Customer Reviews

Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968

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In the summer of 1976 a friend played for me two albums that forever changed my music collecting life. The first was "The Ramones" and the second was the Sire edition of "Nuggets" which is now Volume 1 of the amazing 4 CD set. Over the next 20 years I avidly collected every known American mid 60's band and have assembled a 2,000 plus collection of the "Nugget" bands plus all the vinyl compillation series that 'Nuggets" spawned such as "Pebbles", "Flashback', "Back from the Grave" etc.

This collection is hands down the finest single collection of mid 60's American Punk, Psycedelic and Garage bands both known and obscure. If the music appeals to you it will either become a fantastic starting place for futher collecting or if you are already a fan a perfect 4 volume summary with outstanding sound. Of course this set has the must have classics by the Elevators, Standells,CWB, Wailers etc. However, this set also has many songs thar are new to my collection and truly fantastic including "Journey to Tyme" by Kenny & the Kasuals and "Open up You Door" By Richard and the Young Lions.

Great liner notes by the people who originaly uncovered most of these songs including Lenny Kaye and Greg Shaw and great mono sound not artificial rechanneled stereo. A couple of missing songs such as the Moving Sidewalks "99th floor" ? & The Mysterions' "96 Tears", The Magic Mushrooms "I'm Gone" and The Grains of Sand "Thats when Happiness Began".

All in all perfection. Enjoy!!!! M

Nuggets was originally released in 1972 as a double album. It celebrated the garage rock music of the mid 60's with future Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye providing dead-on liner notes. The band's featured on the album laid the blueprint for such bands as The New York Dolls, The Stooges and Patti Smith as well as the punk movement. The songs are no nonsense, crazed out rockers with some psychedelia and dance tracks thrown in. Rhino Records has done an amazing job expanding the original double album into a four cd set. Some of the songs like The Kingsmen "Louie, Louie", Sam The Sham & Pharaoh's "Wooly Bully", The Outsiders' "Time Wont Let Me", The Human Beinz propulsive "Nobody But Me", The Musical Explosion's "Little Bit O' Soul", The Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction", The Castaways' "Liar, Liar" were all top ten hits with The Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense & Peppermint" going all the way to number one. For the most part, the collection is made up of obscure songs that were minor national hits and regional hits around the country. Songs like The Cryan Shames' searing "Sugar & Spice", The Barbarians' earnest "Moulty", The Lollipop Shoppe's pulsating "You Must Be A Witch", The Sonics' "Strychnine", Kim Fowley's spooky "The Trip", Rare Breed's (who became American Breed and scored a top ten hit with Bend Me, Shape Me) r&b flavored "Beg, Borrow & Steal", Richard & The Young Lions' stellar "Open Up Your Door", The Bees' buzzing "Voices Green & Purple" and The Palace Guards' bubble gummy "Falling Sugar" are all basically unknowns. But they all show an immense amount of heart and soul and the classic three chords and a dream philosophy of most bands out there. Some well known bands show up with some lesser known hits like The Turtles, Captain Beefheart and Paul Revere & The Raiders whose "Just Like Me" is an absolute rave-up. Some famous artists appear in their first or lesser known groups like Todd Rundgren with The Nazz on "Open Our Eyes, Ted Nugent on two songs from The Amboy Dukes, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons with The 13th Floor Elevators and Creedence Clearwater Revival shows up under their original moniker, The Golliwogs, with the chooglin "Fight Fire". Other great songs include some semi-famous tracks like the frat rock classics "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love" by The Swinging Medallions and The Premiers "Farmer John", The Standells' "Dirty Water", The Strangeloves "I Want Candy" which Bow Wow Wow would turn into a new wave staple, Love's influential "7 And 7 Is" and the Tex-ex stylings of The Hombres' "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)". Nuggets is an essential collection for any fan of rock to have in their collection.

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.

I'm 17 years old, and this is some of the best music i've ever heard in my life. This box set contains great alternative rock, punk, garage, heavy metal and pop music from 1965 to 1968. The sound quality is fantastic, and the songs sound so timeless. Each cd in this set is a unique revelation of rareness. Some songs are top 40 hits, and many are just lost NUGGETS that are golden baby. These bands were influenced by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Bob Dylan. They have raw power and energy, and maybe some of the artists on this box set could have been right up there with the best, but unfortunatley for some reason they weren't big. It doesn't matter what age you are, this box set has something for the young and old. Get this great set, and you'll be surprised how excellent this music really was! The booklet that comes with this package is beautiful. It has tons of photos,history, and iformation on all of the bands featured in the set. If you've been let down on your recent cd's, this will make up for them all. Grab a neon duck, and shave the moon's face.

I bought this set because it was on sale for Christmas and I am glad I did. Rhino as usual did an excellent job with this set. The sound is excellent and extensive liner notes and photos are included in the lavish booklet that comes with this 4 cd set. This set which was based on the 1972 set compiled by Lenny Kaye. The first disk includes that entire 1972 set. Kaye's 1972 set helped inspire a whole genre of compilations of obscure garage/psychedelic music. However, this set includes an additional three disks of material not included on the 1972 set. The set also proves to be a great way to pick some excellent singles of some "one hit wonders" of the sixties. Highlights are too many to mention but notable tracks include "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, "I Want Candy" and "Night Time" by the Strangeloves, "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, "Hey Joe" by the Leaves, "Psychotic Reaction" by the Count Five, "Lies" and "One Track Mind" by the Knickerbockers, "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock and "The Little Black Egg" by the Nightcrawlers. Other favorites include "Let's Talk About Girls" by the Chocolate Watchband, "Dirty Water" by the Standells, "Don't Look Back" and Why Do I Cry" by the Remains. Shadows of Knight, The Amboy Dukes, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, The Blues Project, The Turtles, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Love, & Captain Beefheart also make appearances. Part of what makes this set great is the discovery of unexpected favorites like "Mr. Pharmacist" by the Other Half, "Mindrocker" by Fenwyck, "Hold Me Now" by the Rumors, "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" by the Brogues, "Live" by the Merry-Go-Round and "So What!" by the Lyrics among others are such unexpected gems. The songs range from the psychedelic of "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night" by the Electric Prunes to the hard garage sound of "Action Woman" by the Litter, British Invasion influenced R&B like "I Need You" by the Rationals to more pop sounding numbers like "Open My Eyes" by the Nazz. My only criticism is the lack of "Gloria" by the Shadows of Knight and the exclusion of material by bands like Blue Cheer, the Moving Sidewalks and ? and the Mysterians. Don't let these omissions deter you fom this purchase. The set remains in my heavy rotation and is worth every penny for the great sound remastering if nothing else! Fans of sixties garage/pyschedelic music should rejoice with the purchase of this set!

When people talk about underground movements. The one no one talks about,is. In the early 60's the mass production of the transistor radio. What a great (cheap)gift to give all us welfare kids. Carrying IT everywere we went.Laying there all night listening to KRLA 1110,Johnny Hayes or Bob Dayton. Or 93/KHJ,Johnny Williams or Humble Harve. From my story I can tell you NUGGETS is what we wanted to hear.I believe all radio stations who play 60's music,need to get NUGGETS!NOW! Put this together with MOTOWNS(HITSVILLE USA),Toss in THE BUDDAH BOX SET,Maybe a BRITISH INVASION,STAX,TIME LIFE cd or two? There you have 60's radio,loud & proud! With no commercials. The other thing this proves is what a monster influence on American bands the YARDBIRDS had (Jeff Beck stuff). A third of these songs we all know. A third you will remember? A third you'll scrath your head and laugh}:-D The critics hated this stuff(no control). And they hated the bands that followed,like. The biggest of all garage bands,GRAND FUNK RAILROAD or MAHOGANY RUSH. If you can think of at least five bands who didn't make it on NUGGETS. Then you my friend are on the right track! Hope the rock&roll hall of fame has a display dedicated to the transister radio. That strange little square box,that saved a generation. Those little square 9 volt batteries were all I needed.Touch one on your tongue sometime,feel the groove,yeah baby!

Elektra Records'1972 NUGGETS double LP compilation occupies in legendary place in pop archeology, as the first testimonial to the disingenuous charms and reckless abandon of pre-hippie '60s rock'n'roll. For all the significance attached to the original NUGGETS as a template for the punk ethos, nobody I knew in the '70s had even heard of it, and I've only seen one copy (for $25) in all my years of record scrounging. Rhino picked up the ball in 1984 with a NUGGETS series that has not been comprehensively reissued on CD. In a state of digital-era confusion Rhino put out three NUGGETS CDs that mixed the better-known cuts from the LPs with decidedly non-garage numbers from the Monkees and the Chambers Brothers. With Elektra and Rhino both absorbed by Time/Warner, this four CD box set combines the 27 original nuggets with 91 tracks culled primarily from the Rhino series.

NUGGETS doesn't represent a single genre; here you'll find frenzied, fuzz-drenched psychedelia, Kinks-like frat rock slammers, Beatlesque harmonizing, and overly affected, suburban R&B knock-offs. In a welcome departure from the upscale aspirations of Rhino's earlier documents of the era, this collection mines the rich vein of psych/punk ravers that previously only surfaced on low-fi compilations like PEBBLES, BOULDERS, and the inimitably titled TURDS ON A BUM RIDE. The Third Bardo's "I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time," the Bees' "Voices Green and Purple," the Groupies' "Primitive," and the Other Half's "Mr. Pharmacist" receive better sonic presentation than previously seemed possible. Sound quality is excellent throughout, with original mono mixes preserved where appropriate.

A 100-page booklet packed with vintage photographs provides erudite track-by-track annotation by "Ugly Things" editor Mike Stax. The incredibly tacky-and glaringly inappropriate--Peter Max-style cover art of the 1972 LP has been adapted for the box set. Max's tasteless reiteration of the San Francisco poster idiom was a '70s excrescence entirely unrelated to the mid '60s garage rock scene. We had Peter Max placemats when I was a kid, and they made me want to vomit.

If you own any of the NUGGETS LPs or CDs, you're certain to be disappointed by the excessive familiarity of certain selections, as well as by some heart-rending omissions. While this set reprises 26 tracks from the poorly planned NUGGETS VOL. 1-3 CDs, highlights like Rumor's hypnotic "Without Her," the Association's raga rock confection "Pandora's Golden Heebie Geebies," the American Breed's power pop milestone "Bend Me, Shape Me," and Cherokee's "Girl, I've Got News for You" remain in vinyl limbo. But for the uninitiated, this collection will provide an excellent (if overpriced) introduction to a short-lived era defined by exhilarating energy, innocence, humor, and unalloyed adolescent passion.

OK, it helps to have been around in the '60s; that way you have a context to the tunes you get here, and most likely memories attached to at least some of them. Unlike some reviewers who say The Five Americans, Shadows of Knight, Cryan Shames, Swinging Medallions, the Castaways, The Leaves, Standells, etc, etc can't compare to the Beatles; artistically that's obviously true, but if you were a Top 40 music lover from the day, how can you NOT get into at least some of these, well, "nuggets?" You don't hear them all the time on the radio, which is a good thing all by itself, and really, lots of those garage-rock tracks are catchy (and deep down inside, you agree). Disc 4 is weaker than the others (although it does have "Louie Louie", which is NOT a song about getting lucky), the only drawback to this collection. Ignore those who proclaim that lesser-refined bands with less commercial success, like those you find on compilations like this, are not worth the time or money, but like I said, you'll appreciate "Nuggets" more if you were around in the late 1960s. Which, I guess, makes me a geezer. So be it.

This is rock music at its very best-- raw, unpolished, and full of passion. America's answer to the British Invasion. While some bands on this compilation may be familiar to the average listener, it's the lesser known acts that really shine. While pre-punk garage bands like the Remains, Music Machine, Shadows of Knight, We the People, and countless others never gained popularity, fame, or recognition in their time, their lasting influence on future genres of hard rock, punk, alternative and grunge has been huge. But forget about influence and significance; just buy it for the amazing collection of music. The Nuggets compilation is easily at the very top of my desert island disks.

Wow, 120 songs on 4 CDs, and they are almost all killer, no filler. You know the sixties was an absolutely incredible decade for music when even the *obscure* stuff was good! Never mind the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, Stones, Doors, and all the rest, a lot of this stuff ranks right up there as my favorite '60s tunes.

For all its seeming breadth, however, this 4-CD collection barely scratches the surface. I am still waiting for cleaned up, remastered versions of tunes like "Crackin' Up" by the Wig, "I'll Be Gone" by the Opposite Six, "You Better Look Now" by the Rogues, "I Can't Stand This Love" by the Others, and on and on.

If you want to dig a little deeper, check out the "Essential Pebbles" collections. The sound quality isn't as stellar as Nuggets, but the songs are.