irenzero

Band: Various Artists

Album Title: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 (Box Set)


Don't get me wrong, I love a good solid album, but more and more I see that the one of the main reasons that the Beatles should have been shot was that they ushered in the era of the album, and effectively killed the single as the dominate format for music. While we still have singles, the album has become the preferred format for record companies to pimp off on the public. There is a whole debate about the record industry in that, but I'm going to stick to the topic at hand here, the end of the golden age of singles.

Once upon a time, they ruled, and once upon a time there were bands that managed to produce a single slice of rock that was so good that it would go to number one, and then fade into the haze of time. This was the world of the Nuggets, when any kid with a couple of buddies, a handful of cords and a bit of cash could and would make noise in their garage, and thus garage rock was born. Inspired by; The Stones, The Kinks, Them, The Animals, and yes The Beatles, more than 50% of American teenage males in 1967 played in a band. Most were just made up of kids looking for something to do, or to score chicks, or what ever. Even current Presidential Candidate John Kerry played in a garage band (the Electra's, and I wonder if any enterprising journalist would ever ask him what he thought of the PMRC, in light of the fact that his band was one of the first to record the song Action Woman, but I digress.

What the Nuggets Box set (and it's successor, Nuggets II: The British Empire and Beyond) showcases is over 100 of the best Garage Rock Singles from the late 1960's. We are talking about songs that featured future superstars: John Forgorty, Tod Rungrun, Ted Nuget, are present, along with underground hero's like; Roky Erickson, Scott Morgan, and Doug Sham. Ultra famous tracks include: 'Louie, Louie' by the Kinsmen, 'Woolly Bully' by Sam Sham and the Pharos, and the oldies staple 'Time Won't Let Me' by The Outsiders. However these turns are just the tip of the iceberg, there are so many killer Garage Punk Dylan Wanna Be/ Fuzzed out weird tracks that I don't even know where to start. I'll just say that one day I'll be in love with The Gants 'I Wonder', and the next not be able to stop playing 'It's Cold Outside' by The Chior. There is just so much of a range of sounds and style and influence that it's hard to really call the music anything but Rock'n'Roll.

So what's missing? As always there is something that gets left out or off for what ever reason (mostly for legal reason), and in this case there are a few glaring omissions. The biggest is that ? & The Mysterions '96 Tears' is not found on this set, but hey, there is more than enough good stuff to make that omission livable. The Stooges, The MC5, and a few other Detroit Rock era bands are missing, but they seem to have come a little later on and are mostly considered to be Proto-Punk rather than Garage Rock, these days.

The Nuggets Box gets played on a regular basis around my home, and off of my iPod. I have to say that it's the best box set that I own, and I don't think that it will ever be topped. If your a fan of rock, of history, or of punk (many of these songs were later covered by punk groups to fill out early sets) you need to have this in your music collection.




Also check out:

Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond (box set)
Pebbles CD comps

Searching for Shake: The Swedish Beat 1966-69