Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era is a compilation album of American psychedelic and garage rock singles that were released during the mid-to-late 1960s. It was created by Lenny Kaye, who was a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies record shop in New York. He would later become the lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. Kaye produced Nuggets under the supervision of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman. Kaye conceived the project as a series of roughly eight LP installments focusing on different US regions, but Elektra convinced him that one double album would be more commercially viable. It was released on LP by Elektra in 1972 with liner notes by Kaye that contained one of the first uses of the term "punk rock". It was reissued with a new cover design by Sire Records in 1976. In the 1980s, Rhino Records issued Nuggets in a series of fifteen installments, and in 1998 as a 4-cd box set.
The Magic Mushrooms were an American psychedelic garage rock band in the 1960s. The Magic Mushrooms were originally composed of five students from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. They were:
The Brogues were an American garage rock band formed in Merced, California, in 1964. Much of the group's brief recording career was marked by distorted-guitar melodies and R&B-influenced vocals. They released two regionally successful singles in their brief existence, most notably the Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz-penned "I Ain't No Miracle Worker", which is now considered a classic of the garage rock genre. The song has also appeared on several compilation albums and has been covered by other music artists.
Count Five was an American garage rock band, formed in San Jose, California in 1964, known for their hit single "Psychotic Reaction".
Lawrence William Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Monkees, the Partridge Family, Billy Joel, the Doors, the Byrds, the Grass Roots, Jerry Garcia, and Elvis Presley. He also was a member of the 1970s band Bread.
Emitt Lynn Rhodes was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer. At 14 years, Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles the Palace Guard as the group's drummer before joining the Merry-Go-Round as a multi-instrumentalist. He has been called the "One-Man Beatles" due to the style and skill of his songwriting and instrumentation.
The Merry-Go-Round was an American psychedelic rock, Los Angeles based band, best known for the singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes and featuring Joel Larson on drums, Gary Kato on lead guitar, and Bill Rinehart on bass. The group gained inspiration from bands like the Beatles, the Byrds, and the Left Banke for its vocal harmonies and instrumental acquisitions. They used their contemporaries' styles to create their own sound.
Joel Larson is an American rock drummer and percussionist who is known as a founding member of The Merry-Go-Round and for being associated with The Turtles and The Grass Roots.
Mouse and the Traps is the name of an American garage rock band from Tyler, Texas, United States, that released numerous singles between 1965 and 1969, two of which, "A Public Execution" and "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", became large regional hits. The leader of the band, nicknamed "Mouse", was Ronny Weiss. Two of their best known songs, "A Public Execution" and a cover of "Psychotic Reaction", are not actually credited to this band but, respectively, to simply Mouse and Positively 13 O'Clock instead. Their tangled history also included one single that was released anonymously under the name Chris St. John. The band are not to be confused with the girl group Mousie and The Traps who recorded for Toddlin' Town records around the same time.
Nuggets is a series of compilation albums, started by Elektra Records in 1972 and continued by Rhino Records thereafter. The series focuses primarily on relatively obscure garage and psychedelic rock songs from the 1960s, but with some hits and pop-oriented songs also included.
"I Ain't No Miracle Worker" is a song by the American garage rock band, the Brogues, written by Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, and released as the group's second and final single on Challenge Records, in November 1965. The composition is now considered a classic of the musical genre of garage rock, and has reappeared on several compilation albums and has been covered by other musical artists. The Brogues' original rendition was musically influenced by their contemporaries on the R&B circuit and the British Invasion.
The Velvet Illusions, also known as Georgy and the Velvet Illusions and the Illusions, were an American garage rock band formed in Yakima, Washington in 1965. The group, with influences spanning from R&B standards, the British Invasion, to early psychedelia, released five singles in their brief recording career. Despite never breaking out nationally, the band's music has been revived, thanks, in large part, to its inclusion on several compilation albums, most notably Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965–1968.
The Guilloteens were an American garage rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1964. Much of the band's musical stance was distinguished for incorporating their homegrown Memphis influences with a hard-edged sound. Among the group's singles, the Guilloteens are most-known for their regional hit "I Don't Believe" and "Hey You". Although national success eluded the group, they are now considered one of the more accomplished garage rock acts to emerge from the era.
"A Public Execution" is a song performed and recorded by the American band Mouse and the Traps, also credited simply as Mouse, written by Ronny "Mouse" Weiss (né Ronald Lon Weiss; born 1942) (music) and Knox Henderson (né Knox Holmes Henderson; 1939–2002) (words), and first released as the group's debut single on Fraternity Records in December 1965. The song was a big regional hit in Texas and peaked in the lower reaches of the Billboard charts, but has become better-known today, in large part, due to the band's uncanny imitation of Highway 61 Revisited-era Bob Dylan.
The Grains of Sand were an American garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. For a period, the group exerted a promising presence in Los Angeles's music scene, releasing three singles in their recording career, the second of which was produced by Kim Fowley. Much of the band's material found on their first two releases have since been compiled on several compilation albums, including Pebbles, Volume 1, and is cited by critics as classics of the garage rock genre.
The Groupies were an American garage rock-psychedelic rock band from New York City who were active in the 1960s and are known for an innovative approach to primal blues-based rock exemplified in such songs as "Primitive". They were a popular fixture in the New York club scene and recorded for Atco Records, later venturing to Los Angeles. Due to their uncompromising stance the Groupies failed to attract a wider audience outside of their local enclaves. They have come to the attention of garage rock and psychedelic enthusiasts and their work has been included on various compilations such as the 1998 Nuggets four-CD box set, which was released on Rhino Records. Their material has been re-issued on other garage rock and psychedelic compilations such as the Pebbles, Volume 10 LP.
The Knack was an American garage and psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles, California who were active in the 1960s. They are not to be confused with either the American band of the same name who became popular in the late 1970s, nor the British band of the same name in the 1960s. They were noted for their melodic and instrumental finesse and secured a recording contract with Capitol Records. The band nevertheless failed to break through to a national audience. In the intervening years their work has come to the attention of 1960s music collectors and enthusiasts, especially with the release of the Time Waits for No One anthology.
October Country was an American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1967. For musician Michael Lloyd, the group was one of his earliest projects with him assuming the role of record producer. It also was another side-project, along with the Smoke, California Spectrum, and the Fire Escape, during a period in which Lloyd was absent from the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. October Country recorded one self-titled album in 1968 and is best-remembered for the track "My Girlfriend Is a Witch". They are credited as the musicians for the Steven Spielberg short-film, Amblin'.
The E-Types were an American garage rock band formed in Salinas, California, in 1965. The group's sound combined striking three-part vocal harmonies and Jody Wence's jangling keyboards, with professional production techniques that were outside of the garage band norm. During the E-Types' recording career, the band released five singles, including their most notable record "Put the Clock Back on the Wall". Although the band was short-lived, the E-Types had a profound presence in San Francisco's live scene and, years after their disbandment, the group recorded a reunion album.
