ALBUM REVIEW: Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965–1968

    Lenny Kaye is an interesting figure in music history. Eventual guitarist for the Patti Smith Group, in the early 1970s, Kaye was still merely a writer and clerk at New York's Village Oldies record shop, during which he produced the first Nuggets compilation under supervision of Elektra Records CEO Jac Holzman. Kaye's plans for Nuggets were ambitious—an eight-disc series that focused on various areas across the United States. In spite of this ambition, and even a Volume 2 being compiled, Elektra determined a 2-LP set would be much more commercially viable than Kaye's genius archival set. Even with Kaye's plans being thinned down for this original 1972 release, the results can't be denied. The "Original Artyfacts" that we're given on the first ever Nuggets compilation is nothing short of a historic time capsule of psychedelia, at least in my estimation. Elektra, and especially Kaye, have done a remarkable job in distilling down a scrappy, garage rock time capsule of the American psychedelic scene, and this whole record is decorated with music ranging from proto-punk gems to Beatlesque pop rockers to masterclasses of baroque pop and power pop. The results are varied, creative, and more than anything showcase plenty of groups with an ear for melody and, more often than not, some amount of distinction from other, more famous counterparts. Nuggets is every bit a great historical document as much as it is just a fantastic compilation of pop songs.

    I should open by saying that, while much of the album's material was unfamiliar with me on first listen, this was not always the case. Perhaps that was part of the fun—seeing groups like Nazz, one of Todd Rundgren's earliest music outings, or the early punk of the 13th Floor Elevators represented on here was certainly exciting, and the fact that Kaye recognized the greatness of "You're Gonna Miss Me" or "Open My Eyes" was even more so. Even more exciting, though, was the amount of groups that were newly brought before my eyes, be it the the early home of future Blood, Sweat & Tears members in The Blues Project or Ted Nuget's surprisingly electrifying psyche blues group The Amboy Dukes. Undoubtedly, the discovery of many a lost starting ground for musicians was the most enlightening, not to mention a dozen odd one-off groups that have proven themselves intriguing from just a few listens alone, whether its the surprising power of The Chocolate Watchband or the blazing blues of The Leaves or the brilliant Millennium-adjacent Sagittarius. This is all without even covering the various scopes of sound and genres on this record, from garage rock to proto-punk to folk rock to sunshine pop, all of whom have artists in these categories that manage to sound distinct from one another in spite of the common ground they all share. It almost plays like an American pop music version of Epcot's World Pavilion, serving up a wholly unique dosage of each band's individual sound and style, all through the means of songs that typically don't average upwards of three-and-a-half minutes.

    Of course, with a collection as expansive as Nuggets, it's a given that not every moment is going to be an immediate winner. While most of the compilation manages to keep the quality level fairly high, I can't help but find the poor Dylan copycats that are Mouse & the Traps to be assured duds, and "A Public Execution" makes it evident as to why this group was largely left to the antiques. The Barbarians, their one armed-drummer Moulty, and his song, erm.. "Moulty".. also is an immediate dud, and going off some of their other material, it seems that it's a group of little note, of little energy, and of little enjoyment. One best left for the history books, methinks. These groups, however, are the exception, and more often than not you have bands like the Beatlesque Knickerbockers and their excellent "Lies", whose immediate melody makes for an early highlight of the compilation. There's also the surprisingly flavorful Mojo Men, whose Van Dyke Parks arranged version of Buffalo Springfield's "Sit Down I Think I Love You" proved one of my absolute favorite moments on the entire compilation, backed with a completely different take on the song that shows it digging into a more gentle sound and baroque-leaning style. Baroque pop is also brought up to its heights with Sagittarius' "My World Fell Down", the brainchild of Los Angeles pop genius Gary Usher. The end results of "My World Fell Down" is something between "A Day in the Life" and "Good Vibrations", complete with elaborate harmonies and arrangements, and unique musique concrete section, and even featuring vocals from Beach Boy Bruce, the result is one of the album's many championing moments. Of course, these golden moments dot the album from front to back, and the moments that see a dud of a tune are an extreme minority. Perhaps its this consistency in flow and quality that's the most admirable quality of Nuggets.

    Of course, Nuggets didn't end in 1972—a 14-disc series in the 80s, an expanded 4-CD version in the 90s, additional collections of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and British Empire hits have all since been added to the fruitful harvest that is now Rhino Records' series. In some ways, this has kept Lenny Kaye's original ambitions for the compilation alive, and it's not like he himself didn't reach even greater heights: he went on to be Patti Smith's guitar player. Putting that aside, it's amazing to me how continuously interesting and satiating Nuggets remains more than 50 years later. In the aftermath of listening to this album, I've since explored more of these groups that I heard through this album, and I do owe Nuggets for finally encouraging me to listen to Present Tense all the way through, or for discovering just how Rolling Stones-leaning the Chocolate Watchband are—they're pretty good, too, just as an aside. Nuggets is not only a stepping stone towards more musical discovery, nor is it a brilliantly assembled time capsule of psychedelia, but it's just a great compilation through and through, and anyone mad for music will certainly get a kick out of this one. Sink your teeth in.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968.