Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled 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 26: Farmer John by The Premiers
Release Date: 1964
From: San Gabriel, California
Rating: 9/10
FARMER JOHN – The Premiers [2:12]
(Dewey Terry/Don Harris)
Personnel/LARRY “BOY” PEREZ: vocals, lead guitar * GEORGE DELGADO: vocals, guitar * FRANK ZUNIGA: vocals, bass * JOHN PEREZ: drums * PHILIP RUIZ: tenor sax * JOE URZUA: baritone sax
Produced by BILLY CARDENAS
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
Faro single #615 (1964); Warner Bros. single #5443 (5/64); Pop #19
The Premiers came from East LA. They were formed by two Mexican-American brothers, guitarist Lawrence Perez and drummer John Perez. They were joined by their neighbours, George Delgado and Frank Zuniga.
They practised in the Perez family’s garage, where crowds would watch them rehearse. They were noticed by manager Billy Cardenas. Cardenas found them gigs as an opening act. He also suggested they record ‘Farmer John’, a song written by R&B duo Don and Dewey.
It’s a good choice for a garage band. It’s a catchy three-chord stomper in the vein of ‘Louie Louie’. The Premiers’ version is more aggressive and direct than the original. It features crowd noises from girls from the Chevelles car club, making it sound like a live recording.
The song starts with someone asking “Has anyone seen Kosher Pickle Harry?” The crowd yells that they have not, and the man continues, “If you see him tell him that Herbert is looking for him.”
It’s simple but effective like you’d expect from a garage-rock classic. The song made it into the Billboard Top 20. The group quickly put together a live album of R&B standards, complete with more faux-crowd noises.
Despite the success of ‘Farmer John’, The Premiers never got any further. They’re the quintessential Nuggets band. They practised in an actual garage and became a one-hit wonder with a cover.
‘Farmer John’ was covered by Neil Young on 1990’s Ragged Glory. The simple stomp of the song suits Crazy Horse, and it’s my favourite of the versions on this post.
It was also covered by The Hep Stars, a 1960s Swedish band featuring a young Benny Andersson.
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When I saw the title I was wondering if it was the same song as the Neil Young cover. I like the first recording but am more used to Neil’s version.
I like Young’s version best of the four I chucked on the page.
Cool song. I only knew Neil Young’s rugged version with Crazy Horse. I also like both the first recording by Don & Dewey and the rendition by The Premiers.
And the Swedish version? I thought that was pretty oddball.
Wow, yes, and thanks for calling it out! I had missed it initially.
For some time, your embedded videos have been showing up in my WordPress reader as hyperlinks only, which makes it a bit harder to spot them. Previously, I could see the actual embedded clips.
That’s some awesome hairdos they got though. ????????
I like that Premiere cut. I always thought it was a Neil song. That’s how lazy I am. Didnt look at the credits.
I’m surprised how everyone knows the Neil version. I don’t think it was a single, just a deep cut on a 1990s Neil Young album.
Neil has a way of sneaking in there. I’d actually like to hear more covers by him. He’s a walking music library.
I like this one too. It’s like a 8 or 9/10. And I love the video cuz I love when bands had choreography and they wore matching suits. I love all the videos from American Bandstand. Too bad this one didn’t have go-go dancers though.
Sorry for the lateness…I had the flu or covid last week… I never realized this song had been covered so much. I do like it and that organ riff. I know Neils version the best but I do like The Premiers version of it.
Hope you’re feeling better now. I’m surprised how everyone knows Neil’s version – it’s pretty much a deep cut, right?
Oh yes…you just have a lot of Neil fans…I do like this version though.