

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 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 110: I Live in the Springtime by The Lemon Drops
Release Date: 1967
From: Chicago, Illinois
Aphoristical Rating: 8/10
I LIVE IN THE SPRINGTIME – The Lemon Drops [2:52]
(Roger Weiss)
Personnel/DANNY SMOLA: vocals * RICKY ERICKSON: lead guitar * EDDIE WEISS: guitar * JEFF BRAND: bass * GARY WEISS: drums
Produced by ROGER WEISS for REMBRANDT PRODUCTIONS
Recorded in Chicago, IL
Rembrandt single #5009 (5/67)
Like a bunch of other Nuggets acts, The Lemon Drops were high school students when they recorded their best-known song. The band included two brothers from McHenry High School – Eddy Weiss on rhythm guitar and Gary Weiss on drums – while a third brother, Reggie, wrote the song and signed the band to his record label.
The drum track was accidentally left off the first pressing of ‘I Live In The Springtime’. A second pressing included the drums, but it’s the original release that’s included on Nuggets. The lack of drums actually works for this song – it’s woozy psychedelic folk-rock, and more space for the guitars accentuates this.
The group sold 1,500 copies of their first single, but lack of funds stopped production. They recorded demos in late 1967, which remained unreleased until they were compiled on a pair of albums in the mid-1980s.
Read More
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Nuggets: Strychnine by The Sonics

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Nuggets: Night Time by The Strangeloves

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Nuggets: Complication by The Monks

Nuggets: Too Many People by The Leaves

Nuggets: Open Up Your Door by Richard & the Young Lions

Nuggets: Spazz by The Elastik Band

Nuggets: Johnny Was A Good Boy by Mystery Trend

Nuggets II: No Good Without You Baby by The Birds

Nuggets: Primitive by The Groupies

Nuggets: Why Do I Cry by The Remains

Nuggets: Respect by The Vagrants

Nuggets: Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Nuggets: Can’t Seem To Make You Mine by The Seeds

Nuggets: It’s Cold Outside by The Choir

Nuggets: Little Girl by Syndicate of Sound

Nuggets II: How Does It Feel to Feel by The Creation

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Nuggets: You Ain’t Tuff by The Uniques

Nuggets: Run, Run, Run by The Gestures

Nuggets: Laugh, Laugh by The Beau Brummels

Nuggets: One Track Mind by The Knickerbockers

Nuggets: Get Me to the World on Time by The Electric Prunes

Baby, Please Don’t Go by The Amboy Dukes

Nuggets: I Need You by The Rationals

Nuggets: Beg, Borrow, And Steal by The Rare Breed

Nuggets: Tobacco Road by Blues Magoos

Nuggets: Story of My Life by The Unrelated Segments

Nuggets: Sit Down, I Think I Love You by The Mojo Men

Nuggets: I Live in the Springtime by The Lemon Drops

Nuggets: No Friend of Mine by The Sparkles

Nuggets: Dirty Water by The Standells

Nuggets: Who Do You Love by The Woolies

Nuggets II: The Bitter Thoughts Of Little Jane by Timon

Nuggets: Live by The Merry-Go-Round

Nuggets: Blue's Theme by Davie Allan & the Arrows

Nuggets: Bad Girl by The Zakary Thaks

Nuggets II: Rosalyn by The Pretty Things

Nuggets: Follow Me by Lyme & Cybelle

Nuggets II: Bat Macumba by Os Mutantes

Nuggets II: Pictures of Matchstick Men by The Status Quo

Nuggets: Oh Yeah by The Shadows of Knight

Nuggets: The Witch by The Sonics

Nuggets: Run, Run, Run by The Third Rail

Nuggets: Time Won’t Let Me by The Outsiders

Nuggets II: Kicks and Chicks by The Zipps

Nuggets: Codine by The Charlatans

Nuggets II: Nothin’ by Ugly Ducklings

Nuggets: An Invitation to Cry by The Magicians

Nuggets: Let’s Talk About Girls by The Chocolate Watchband

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

Nuggets: 7 and 7 Is by Love

Nuggets: You Must Be A Witch by The Lollipop Shoppe

Nuggets II: You Can Be My Baby by The Red Squares

Nuggets: At the River’s Edge by New Colony Six

Nuggets: I’m Gonna Make You Mine by The Shadows of Knight

Nuggets: So What! by The Lyrics

Nuggets: She’s My Baby by The Mojo Men

Nuggets: Louie Louie by The Kingsmen

Nuggets II: The Madman Running Through The Fields by Dantalian’s Chariot

Nuggets: Stop! Get A Ticket by Clefs of Lavender Hill

Nuggets II: Here Come the Nice by The Small Faces

Nuggets: Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

Nuggets: Psychotic Reaction by Count Five

Nuggets: Moulty by The Barbarians

Nuggets: Romeo and Juliet by Michael and the Messengers

Nuggets II: It’s My Fault by The Rattles

Nuggets: Journey to Tyme by Kenny and the Kasuals

Nuggets: Diddy Wah Diddy by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Nuggets: Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White by The Standells

Nuggets: Journey To The Center Of The Mind by The Amboy Dukes

Nuggets: Don’t Look Back by The Remains

Nuggets: Going All the Way by The Squires

Nuggets: Liar, Liar by The Castaways

Nuggets II: Glendora by Downliners Sect

Nuggets II: Touch by The Outsiders

Nuggets: Mindrocker by Fenwyck

Nuggets II: One Third by The Majority

Nuggets: I See the Light by The Five Americans

Nuggets: Falling Sugar by The Palace Guard

Nuggets: Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love In) by The Chocolate Watchband

Nuggets: Little Bit O’Soul by The Music Explosion

Nuggets: Steppin’ Out by Paul Revere & the Raiders

Nuggets: I Want Candy by The Strangeloves

Nuggets: My World Fell Down by Sagittarius

Nuggets II: No Presents For Me by The Pandamonium

Nuggets: Love's Gone Bad by The Underdogs

Nuggets: Hey Joe by the Leaves

Nuggets: Double Yellow Line by The Music Machine

Nuggets: A Question of Temperature by The Balloon Farm

Nuggets II: I’m Just A Mops by The Mops

Nuggets: The Trip by Kim Fowley

Nuggets II: Get Yourself Home by The Fairies

Nuggets: What Am I Going to Do? by The Dovers

Nuggets II: Dance Around the Maypole by Acid Gallery

Nuggets: Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz

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Nuggets: Action Woman by The Litter

Nuggets: Blackout of Gretely by GONN

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Nuggets: (Would I Still Be) Her Big Man by The Brigands

Nuggets: Why Pick On Me by The Standells

Nuggets: I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time by The Third Bardo

Nuggets: Mr. Pharmacist by The Other Half

Nuggets: Voices Green and Purple by The Bees

Nuggets: Lies by The Knickerbockers

Nuggets II: Come On by The Atlantics

Nuggets: (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet by the Blues Magoos

Nuggets: The Little Black Egg by The Nightcrawlers

Nuggets: Knock, Knock by The Humane Society

Nuggets: She’s About A Mover by Sir Douglas Quintet

Nuggets: You’re Gonna Miss Me by The 13th Floor Elevators

Nuggets: A Public Execution by Mouse

Nuggets II: I Wish I Was Five by Scrugg

Nuggets: Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl by The Barbarians

Nuggets II: Vacuum Cleaner by Tintern Abbey

Nuggets: Last Time Around by The Del-Vetts

Nuggets II: I’m Your Witchdoctor by Chants R&B

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Nuggets: Open My Eyes by Nazz

Nuggets II: Slaves Time by The Slaves

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Love this review! Top work – I’m going to make sure to have a listen to The Lemon Drops before the weekend is done.
I only know the one song! A lot of these Nugget bands have one notable song that the compilation grabs.
The lack of drums do work perfectly here.
Yup, there are versions with drums on YouTube but I like this version more. Maybe a happy accident
Not bad!
I enjoyed this one a lot.
This is a little different. Loving the variety we are getting. I agree it works without the drums just fine. Very mature sounding for high school students….good track! This is one of my favorites so far.
One of mine too.
I have been listening to this album for about a week non-stop now. Great stuff.
Glad you’re enjoying it! It’s a pretty iconic set. Are you planning on writing about it?
Yes, I have done. I put a link in to your site.
https://psb.psbmusicreviewsblogspot.com/2020/12/nuggets-original-artyfacts-from-first.html
I also reviewed Syndicate Of Sound’s only album-
https://psb.psbmusicreviewsblogspot.com/2020/12/syndicate-of-sound.html
I like those accidents (leaving out the drums) that end up taking the song in a new, even better, direction
Have you heard where Billy Joel’s debut was mastered wrong and he ended up sounding like a chipmunk?
I have not…yet, that sounds like one that might not have been ‘improved’ by a mistake, per se!
It’s probably a sought after collectors item – he wasn’t very popular at the time.
Another gem from a gem of a collection!
Yup, no bad ones so far, maybe they are all good to great.
I think so. You may find my comments repetitive…
This one is kind of nice. But I’d really like to hear the one with the drums
It’s on YouTube- it’s kind of normal, splashy psychedelic drums.
When this series is over I think I’ll listen ‘Nuggets’ all in one sitting.
And in the correct order – I’m doing it backwards!
Interesting that so many of these bands are high school kids. I guess that moniker that the Beatles performance on Ed Sullivan launched a thousand bands was true.
Yep. That’s how it got the name garage Rock. Because of the British Invasion and the Beatles, teenagers all over America started forming bands that practiced in their parent’s garage. Of course nobody called it garage rock at the time. Nobody called it that until long after the fact.
I saw some uses of it in 1971 here https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18957/where-did-the-term-garage-band-originate-from – I figured it was probably a thing before the original Nuggets compilation?
That was so interesting. The one guy called The Grateful Dead a garage band, so I don’t think garage meant the same thing as it did later. It really wasn’t any specific style anyway. It was lots of styles. Actually garage probably more describes a certain time period in rock more than anything else.
That was Lenny Kaye, who also compiled Nuggets.
Also mostly white and male, which kind of limits the diversity.