Nuggets: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) by The Electric Prunes

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the two-disc set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from 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 1: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) by The Electric Prunes
From: Los Angeles, California
Aphoristical Rating: 10/10

I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM (LAST NIGHT) – The Electric Prunes [2:55]
(Annette Tucker/Nancie Mantz)
Personnel/JIM LOWE: vocals, autoharp * KEN WILLIAMS lead guitar * JAMES “WEASEL” SPAGNOLA: guitar, vocals * MARK TULIN: bass, keyboards * PRESTON RITTER: drums
Produced by DAVE HASSINGER
Recorded in Studio City, CA
Reprise single #0532 (11/66); Pop #11

The Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes are among the best-known bands featured on the Nuggets set. Their psychedelic #11 hit ‘I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)’ opens the tracklist, while ‘Get Me to the World on Time‘ is also featured.

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’.

Both songs were contributed by outside writer Annette Tucker. In the 1960s, she also wrote material for Tom Jones, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, and Sonny and Cher. The song was originally conceived as a piano ballad.

I Had Too Much to Dream

The band’s second single was ‘I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)’. In the year of psychedelia, it just missed the US top ten. The song’s distinctive sound, however, resulted from a happy accident.

“We were recording on a four-track, and just flipping the tape over and re-recording when we got to the end. Dave cued up a tape and didn’t hit ‘record,’ and the playback in the studio was way up: ear-shattering vibrating jet guitar. Ken had been shaking his Bigsby wiggle stick with some fuzztone and tremolo at the end of the tape. Forward it was cool. Backward it was amazing. I ran into the control room and said, ‘What was that?’ They didn’t have the monitors on so they hadn’t heard it. I made Dave cut it off and save it for later.”
James Lowe, Terrascope

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.

Born more than a decade after the song’s release, it sounds akin to The Dukes of Stratosphere ’25 O’Clock’. But ’25 O’Clock’ was released in 1985 by XTC under a pseudonym, and is described by Wikipedia as a reimagining of the Electric Prunes song.

Subsequent career

The Electric Prunes recorded two records in the 1960s. Both of the Nuggets tracks are drawn from 1967’s The Electric Prunes. The rest of their 1960s output is unconventional. Under their name, the Prunes released two further records, 1968’s Mass in F Minor and Release of an Oath. But these records were actually vehicles for classically-trained musician David Axelrod.

The group disbanded by 1969’s Just Good Old Rock and Roll, but Hassinger owned the name and recruited an entirely new band. The Electric Prunes reunited in 1999 with the lineup that recorded the initial hits. They’re still active, with four records in the 21st century, although Lowe is the only remaining original member.

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18 Comments

greenpete58

January 14, 2025 / 9:01 am Reply

The original “Nuggets” by Lenny Kaye was a godsend, and this song one of the highlights. A song by the 2nd (faux) Prunes was featured in the soundtrack of “Easy Rider” but quite unlike the earlier Prunes.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 14, 2025 / 10:04 pm Reply
  
  Have you heard the whole boxset. Disc 1 of the box (the same as the original 2-LP set) might be the strongest, but the quality is high throughout.
  - greenpete58
    
    January 15, 2025 / 3:23 am Reply
    
    Yes, heard the whole thing, and there are some great “nuggets” in the extended set. But you’re right, the original is consistently good. These box sets I find are wonderful for diehards and completists, but are usually “watered down” by non-essentials.
80smetalman

January 14, 2025 / 10:02 am Reply

That was very psychedelic.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 14, 2025 / 10:03 pm Reply
  
  Sure is! Like a definition for the genre.
Christian's Music Musings

January 14, 2025 / 2:33 pm Reply

“I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” by The Electric Prunes is one wild-sounding psychedelic song. I could picture at as an early Pink Floyd track. Pretty cool!
- Aphoristical
  
  January 14, 2025 / 10:00 pm Reply
  
  Yup, it’s a pretty good definition for the genre. It’s out there, but still pretty listenable.
EclecticMusicLover

January 15, 2025 / 1:45 pm Reply

Have always liked this song, though for many years I thought it was called – and they were singing – “I had too much to drink last night”.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 18, 2025 / 10:00 pm Reply
  
  Obviously it’s playing on that cliché, and it does make sense. You can tell it’s written by a professional songwriter, right? Most Nuggets tracks don’t really do wordplay.
JES

January 18, 2025 / 4:31 am Reply

So . . . . track 1??? Is this the end of the series??? If so, great work, well done, really have enjoyed these articles, learned a lot about artists familiar and artists obscure.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 18, 2025 / 9:58 pm Reply
  
  There’s always Nuggets II next, although it’ll be interesting to see how much info is out there for the more obscure acts. Thanks for reading!
Badfinger (Max)

January 18, 2025 / 2:05 pm Reply

I love this song…I heard it on oldies stations in the 1980s…I also like 25 O’Clock. I’m a huge fan of the psychedelic period as you know…. great track.
- Aphoristical
  
  January 20, 2025 / 7:09 am Reply
  
  I don’t think I ever heard it on the radio, it got shuffled off by tightening playlists by the 1990s. Seemed instantly familiar on Nuggets thanks to 25 O’clock.
  - Badfinger (Max)
    
    January 20, 2025 / 7:17 am Reply
    
    I learned most of these songs while working in the 80s in a locked stock room. You know how I feel about mainstream 80s…I haven’t changed since then so I listened to an oldies channel everyday…they played a lot of 1960s songs of all sorts.
    - Aphoristical
      
      January 21, 2025 / 6:07 pm Reply
      
      I only really like mainstream rock music from the 1980s onwards if it’s purposely synthetic like U2 or The 1975. Otherwise it feels sterile.
      - Badfinger (Max)
        
        January 22, 2025 / 3:43 am
        
        There is not much there for me… that is why I like the alternative so much. There are single songs here and there that I liked (Georgia Satellites, Black Crowes )but not a continuing cycle.
      - Aphoristical
        
        January 23, 2025 / 9:11 pm
        
        They’re both a bit rootsy, right? Probably not in that too-clean-cut zone.
      - Badfinger (Max)
        
        January 24, 2025 / 3:29 am
        
        Yes rootsy is it…the too-clean-cut zone is why I got out of it.