10 Best Songs on the Nuggets Boxset

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the double LP set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from 1965* to 1968. The collection of short and punchy songs was a major influence on the punk movement in the UK.

Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total. Over the past four years, I’ve gone through the compilation track-by-track.

Stylistically Nuggets is limited. It only covers the USA and is almost exclusively males with guitars. But it spotlights bands who would otherwise be forgotten.

Nuggets covers an exciting period in pop and rock music. Between 1963 and 1968. when the possibilities for the artform expanded at mindblowing speed. The earliest song on this list was released in 1963. Top-selling singles in 1963 included ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’ and Skeeter Davis’s ‘The End of the World’.

In 1968, the final year of the set , notable songs included Hendrix’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’ and The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’. Rock music had become more sophisticated and dangerous. Nuggets offers a fascinating alternative history of this fast-moving era, often spotlighting the low-budget bands on the fringes of popularity.

Here are my ten favourite songs from the acclaimed boxset:

10 Best Songs on the Nuggets Boxset

#10 Don’t Look Back by The Remains

Released August 1966
Led by Barry Tashian, The Remains formed at Boston University. They had the potential to crack the big time. But drummer Chip Damiani quit just before they supported The Beatles on a US tour, upsetting the group’s synergy.

‘Don’t Look Back’ is notable for its ragged and punchy guitar tone – it’s a little like Neil Young. Barry Tashian’s delivery is dismissive like a punk vocalist, and there’s an enjoyable spoken bridge (a rarity).


#9 My World Fell Down by Sagittarius

Released May 1967
‘My World Fell Down’ is an anomaly for the Nuggets box set. It’s not the work of four teens playing in their parents’ garages, destined for obscurity. Instead, these musicians are well known. Glen Campbell’s on lead vocals, while session greats like Carole Kaye, Larry Knechtel, and Hal Blaine are also involved. Not surprisingly, it’s more polished than the average Nugget.

Produced by Gary Usher, ‘My World Fell Down’ sounds like a blend of The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ and ‘Cabinessence’. ‘My World Fell Down’ is sometimes called the great lost Beach Boys’ song.


#8 Voices Green and Purple by The Bees

Released October 1966
The Bees were a short-lived trio of high school students from Covina, California. They never played live, and the single ‘Voices Green and Purple’ and its b-side ‘Trip To New Orleans’ was their only recording.

‘Voices Green and Purple’ shares parallels with the early Rolling Stones. Vocalist and bassist Robbie Wood’s voice resembles Mick Jagger, as does the band’s bluesy stomp. The unhinged chorus is most notable, accelerating into chaos. It’s one of the wildest rides on Nuggets.


#7 Diddy Wah Diddy by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Released March 1966
Before the infamous Trout Mask Replica, Captain Beefheart’s first single was 1966’s ‘Diddy Wah Diddy’. Beefheart covers a 1956 blues track written by Willie Dixon and Bo Diddley.

I’m often dismissive of blues tracks on Nuggets, but this one’s superlative. It’s a great song, with a fantastic vocal from Beefheart. Curiously, it’s produced by David Gates, who’d go on to score a string of easy-listening hits with Bread in the early 1970s.

‘Diddy Wah Diddy’ shows that Beefheart could have become a successful mainstream blues singer, although his idiosyncratic path was more interesting.


#6 Just Like Me by Paul Revere and the Raiders

Released November 1965
Paul Revere & the Raiders are almost the only act on Nuggets that I own a CD by. I liberated a copy of their 1967 Greatest Hits from the bargain bin and have enjoyed it since. The band enjoyed more prolonged success than most Nuggets acts. They had a flurry of hits in the mid-1960s, then a number-one comeback hit, 1971’s ‘Indian Reservation’.

They’re more advanced than other Nuggets acts. Drake Levin’s guitar solo is double-tracked, while Mark Lindsay is a commanding vocalist, able to switch to a full-blooded roar. Revere’s organ playing is sophisticated. The song isn’t especially original, with echoes of ‘Louie Louie’ and early Kinks, but enough is happening to make it a garage-rock classic.


#5 Open My Eyes by Nazz

Released August 1968
With all due respect to John Fogerty, Glen Campbell, and Roky Erickson, there’s a strong argument that Todd Rundgren is the most talented musician featured on the Nuggets box. When ‘Open My Eyes’ was released, Rundgren was barely out of his teens. He wrote the song, and his fuzzy guitar leads and harmonies are strong. The b-side of ‘Open My Eyes’ was ‘Hello, It’s Me’ – a reworked solo version would later become a hit. It’s a heck of a single from someone who was barely 20.

The opening chords recall The Who’s ‘I Can’t Explain’. But from there, ‘Open My Eyes’ goes in unexpected directions. The psychedelic touches drop out for a jazzy middle eight, before an accomplished Rundgren solo. It captures the psychedelic sound of the mid-1960s Beatles. To my ears, it’s also reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Mr Soul’.


#4 Going All The Way by The Squires

Released September 1966
Originally known as the Rogues, The Squires were formed by high school friends in Bristol Connecticut. They released a local single titled ‘It’s the Same All Over’. They were poised for success when they signed with Atco, but the label insisted on changing their name to The Squires. Their first single as The Squires was ‘Going All the Way’. It’s great but sank without a trace, only reaching #90.

With the spooky organ, harmonies, and minor chords, it sounds inspired by The Zombies’ ‘She’s Not There’. The excellent guitar solo at the end elevates the song and takes it in a different direction. This band played well – a sophisticated bassline gives the song momentum.


#3 I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) by The Electric Prunes

Released November 1966
The Electric Prunes started as a surf-rock/garage-rock outfit named the Sanctions. While rehearsing in a garage (obviously….) they met a real estate agent with music industry connections. They were introduced to producer Dave Hassinger. Hassinger changed their name, and released their first single ‘Ain’t It Hard’. Signed to Reprise Records, the Prunes released ‘I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)’ and ‘Get Me To The World On Time’.

It’s a psychedelic classic, one of the best songs on Nuggets. It starts beautifully, with the shimmering introduction before the drums hit. James Lowe has a great voice for psychedelia.


#2 Psychotic Reaction by Count Five

Released June 1966
The Count Five formed in San Jose California. Friends John Michalski and Ron Chaney had previously played together in bands like the surf-rock outfit The Citations. They recruited Irish-born vocalist Sean Byrne. They were notable for wearing Count Dracula-style capes on stage.

‘Psychotic Reaction’ a garage rock classic, with a great hook and fuzzy guitar riff. It’s unusual for a band to have a full-time harmonica player, but it works here, adding some tunefulness to offset the distorted guitar. It was commemorated in Lester Bangs’ 1971 essay “Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung”, notable for using the word “punk” to describe garage rock. Punk dates back to Shakespeare, but hadn’t been used to refer to music.


#1 Louie Louie by The Kingsmen

Released October 1963
‘Louie Louie’ is an outlier on Nuggets. It’s from outside the 1965-1968 period. And while most Nuggets bands and songs are obscure, ‘Louie Louie’ is the most-recorded song ever. And The Kingsmen’s version, recorded in a messy first take, is the definitive version. It reached #2 on the charts and belongs on Nuggets as the ground zero moment for garage rock.

The Kingsmen originally intended to record an instrumental version of the song. Accordingly, the studio’s only microphone was hung several feet above head height. Lead singer Joe Ely therefore had to stand on tiptoes and shout to be heard. ‘Louie Louie’ is a cliched choice for the top pick, but it’s the ultimate garage rock song.

What are your favourite Nuggets?

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9 Comments

  1. I have all of them but offhand only remember those on the original collection (which I listened to over and over with joyful abandon in college). Favorites would be Psychotic Reaction, Hey Joe (Leaves), I Had Too Much to Dream, Open My Eyes, MOULTY 😊, Liar Liar, Tobacco Road (Blues Magoos), Lies, Dirty Water, and You’re Gonna Miss Me.

    Wow…such a special time for rock music!

    • It probably would have helped if I’d labelled which one of the ten from my post were from the original Nuggets – I think 5 of them are? Lots of the ones you listed were in consideration for the top ten as well.

      • Yes, you had five (not to sound like a know-it-all!). I’m surprised that Kaye did not include “Louie Louie” in the original, since it practically gave birth to the whole genre. Maybe he thought it was too obvious.

  2. Wow, Graham, 118 installments was a long series – kudos for doing this! Before I read your posts, I had not been aware of the Nuggets boxset. There is a lot of great music on there! I think all of your top 10 are neat songs.

    • And I’m pretty sure you’ve read most (if not all) of the 118 installments, so thanks for following along at home.

  3. I can’t argue with this list at all. Great job Graham of getting through this. It’s like when I did the Twilight Zone…it was a long haul. I also like the other Nuggets collection as well…there is some great songs on all of them. The number 1 is the only one it could have been. Thanks for this series Graham.

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