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

Nuggets: Respect by The Vagrants

Nuggets
November 26, 2024
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Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled the two-album set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era.…

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