Never Enough Nuggets 

You always read about the anniversaries of classic LPs, but compilation albums are hardly ever celebrated. 

𝑁𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠, compiled by Lenny Kaye and originally released in October 1972, was one of the few. Last fall, this compilation passed the 50 year mark. On April 22, a revamped vinyl edition of the already-expanded 1998 boxed set will be released in time for Record Store Day. At least one record is going to be the complete Nuggets, Vol. 2, which was projected but never released. (One of the “projected” songs, “Crazy Like A Fox,” is actually by Kaye himself under a pseudonym – “Link Cromwell.”)

The songs on this album were originally released between 1964-68.  On the face of it, it may have looked like another generic oldies album, but it told a deeper story: the origins of punk rock. Only thing is, in ’72, punk wasn’t punk as we know it now. It was just an obscure buzzword created by rock critics to describe post-British Invasion rock…after the Beatles, but before psychedelia kicked in: The Standells, The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, the Shadows of Knight,  the Castaways. When the 70s punk movement did get underway, with the Ramones and others, the type of music heard on the 𝑁𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 album was one of the templates. The elements were there: short songs, snarling vocals, buzzsaw guitar, fast whip-cracking tempos. They came to call it “garage rock” after “punk” started defining some other kind of music, but every son has a daddy and here’s more or less where it started.

Even though the music on this album definitely formed (part of) the basis of my tastes, it was a while before I actually found a copy. People a few years older than me had tales of seeing this for pennies on the dollar in bargain bins. Coming up in the 80s and 90s, I never saw this LP anywhere. They’d pretty much cycled through the budget racks by then, and no one who owned a copy was going to set it free.  But a lot of these songs were available elsewhere, and I owned maybe 25 out of 27 of these songs by the time the box set (with extra songs) appeared…which I bought and don’t regret. A true essential. I’d still buy an original if the price were right.

Lenny Kaye was originally tapped to compile the album for Elektra Records in 1970. At the time, Kaye was an NYC journalist and musician who also worked at Village Oldies, where crate-diggers came together to obsess over classic doo-wop 45s. Jac Holzman was the president of Elektra, a former folk label that had slowly grown to become one of the most eclectic labels of that period, with a stable ranging from Judy Collins to the Stooges. Elektra also had a reputation for intelligently-compiled various-artists albums, or, as they were called on Elektra’s innersleeves, “projects.” One such anthology featured some of the earliest recordings by the Lovin’ Spoonful, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Eric Clapton with Steve Winwood (What’s Shakin’). Another featured performances by pedal steel players (Suite Steel).

The Nuggets project was originally supposed to be a compilation of token standout tracks on otherwise forgotten or inconsequential albums. The idea was just vague enough that it took a few twists and turns before Kaye narrowed it down to Rockin’ & Reelin’ USA, which he originally envisioned as a multi-volume series of songs from different regional scenes. Holzman suggested that Nuggets would be a better title.

In 1970-72, the nostalgia craze was in full swing. Everybody was starting to stare back at times gone by. However, no one was really pining for the sixties just yet. The era from 1964-68 (which the album covered) was a little too recent. Already there was a mania for early rock & roll, but that centered around the fifties and early sixties. In that way, Nuggets was a little premature. Several of the artists showcase on the album were still alive and performing, to varying extents. (Billy Vera, who wrote the Remains'”Don’t Look Back,” was amused when he dropped by Village Oldies only to have Kaye tell him that he loved the song so much that he was about to compile it on this LP.) Despite this, even though the album wasn’t initially a sales blockbuster, just about all of the major rock magazines gave it a rave review. Everyone “got” the concept, because they might have seen the Remains live in Boston, or the Del-Vettes in Chicago, or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators in Dallas. These regional heroes might not have made it to the Beatles/Stones level, but they rocked the house just the same (the Remains did open for the Beatles on their 1966 tour). Hell, a lot of those writers may have played in a band like that themselves. 

It should be mentioned that while a small group of rock writers and collectors were buying old ? & the Mysterians albums from cutout bins in the early seventies, the names “garage” and “punk” were not in widespread usage with the general public. When Nuggets was released, the tagline on the cover was “Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era.” While psychedelia is definitely creeping around the edges, the majority of the bands are straight-ahead mid-sixties three-chord raunch using early Beatles, Stones and Yardbirds as a template. The studio sophistication of Sagittarius'”My World Fell Down” is miles away from the fratboy stomp of the Swingin’ Medallions'”Double Shot.” 

Yet and still, there’s an unspoken teen-club innocence that ties these tunes together. None of these bands called themselves “garage” or “punk” when they were current – if the genre was more unified, then the genre would have lasted past ’68. At the time, it was just the sound of rock & roll. Even the debut albums by the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane – two San Francisco bands who were a sign of things to come – had that garagey feel.

The album stayed in print for a few short years, then Sire reissued it in 1977 with a new cover that looked more like a Grateful Dead live album. By that time, the legend had grown to the point where a new subgenre of rock was starting to creep onto the scene, inspired by the New York Dolls, MC 5, Stooges and the Nuggets compilation. The newer bands in this genre included the Dictators, Ramones, Dead Boys, Damned, Sex Pistols, plus the Patti Smith Group, who featured Lenny Kaye on guitar. And they called it punk.

The second edition of Nuggets didn’t stay in print any longer than the first, but rather than waiting for the second volume to come out, a few enterprising label owners took matters into their own hands. First out of the gate in 1979 was Pebbles, a low-level bootleg series helmed by a high-profile collector and rock writer. Several volumes were released clean through the eighties, and the artists ranged from well-known acts like the New Colony Six and Bobby Fuller, on to small-timers who recorded their only 45 in a deserted diner (Randy Alvey & the Green Fuz). 

Other similar series kept coming, including Boulders, Rubble, Back From The Grave, and into the CD era, Garage Beat ’66 and the compilations on the Teenage Shutdown label. Bands who were only known for one rare 45 all of a sudden had two or three albums on the market (plus the inevitable reunion record). Even in the world of mail-order LPs sold via TV ads, there was an album called Wild Thing that collected the more obvious hits from the genre. Entire labels and regional scenes were given the reissue treatment. Eventually Rhino, one of the more prominent reissue companies of the 80s, got in the act – rather than reissue the original Nuggets verbatim, Rhino turned it into a multi-artist series that didn’t exactly stick to the concept (Steppenwolf and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band don’t sound right in a series like this). Newer bands were playing rock & roll in the older 60s garage style: the Lyres, Chesterfield Kings, Gories, Woggles, Swingin’ Neckbreakers. The neo-garage style even had its day in the charts at the start of the 2000s, with the White Stripes and the Strokes.

Through it all, Lenny Kaye has always remained “on the scene” in some form, with tastes ranging from 70s punk to honky tonk country (he co-wrote Waylon Jennings’ autobiography) to reggae. His musical activities, both as a performer and a producer, have reflected this. His recent book, Lightning Striking, is a look at “ten transformative moments in rock & roll.” Much like the Nuggets album, he breaks down those historic moments by region (Memphis ’54, Seattle ’91, Detroit ’69, etc.). While he has always been aware enough of the connections and interconnections between genres, he has never lost his passion for the classic garage sound. I had the pleasure of meeting him for a solitary minute once.

It was in the summer of 2001, when a revived Patti Smith Group played a free show outside of the Chicago Tribune building, which was then located north of the Michigan Avenue bridge. Before the show, I peeped around the backstage area waiting to get a glipse of Mr. Kaye, who was back playing guitar behind Ms. Smith. I got my wish – I yelled his name, and he came to the fence. 

I told him I was a fan of his, and really loved that article he wrote about acapella doo-wop in 1969 for Jazz & Pop magazine (it has since been reprinted in a couple of anthologies). Surprised, he leaned across that wooden separation fence and gave me a big ole New York hug. I would have loved to just shoot the shit with him about this, that and the other, but somebody else demanded his attention right then, and the conversation was never resumed. This, I understood – as a person who has played in bands myself, I understood that the pre-show rituals can be a little more intense than afterward. But I was happy I got to meet a longtime hero that one time.

As an aside, I once talked to a guy who did not get the connection between 60s garage rock and the punk movement. Since I was playing in a band with him at the time, I went well out of my way to tell him that there was more to punk than lame hardcore and bad Bowie imitations. Yeah, I definitely gave him The Sermon, but hey, this record is inspirational that way. Happy belated 50th anniversary, 𝑁𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠!

• Author
• Recent Posts

James Porter

James Porter writes about rock & soul history. He is also a DJ on Chicago's WLUW.

Latest posts by James Porter (see all)

• Little Richard: The Rill King of Rock ‘n’ Roll - May 1, 2023
• Never Enough Nuggets  - April 5, 2023
• Game Was Her Middle Name: Remembering Betty Davis - March 1, 2022