Nuggets: Oh Yeah by The Shadows of Knight

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 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 8/118: Oh Yeah by The Shadows of Knight
Release Year: 1966
From: Detroit, Chicago
Aphoristic Rating: 7/10

OH YEAH – The Shadows Of Knight [2:44]
(Ellas McDaniel)
Personnel/JIM SOHNS: vocals * JOE KELLEY: lead guitar * JERRY McGEORGE: guitar * WARREN ROGERS: bass * TOM SCHIFFOUR: drums
A DUNWICH Production
Recorded in Chicago, IL
Dunwich single #45-122 (5/66); Pop #39

Chicago blues band The Shadows of Knight have three songs on Nuggets – unusually for the set, all three are covers.

The Shadows of Knight established their recording career with yet another cover – they enjoyed a local hit with a sanitised cover of Them’s ‘Gloria’. After the original version was banned on a Chicago radio station, they released a version with Van Morrison’s original line changed from “she comes to my room, then she made me feel alright” to “she called out my name, that made me feel alright.”

The band were originally called The Shadows – a name they had to change for obvious reasons. Lead singer Jim Sohns was only 16 when The Shadows of Knight formed in 1964. After a stint as the house band at The Cellar in Arlington Heights, Illinois, they attracted attention when they opened for The Byrds.

I’ve always been prejudiced against this band – their remake of ‘Gloria’ isn’t as exciting as the original. They’re a bit whitebread for my liking, but it’s interesting in this case. They transform Bo Diddley’s ‘Oh Yeah’ from a bluesy stomper into a subdued, spooky song. It works, despite the vocal and the rhythm section’s lack of power.

By mid-1967, Jim Sohns was the only original member. But the band reformed and recorded occasionally until Sohns passed away in 2022.

Read More

• Nuggets Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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