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 to 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 63/118: Follow Me by lyme & cybelle
From: Los Angeles, California (although Warren Zevon is originally from Chicago)
Aphoristic Rating: 8/10
FOLLOW ME – Lyme & Cybelle [2:25]
(Warren Zevon/Violet Santangelo)
Personnel/WARREN ZEVON: vocals, guitar * TULE LIVINGSON (VIOLET SANTANGELO): vocals * Others unknown
Conducted by BOB THOMPSON
Produced by BONES HOWE for WHITE WHALE RECORDS
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
White Whale single #WW-228 (2/66); Pop #65
It’s the common pattern for most Nuggets acts to vanish into obscurity – only a handful made the big time. There’s a handful concentrated at the start of Disc 3 of Nuggets – The Choir mutated into The Raspberries, while The Golliwogs transitioned into Creedence Clearwater Revival. Stephen Lyme, from the duo Lyme & Cybelle, is better known as Warren Zevon.
‘Follow Me’ is not the only song written by Zevon on Nuggets – he also co-wrote a Turtles tune on Disc 2. It’s not very typical of Zevon’s usual style – it’s a piece of hippie folk-rock, without the dark streak that Zevon exhibited on his later work. It’s not an especially substantial song, but it’s breezy and pleasant.
The Nuggets liner notes, which I’ve reproduced above, incorrectly credit Zevon’s former lover Tule Livingson as the female vocalist. Zevon’s partner in Lyme & Cybelle was actually Violet Santangelo. After Lyme & Cybelle, Santangelo changed her name to Laura Kenyon and enjoyed a successful career on Broadway.
Lyme & Cybelle’s career was short-lived. Zevon left after their second single – reports differ on whether it was due to musical differences or Zevon’s bad habits. Zevon was replaced by Monkees’ guitarist Wayne Erwin, who then fired Cybelle. Zevon took a while to find solo success – after an unsuccessful debut album (1969’s Wanted Dead or Alive), he spent a while in the wilderness, working with the Everly Brothers and briefly moving to Spain. Support of friends like Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and Fleetwood Mac allowed him a second change at a musical career, with his successful 1976 album.
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Sounds good!
Yup, it’s quite pretty.
Sounds pretty good – reminds me a tiny bit of Jefferson Airplane.
Yup, it’s got that 1960s folk rock vibe.
I like it, but you are right…it’s not the Zevon we remember. It sounds a little like a Nesmith Monkee song in parts. I never knew about his past and would have never guessed this.
Playing with the Everly Brothers isn’t what you’d expect either, right?
Not at all…I would like to read a book about him.
I always thought it was odd that this is on Nuggets. Seems really out of place. I don’t like the song very much but I like the way the drums are kind of fast and make it move along. Looks like you’re only a few tracks away from the awesome Disc 2, home of the greatest Nuggets.
Not a bad song. I never knew this about Zevon’s music career beginnings.
Yeah, it’s an overlooked start for his career. I’ve never heard his obscure debut album, that came out seven years before his self-titled one.