NUGGET REPORT

Executive Summary

Nuggets is a rich mine of lost, forgotten and classic garage rock. The expanded 50th anniversary edition is crammed with Sixties gems.

Background

Before he was the guitarist for the Patti Smith group, Lenny Kaye was a rock critic. More a rock enthusiast, really, with a prospector’s ear for forgotten and overlooked nuggets of rock. Record label Elektra invited Kaye to compile an album of sixties gems from outside the chart mainstream and Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era was the outcome of his digging. It is a double album crammed with glorious garage gems and scintillating psychedelic sides all recorded between 1964 and 1968.

A second double album was planned, but licensing challenges meant it never made it above ground. Until now. The 50th anniversary boxed set includes not only the original 2LP set and its shelved sequel, but also a further record of contenders named, a little clumsily, "Also Dug-its". With seventy tracks, this is a B I G box. Yet the sheer variety will keep you thoroughly entertained.

Highlights

There are literally dozens of highlights across the five LPs. On the first volume we have the kick-arse “Lies” by The Knickerbockers (later covered terrifically by Linda Ronstadt), The Count Five’s rollicking “Psychotic Reaction”, and “Open My Eyes”, a psychedelic sun splash by Todd Rundgren’s early group, The Nazz. There’s shambolic party-rock from The Premiers ("Farmer John") and a savage blues rock version of "Baby Please Don’t Go" by early Ted Nugent group The Amboy Dukes.

Volume 2 opens with the melodic Lovin’ Spoonful hit "Do You Believe In Magic" and follows up with Love’s outstanding "7 And 7 Is". There’s no argument that "96 Tears" by ? & The Mysterians is a chunk of vintage garage rock, from its pumping organ to the heart-tugging vocals. The Beau Brummels provide some dream pop via "Laugh Laugh" (think Everly Brothers meet the Mamas and the Papas for the family connection) while "Frustration" by The Mystic Tide is a blast of pure proto-punk intensity.

The British influence is all over Nuggets, whether it is The Gants covering "Road Runner" via The Animals or a delightful slice of Merseybeat pop from Raspberries forerunners The Choir with their original "It’s Cold Outside". It does seem women were not exactly regular occupants of the garage, so "What A Way To Die" by The Pleasure Seekers is a rare treat. What it lacks in bottom end (who mixed this one?) it makes up for in the twitchy vocals by a young Suzi Quatro. Fabulous. A new one to these ears was the Squires "Going All The Way", part garage screamer, part power pop gem.

Eventually we make it to the final record, Also Dug-its. No throw-away rag bag of also-runs, this one maintains the high standards of the previous doubles. From the far out sounds of "Milkweed Love" by Lothar And The Hand People (whose eyebrow raising name refers to their theremin) to the sunshine pop of "Yellow Balloon" by, er, The Yellow Balloon, this too is a delight and perhaps even more diverse than what came before.

Conclusions

Bursting with creativity and attitude, Nuggets will pick you up if you’re flat and make you smile if you’re sad. It will make your legs jiggle and your fists pump. It is, in short, one of the best examples of the compiler’s art in the history of rock. Someone once asked, ‘Why bother with Various Artists albums?’. Here is the answer.

Get the beautifully presented 50th anniversary Nuggets box set while you can.

© Bruce Jenkins—June 2023