Last week I was browsing at Reckless Records in London, trying to choose between these boxsets curated by Cherry Red Records - a British indie that's specialized in reissues (this one says it's Strawberry Records, others say Grapefruit, but they're all subdivisions of Cherry Red). They are superbly compiled, a great mix of classics I know and love, and of unknown gems to discover; plus they come with nice booklets full of photos and interesting info on the bands. I'd been eying them all on amazon, but I'm always telling myself "Kostas you have too many CDs, when are you going to listen to them all?" But a physical shop isn't amazon; "these people depend on (people like) you for their livelihood, Kostas" I told myself, so I convinced me to buy one. Choosing wasn't easy but in the end I chose this set. True, I already own two thirds of the tracks, which have been released as part of other compilations (Nuggets, Pebbles etc) but I just had to see if the the rest of the songs were as good as the ones I already had - and amazingly, they (almost) are! Since there are 94 tracks here, it's impossible to analyze them one by one. Suffice it to say that it includes the cream of the crop of 60's garage punk; there's a lot of overlap with the Nuggets box set, which remains the garage rock motherlode. It includes early rock'n'roll classics like "Wooly Bully" and "I Fought The Law", garage folk ("Too Many People", "Going All The Way"), tough R&B ("So What!!", "Diddy Wah Diddy" by an early incarnation of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band), and proto-psychedelia ("Tried To Hide", the acronymic "Love Special Delivery"). As I said, the compilers mostly choose classics of the genre, but they also try to avoid being too predictable when possible, for example by using alternate versions (e.g. The Seeds' "Pushin’ Too Hard" and "Out of the Question") or a lesser known track by the more seminal garage bands e.g. The Sonics "You've Got Your Head On Backwards" from their 3rd LP when anything from the first two would be a more obvious choice. Similarly, they eschew the best, and most famous tracks, by The Electric Prunes and Shadows Of Knight, choosing non-LP single "Ain't It Hard" by the former and "Dark Side" (the B Side of "Gloria") by the latter. And, by the way, where is Gloria? It's not like her to be absent from a garage rock compilation, certainly not when there's a zillion of versions to choose from. Also, instead of the classic 13th Floor Elevators version "You're Gonna Miss Me", we get an earlier one by Roky Erickson's previous band, The Spades. It's interesting to hear Ohio Express version of "Try It" instead of the classic one by the Standells; apparently the original was banned because it was considered (not entirely unjustly) to urge girls to lose their virginity. At that point, Ohio Express (a "bubblegum" studio contraption rather than an actual band) slightly changed the lyrics to refer to "kissing" instead of "it" and released their own version to bypass the censors. It still wasn't a hit. We do get a couple of tracks by The Standells. Not "Try It", nor their biggest hits "Dirty Water" and "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White", but the equally good "Barraccuda" and "Rari". As always with garage bands, there are some interesting name choices: for example, many bands adopt pseudo-English names like The Liverpool Five, Squires, or Echoes of Carnaby Street, just because in the wake of The Beatles and The Stones everything British was supposedly cool; funny, considering that the British bands so admired by American teens were in turn fanatic followers of everything American, especially blues and rockabilly. Interestingly, the so-called "British Invasion" also produced a reaction by bands who took their inspiration from the War Of Independence against the English e.g. We The People and Paul Revere and The Raiders, both included here. Taking inspiration from The Beatles, many bands also misspell their names e.g. The Raymarks, Dirty Wurds, Mistics, The Forth Dimension etc. Of course by far the most original band name here is The Jefferson Handkerchief, whose "I'm Allergic To Flowers" is a spoof of Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco hippy scene. Those flower children spelled the end for the kind of music featured here: loud, frustrated, tough, passionate, irreverent, funny, desperate, pure authentic no-nonsense rock and roll. Not for long, though; it was resurrected a few years later by music archivist and Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye, who introduced those unsung heroes of the Sixties to a wider public via the very first Nuggets compilation. He'd call this music "garage punk"; firstly, because these bands mainly formed and practiced at the family homes and garages of every town and city in America, and secondly because of their aggressive street attitude. Pushin' Too Hard is a great introduction to that genre.
This reminds me of Tim Warren's remark on Back From Grave Vol.2 liner notes: that "both sides of (The Lyrics') single are so snotty because the author Christopher Gaylord must have caught of lot of shit in school, with a name like that"
DISC ONE: The Rangers – Justine****, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs – Wooly Bully*****, The Strangeloves – I Want Candy*****, The Barbarians – Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl*****, The Denims – I’m Your Man*****, The Castaways – Liar, Liar*****, The Remains – Why Do I Cry****, The Beau Brummels – Just A Little****, The Seeds Featuring Sky Saxon – Pushin’ Too Hard (Unedited Version)*****, The Leaves – Too Many People*****, The Front Line – Got Love****, The Brogues – I Ain’t No Miracle Worker*****, The Standells – Rari (Extended Version)*****, The Spades – You’re Gonna Miss Me*****, The Lyrics – So What!!*****, The Mad Hatters – I Need Love****, Don & The Goodtimes – Little Sally Tease****, The Coastliners – Alright****, The McCoys – Fever****, The Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law *****, The JuJus – You Treat Me Bad*****, The Girls – My Baby****, The Raymarks – Louise***, The Emperor’s – I Want My Woman****, Paul Revere & The Raiders – Just Like Me*****, Liverpool Five – Heart***, The Bad Seeds – A Taste Of The Same*****, Merrell & The Exiles – She’s Gone****, The Bees – Forget Me Girl***, The Misunderstood – Don’t Break Me Down***, The Seeds – Out Of The Question ****
Question: Is this the coolest song ever written by anyone? Answer: Hell yeah! I can never resist singing along to it!
DISC TWO: The Thirteenth Floor Elevators – Tried To Hide*****, Love - My Little Red Book*****, The Mojo Men – She’s My Baby****, The Electric Prunes – Ain’t It Hard*****, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band – Diddy Wah Diddy*****, Dirty Wurds – Mellow Down Easy**** The Outcasts – I’m In Pittsburgh (And It’s Raining)****, The Knickerbockers – One Track Mind****, Rocky & The Riddlers – Flash And Crash***, The Dimensions – Knock You Flat***, The Unusuals – I’m Walking Babe****, The Shadows Of Knight – Dark Side****, We The People – Mirror Of Your Mind*****, Sterling Damon – Rejected***, The Soothsayers – Please Don’t Be Mad****, The Esquires – Judgement Day****, The Century’s – Hard Times***, The Sonics – You Got Your Head On Backwards*****, Link Wray & The Raymen – Hidden Charms*****, The Misunderstood – Thunder ‘N’ Lightnin’****, Zakary Thaks – She’s Got You****, The Squires – Going All The Way*****, The Blue Beats – Extra Girl***, The Free-For-All – Show Me The Way****, Chris Morgan & The Togas – There She Goes***, The Executioners – I Want The Rain (Vocal)****, Limey & The Yanks – Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind*****, The Apparitions – She’s So Satisfyin’****, The Hustlers – If You Try***, The Echoes Of Carnaby Street – No Place Or Time****, Sparkles - No Friend Of Mine*****, Velvet Illusions – Velvet Illusions*****
DISC THREE: The Standells – Barracuda*****, We The People – You Burn Me Up And Down*****, The Rationals – I Need You***, The Other Half – Mr. Pharmacist*****, Neal Ford & The Fanatics – Shame On You****, The Choir – It’s Cold Outside*****, The Newbeats – Top Secret****, The Fire Escape – Love Special Delivery****, ? & The Mysterians – Girl (You Captivate Me)*****, The Third Bardo – I’m Five Years Ahead Of My Time*****, Ken & The Forth Dimension – See If I Care****, The Off-Beats – Tired Of Crying****, The Mistics – Why Baby Why****, The Headstones – Bad Day Blues***, Roy Junior (Roy Acuff Jr.) – Victim Of Circumstances*****, The Sparkles - Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Help)*****, The Jackals – Love Times Eight****, The Galaxies IV – Piccadilly Circus****, Front Page News – Thoughts*****, Fenwyck – Mindrocker****, The Jefferson Handerchief – I’m Allergic To Flowers*****, The Buddhas – Lost Innocence*****, The Ohio Express – Try It****, Tidal Waves – Action! (Speaks Louder Than Words)****, The Liberty Bell – For What You Lack****, Thursdays Children – You Can Forget About That***, The Jades – Come Back***, The Checkmates – Talk To Me****, The New Yorkers – Again***, Georgy & The Velvet Illusions – Mini Shimmy****, The Bedlam Four – No One Left To Love****
This reminds me: I 💗 San Francisco. Haight Ashbury, here I come!
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