The success of Rhino’s 1998 Nuggets boxset justified a follow-up. The sequel covers the rest of the world since the first volume only chronicled the USA.
Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 emerged in 2001. It features music from countries such as Iceland, Uruguay, and Japan. I’m profiling and rating each of the 109 tracks, working backwards.
Track 97 – No More Now by The Smoke
From: Auckland, New Zealand
9
Credits
4/17. NO MORE NOW – The Smoke (New Zealand)
(Brett Tauri)
PERSONNEL/RAY NIXON: vocals * BRETT TAURI: lead guitar * “ROLY” NIXON: guitar * LEN MONK: bass * LESTER DEMPSTER: drums
Produced by WAHANUI WYNYARD
Recorded in Auckland, New Zealand
RCA single #60438 (1967) [New Zealand]
The Smoke
There are two bands named The Smoke on Nuggets II – this band is from Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city.
Guitarist Brett Tauri spent time abroad in the 1960s, first as a guitarist on a cruise ship, then working in a San Francisco club band. He returned with an early Gibson fuzzbox, a pre-1966 Fender Strat and a rare Gibson 335 gold-topped fretless bass.
He started The Smoke with his brother-in-law, Roly Nixon. Nixon brought along musicians from his previous band The Size Five, as well as teenaged vocalist Ray Nixon.
The band played their first gig at the 1967 Battle of the Bands. They caught the ear of promoters and were quickly in the studio with acclaimed NZ producer Wahanui Wynyard.
No More Now
Tauri used his imported gear to create the violent guitar outbursts on ‘No More Now’. He wrote ‘No More Now’, and it’s a strong bluesy number, but it’s most notable for Tauri’s shredding.
After a violent cymbal-crashing opening, “No More Now” takes off at breakneck speed and features some of the most vicious, overdriven guitar performances ever to be unleashed in the Southern Hemisphere. The shouted “No more now” refrain and steadfast “I know just what I am” chorus cement the song’s hook, but it’s Brett Tauri’s savage slash ‘n’ burn guitar–including a strangled raga break–that makes this track one for the ages.
Mike Stax, Nuggets II liner notes
The Aftermath
The original band disintegrated during the photo shoot for ‘No More Now’. The photographer included a nude model called Christine.
It was the photographer’s idea, and the wives and girlfriends had to stay outside. To stop them coming up the stairs, he locked the doors, but they found out about it afterward. They said they wouldn’t have minded if they’d been able to come up, but objected to the underhanded way it was done.
Roly Nixon, Audioculture
Roly Nixon and Len Monk, the married members of the group, left. Organist Peter Sanford replaced Nixon, giving them a fuller sound but overshadowing Tauri’s guitar. Their second single was a cover of Procol Harum’s ‘Following Me’, with another Tauri song on the b-side.
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Gibson 335 gold-topped fretless bass…yea that is rare! I’ve never seen one until I just looked it up. Anyway I like both of the songs. Love the tough intro to No More Now and the slashing guitar. Control Your Love is cool as well…it just doesn’t get your attention like the other. Cool name for a band…love the nude model story…and yea I could see that happening.
There’s a different band named The Smoke coming up.
I liked the keyboard track too, but Tauri’s guitar is the best bit and it kind of gets buried.
It does get buried especially compared to the other song.
Pretty good song with a raw garage rock vibe. Tauri put that imported equipment to good use. The band’s original line-up broke up during the photo shoot? Jeez, what did Christine do to them?🤣
I feel like my wife would be weirded out if I was in a photo shoot with a nude model….
While it was the ’60s, I guess that’s fair. It certainly wouldn’t go over well with my wife! 🙂
NZ was still super conservative then, I think. Would have been pretty weird for them.