The Lemon Drops (perhaps the only song on all four discs with no percussion instruments), and 'Love Gone Bad' by The Underdogs, a band near and dear to me from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Disc three offers 'Fight Fire' from The Golliwogs, who would soon change their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival (wait till you see John, Tom, Stu, and Cliff in their bright white fright wigs). Scary!
My third category are those songs that in some way should have been better. I was very disappointed to find that 'I Need You' by The Rationals, one of my favorite 1960's Detroit bands, was a cover of a Kinks b-side, rather than their number one hit (in Detroit) by the same name. And while I'm at it, although The Vagrants did feature Leslie West, their version of 'Respect' takes a third place to Aretha Franklin's version, AND the version parlayed into a hit by The Rationals before either one of those artists laid a hand on it. 'Hey Joe' by The Leaves pales not only to Jimi Hendrix's version, but also to The Byrds take. And how come we get 'I See the Light' by the Five Americans rather than 'Western Union', and 'Steppin' Out' by Paul Revere and the Raiders rather than 'Kicks' or 'Good Thing'? Surely The Turtles strummed up better than 'Outside Chance', even though Johnny Barbata is featured on drums here. And I could be wrong, but isn't there a sturdier version of 'Farmer John' around other than this version by The Premiers?
Fourth, there are some Great Finds here on Nuggets. The ones I knew about, but that people from other parts of the country may need to discover, include 'Pushin' Too Hard' by The Seeds, 'Who Do You Love' by the Woolies (out of Lansing, Michigan), 'Open Up Your Door' by Richard and the Young Lions, and the ultimate fuzzy guitar track, the disc four closer, 'Blue's Theme' by Davie Allen and the Arrows. I was pleasantly surprised by 'Follow Me' from Lyme (actually Warren Zevon) & Cybelle, 'You Burn Me Up and Down' by We the People (who come off sounding like the prototype for The Stooges), and 'Beg Borrow and Steal', a completely unpretentious redeux of 'Louie Louie' by The Rare Breed, featuring a great set of new lyrics. Add to that 'Open My Eyes' by an young Todd Rundgren and his band Nazz.
Finally, there are those songs that were, for the most part, interesting to listen to once, but I could never imagine wanting to hear again. Some are so bad I wonder why anyone even considered including them, such as The Mojo Men doing an awful cover of Buffalo Springfield's 'Sit Down I Think I Love You' (which wasn't even one of Buffalo Springfield's better songs). I count 63 such tracks, more than half of the songs offered. That's about 30 too many. Not that they're all bad. In fact, some, such as 'Talk Talk' by the Music Machine, and 'Laugh Laugh' by the Beau Brummels, were Top Twenty hits. I just don't have any use for them. Some feature star performers, in most cases prior to their heyday, such as Al Kooper and The Blues Project performing 'No Time Like the Right Time', and Sly Stone producing 'She's My Baby' for The Mojo Men. Some songs, such as 'Optical Sound' are interesting for their experimental sounds and recording techniques, or again as a local interest story (for me, The Unrelated Segments were a Detroit band I was curious to check out, but their 'Story of My Life' basically sucks). The longest stretch of weak songs occurs on disc four, with tracks eight through eighteen, excepting tracks nine and eleven, unworthy of being recycled here, in my opinion.
The entire 'Nuggets' package is impressively accompanied by a 95 page information booklet which is printed on heavy, glossy photo paper. It features background on the performers and their performances, as well as photographs of some of the more interesting bands. The four discs are ensconced in color coded jewel cases, which sit in a molded plastic frame, which sits in a heavy cardboard box, with psychedelic graphics gracing the cover. The discs themselves are designed to be reminicent of some of the more popular, vintage labels from the era, such as Laurie Records, home of The Music Explosion, among other bands. It is clearly a labor of love, and something any person with an interest in the music of the 1960's should take at least one look at, and for many of the tracks, more than one listen to. Save up, buy, and enjoy.
