Nuggets: I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time by The Third Bardo

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the 2 album set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years 1965-1968 and was a major influence on punk rock. Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total. I’m profiling and rating each of these 118 tracks, working backwards.

Track 83: I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time by The Third Bardo
Release Date: 1967
From: New York City
Rating: 9/10

I’M FIVE YEARS AHEAD OF MY TIME – The Third Bardo [2:12]
(Rusty Evans/Victoria Pike)
Personnel/JEFFREY MONN (NEUFELD): vocals, guitar * RICKY GOLDCLANG: lead guitar * RICHY SESLOWE: guitar * DAMIAN KELLY: bass * BRUCE GINSBERG: drums
Arranged by TEDDY RANDAZZO
Produced by TEDDY RANDAZZO for EASTERN PRODUCTIONS
Recorded in New York, NY
Roulette single #R-4742 (5/67)

It’s summer holidays in New Zealand this week, so I’m taking the easy route of just reproducing the back of The Third Bardo’s Lose Your Mind EP this week:

THE THIRD BARDO
… the name suggests that this group must be different. And they are! The group’s strange, exotic name can be traced to a passage in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, describing “the experiencing of reality”. Not surprisingly, as a musical group the Third Bardo are all about experience – new and untold musical experience. Their sound has been called “psychedelic, probably due to the group’s distinct mixture of pulsating rock rhythms and provocative lyrics:

“The people that you see are walking around half dead,
girl, they don’t know how to laugh or cry.
But let me show you how to open up your head,
you’ve got nothing to lose but your mind.”

A lot has happened to Jeff, Damian, Ricky, Rich and Bruce in the months since they’ve arrived on the scene. That “scene” so happens to be Manhattan, home to the Spoonful, Rascals, Blues Project…and now the Third Bardo. Already, they’ve gained notoriety on the local discotheque circuit (Ondine, Arthur’s, The Scene) and recently appeared at the exclusive La Cave in Cleveland (where they also taped a spot on the nationally telecasted
UPBEAT TV show).

The Third Bardo’s current popularity is doubtlessly the result of their talent, energy and originality.
The sound of the Third Bardo, today and as a promise for the dawn of tomorrow. …inventive, imaginative, intense.

Despite the hype in the writeup, The Third Bardo only stuck around for a single recording session. But it’s a shame they only recorded six songs. ‘I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time’ is a very good effort- Jeff Monn is a strong vocalist and there’s an excellent psychedelic guitar solo. The song was pulled from some radio stations for perceived drug references, but it’s hard to see why it was singled out in 1967 when ‘White Rabbit’, ‘Eight Miles High’, and ‘A Day in the Life’ were around. ‘I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time’ was co-written by Victoria Pike, then wife of the record’s producer Teddy Randazzo.

Monn went onto a brief solo career as Chris Moon, but it’s difficult to find any other info on the members of The Third Bardo.

Read More

• Nuggets Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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