Nuggets – Aphoristic Album Reviews

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the double LP set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from 1965 to 1968. The collection of short punchy songs was a major influence on the punk movement in the UK.

Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total.

The set included top 40 hits like ‘Incense and Peppermints’ by Strawberry Alarm Clock (#1), ‘Louie, Louie’ by the Kingsmen (#2), ‘Wooly Bully’ by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (#2), ‘Little Bit o’ Soul’ by the Music Explosion (#2), and ‘Time Won’t Let Me’ by the Outsiders (#5).

But it concentrated on obscure acts, chronicling the work of forgotten bands like Michael and the Messengers, The Magic Mushrooms, and Clefs of Lavender Hill. It includes embryonic works from future stars like Warren Zevon, Glenn Campbell, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Raspberries, but most of these acts had to keep their day jobs.

I’ve profiled and rated each of these 118 tracks.

Artist	Track	Rating	Track	Disc	Year
The Electric Prunes	I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)	10	1	1	1966
The Standells	Dirty Water	9	2	1	1966
The Strangeloves	Night Time	7	3	1	1966
The Knickerbockers	Lies	8	4	1	1965
The Vagrants	Respect	7	5	1	1967
Mouse	A Public Execution	9	6	1	1966
The Blues Project	No Time Like the Right Time	9	7	1	1967
The Shadows of Knight	Oh Yeah	7	8	1	1966
The Seeds	Pushin’ Too Hard	8	9	1	1966
The Barbarians	Moulty	8	10	1	1966
The Remains	Don’t Look Back	9	11	1	1966
The Magicians	An Invitation to Cry	6	12	1	1965
The Castaways	Liar, Liar	7	13	1	1965
The 13th Floor Elevators	You’re Gonna Miss Me	9	14	1	1966
Count Five	Psychotic Reaction	10	15	1	1966
The Leaves	Hey Joe	9	16	1	1966
Michael and the Messengers	Romeo & Juliet	6	17	1	1967
The Cryan’ Shames	Sugar and Spice	9	18	1	1966
The Amboy Dukes	Baby Please Don’t Go	9	19	1	1968
Blues Magoos	Tobacco Road	8	20	1	1966
The Chocolate Watchband	Let’s Talk About Girls	4	21	1	1967
The Mojo Men	Sit Down, I Think I Love You	8	22	1	1967
The Third Rail	Run, Run, Run	9	23	1	1967
Sagittarius	My World Fell Down	9	24	1	1967
Nazz	Open My Eyes	10	25	1	1968
The Premiers	Farmer John	9	26	1	1964
The Magic Mushrooms	It’s-a-Happening	8	27	1	1966
The Music Machine	Talk Talk	8	28	2	1966
The Del-Vetts	Last Time Around	9	29	2	1966
The Human Beinz	Nobody but Me	9	30	2	1967
Kenny & the Kasuals	Journey to Tyme	7	31	2	1966
The Sparkles	No Friend of Mine	6	32	2	1967
The Turtles	Outside Chance	8	33	2	1966
The Litter	Action Woman	9	34	2	1967
The Elastik Band	Spazz	8	35	2	1967
The Chocolate Watchband	Sweet Young Thing	7	36	2	1967
Strawberry Alarm Clock	Incense and Peppermints	9	37	2	1967
The Brogues	I Ain’t No Miracle Worker	7	38	2	1965
Love	7 and 7 Is	9	39	2	1966
The Outsiders	Time Won’t Let Me	9	40	2	1966
The Squires	Going All the Way	10	41	2	1966
The Shadows of Knight	I’m Gonna Make You Mine	7	42	2	1966
Kim Fowley	The Trip	2	43	2	1965
The Seeds	Can’t Seem to Make You Mine	5	44	2	1967
The Remains	Why Do I Cry	8	45	2	1965
The Beau Brummels	Laugh, Laugh	9	46	2	1965
The Nightcrawlers	The Little Black Egg	6	47	2	1967
The Gants	I Wonder	9	48	2	1967
The Five Americans	I See the Light	7	49	2	1966
The Woolies	Who Do You Love?	7	50	2	1967
The Swingin’ Medallions	Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)	9	51	2	1966
The Merry-Go-Round	Live	9	52	2	1967
Paul Revere & the Raiders	Steppin’ Out	7	53	2	1965
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band	Diddy Wah Diddy	10	54	2	1966
The Sonics	Strychnine	9	55	2	1965
Syndicate of Sound	Little Girl	9	56	2	1966
Blues Magoos	(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet	8	57	2	1966
Max Frost and the Troopers	Shape of Things to Come	8	58	2	1968
The Hombres	Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)	7	59	3	1967
The Golliwogs	Fight Fire	8	60	3	1966
New Colony Six	At the River’s Edge	6	61	3	1966
The Daily Flash	Jack of Diamonds	6	62	3	1966
Lyme and Cybelle	Follow Me	8	63	3	1966
The Choir	It’s Cold Outside	8	64	3	1966
The Rare Breed	Beg, Borrow and Steal	7	65	3	1966
Sir Douglas Quintet	She’s About a Mover	7	66	3	1965
The Music Explosion	Little Bit O’ Soul	9	67	3	1967
The E-Types	Put the Clock Back on the Wall	8	68	3	1967
The Palace Guard	Falling Sugar	7	69	3	1966
The Gestures	Run, Run, Run	9	70	3	1964
The Rationals	I Need You	8	71	3	1967
The Humane Society	Knock, Knock	8	72	3	1967
The Groupies	Primitive	7	73	3	1966
The Sonics	Psycho	8	74	3	1967
The Lyrics	So What!!	7	75	3	1965
The Lollipop Shoppe	You Must Be a Witch	8	76	3	1968
The Balloon Farm	A Question of Temperature	8	77	3	1968
Mouse and the Traps	Maid of Sugar – Maid of Spice	9	78	3	1966
The Uniques	You Ain’t Tuff	8	79	3	1966
The Standells	Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White	7	80	3	1966
The Mojo Men	She’s My Baby	8	81	3	1966
The Unrelated Segments	Story of My Life	9	82	3	1967
The Third Bardo	I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time	9	83	3	1967
We the People	Mirror of Your Mind	8	84	3	1966
The Shadows of Knight	Bad Little Woman	6	85	3	1966
The Music Machine	Double Yellow Line	9	86	3	1967
The Human Expression	Optical Sound	8	87	3	1967
The Amboy Dukes	Journey to the Center of the Mind	9	88	3	1968
The Chocolate Watchband	Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-In)	8	89	4	1967
The Leaves	Too Many People	8	90	4	1966
The Brigands	(Would I Still Be) Her Big Man	7	91	4	1966
The Barbarians	Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl	6	92	4	1965
Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs	Wooly Bully	9	93	4	1965
The Strangeloves	I Want Candy	6	94	4	1965
The Kingsmen	Louie Louie	10	95	4	1963
The Knickerbockers	One Track Mind	7	96	4	1966
The Wailers	Out of Our Tree	8	97	4	1965
Harbinger Complex	I Think I’m Down	8	98	4	1967
The Dovers	What Am I Going to Do	8	99	4	1965
The Charlatans	Codine	7	100	4	1966
The Mystery Trend	Johnny Was a Good Boy	6	101	4	1967
Clefs of Lavender Hill	Stop! Get a Ticket	7	102	4	1966
The Monks	Complication	9	103	4	1966
The Sonics	The Witch	9	104	4	1965
The Electric Prunes	Get Me to the World on Time	8	105	4	1967
The Other Half	Mr. Pharmacist	9	106	4	1966
Richard and the Young Lions	Open Up Your Door	6	107	4	1966
Paul Revere & the Raiders	Just Like Me	10	108	4	1965
We the People	You Burn Me Up and Down	6	109	4	1966
The Lemon Drops	I Live in the Springtime	8	110	4	1967
Fenwyck	Mindrocker	8	111	4	1967
The Rumors	Hold Me Now	8	112	4	1965
The Underdogs	Love’s Gone Bad	6	113	4	1967
The Standells	Why Pick on Me	6	114	4	1966
The Zakary Thaks	Bad Girl	8	115	4	1966
GONN	Blackout of Gretely	7	116	4	1966
The Bees	Voices Green and Purple	9	117	4	1966
Davie Allan & the Arrows	Blues’ Theme	7	118	4	1967

10 Best Songs on the Nuggets Boxset

1960s, Nuggets
January 19, 2025
9 Comments
7 mins

Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the double LP set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic…

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