If You Dug It…

…then it’s a Nugget. So says Lenny Kaye, as regular reader Ace K points out…

“During my “career” at a law firm that was slowly eroding me, I would play hooky on extended lunch breaks at the great used music stores in the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville (Massachusetts, USA) area.  One afternoon at the old, underground (literal) store Nuggets in Kenmore Square, Boston, Lenny Kaye strolled in.  He signed the wall “If you dug it, then it’s a nugget,” chatted with the clerks, probably bought something, and left.  I still kick myself for not busting my budget, buying their used Elektra 2-LP Nuggets set and getting his signature on it.”

Thank you, Ace. A nice story, and a great excuse to give you the next irregular instalment in Plain Or Pan’s ‘Double Nugget’ series. Todays tracks come from Texas and Chicago. Hold on. Not the groups. Christ, no. Not the groups. There’s other blogs out there that cater for blandness, but Plain Or Pan ain’t one of them.

Mouse & his Traps. Benny Hill top right.

Mouse And The Traps were from Texas. ‘Mouse’ was Ronnie Weiss and he formed the band in 1965. Clearly in thrall to that thin wild mercury sound of mid-6o’s Bob Dylan, ‘A Public Execution’ is almost as much a Dylan pastiche as the ‘Dylan Hears A Who’ post from a wee while ago. If you google Mouse And The Traps, every search mentions Dylan at some point. It’s that obvious. But taking nothing away from Mouse and co, it’s a fantastic record.

‘A Public Execution’ was written as an answer to a girl (of course) named Debbie who thought Mouse was up to stuff behind her back. Think ‘Positively 4th Street’ with added sneering. Does he really sing “You better find yourself a welder babe” at the end? It sounds like it! Some of the band’s other material is possibly even better. Faster, wilder and more out there, a future post will definitely feature ‘Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice’. Keep your eyes peeled…

The Shadows Of Knight

The Shadows Of Knight were from Chicago. ‘Oh Yeah’ was a scorching garage blues cover of a Bo Diddley song. “Woah yeah! Everything gonna be alright this morning!” And then we’re off. Hang on…..that rhythm. That ryhthm! The guitar sound. And that dive bombing bass line. David Bowie! David Bowie!!! You little thief!!!!! There would have been no ‘Jean Genie’ without this record. None at all. And that’s a fact. Bowie likes to think he stays one step in front of the others, but going by this track he’s really just digging for gold in the gazillions of records that don’t quite make it past the lower reaches of the charts. Good spot, David! Bowie once talked of doing a ‘Pin Ups 2’, which would feature solely American music as opposed to the swinging London music from the original ‘Pin Ups’ album. That would have been interesting. Or maybe not. Altogether now, ‘The Jean Genie lives on his back…’