Category: Double Nugget

Double Nugget, Dylanish

If You Dug It…

Craig McAllister

…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.

original single label
original single label

‘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…’

Double Nugget

Double Nugget

Craig McAllister

Part 1 of a new series in which previously underpraised records/bands get the praise they deserve. Nuggets was the brainchild of Lenny Kaye, guitarist with the Patti Smith Group and garage rock enthusiast. ‘The Original Punk Rock’ claims the sticker on my box set. ‘Last Seen In Rolling Stone’s List Of 200 Essential CDs of the Rock ‘n Roll Era!’ 

In 1964 when America went Beatlemania crazy watching the Ed Sullivan show, anyone who had a TV and a guitar grew their hair overnight, got together with some like-minded souls and thrashed away in their garage until the 2 or 3 chords they had nicked from the Fab 4 or the Kinks or the Who had been fashioned together into something approaching a tune. Often, there were fantastic results. FANTASTIC RESULTS! Some of these results even made it onto record. Unfortunately, 99.9% of these records remained firmly outside the charts, but they proved to be the training ground for such future stars as Todd Rundgren, Ted Nugent, Warren Zevon, Glen Campbell and many others. 

Originally a double album, ‘Nuggets’ basically celebrates these no-hit wonders by compiling tons and tons of stuff onto 4 CDs. It is my favourite box set, one I go back to again and again. At least once a year I will wait until I have the house to myself and blast it out while I do some menial chore like cleaning the floor or changing the bed. It’s great music to strip wallpaper to. It’s great music to make the tea to. It’s great music to clean the toilet to. It’s great music full stop.

Double Nugget? I’d rather have a Knickerbocker Glory. The guy in the bottom left hand corner would later change his name and go on to play for Glasgow Rangers. Derek Johnstone, anyone?

Today’s Double Nugget comes courtesy of The Knickerbockers and The Amboy Dukes. New Jersey’s The Knickerbockers released ‘Lies’ in 1965 and it is so obviously under the influence of The Beatles it could easily have slotted onto ‘With The Beatles’ between ‘Don’t Bother Me’ and ‘Little Child’. You should try it in iTunes – it works! The harmonies throughout, the Ringo-style drum rolls, the George Harrison-indebted vocals. There’s even a McCartney-esque “Waaaaaaaaaa!” scream leading into the middle eight. You can just about picture him bobbing his head while he plays his Hofner bass along to this one. Even the adlibs at the end have that whiff of Fab Fourness about them. This track is a cracker!

Handsome

The Amboy Dukes are a totally different kettle of fish. Less pop for a start. Much less. Look at the picture above. This is heavy blues way before Eric Clapton even invented heavy blues. Listen to the feedback drenched opening to their version of ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’. Originally a Big Joe Williams folk/blues song from the deep south of America, The Amboy Dukes were clearly taking notes from the Them version. I always liked that version until I heard this one. Released at the start of 1968, it sounds like Vietnam. An incessant, nagging rhythm section coupled with Ted Nugent’s amps set to 10 (and ‘stun’) this is the true sound of Detroit, pre-dating the MC5, Stooges et al by a few years. A few years later and Nugent was a gun lovin’ maniac. Listening to his playing on this track, we should’ve guessed. You’ll want to learn this version on guitar, trust me. Oh, and listen out for the Hendrix riff in the middle of the freak-out section.

England, 1966

(every Scotsman’s least-favourite phrase)

*Disclaimer. There’s a million great garage band websites out there. Most of them are way more knowledgeable and obsessive about this music than I’ll ever be. And I love this music! Click on the ‘Little Steven’ link on the left hand side for starters. I’m no expert on these things, and I don’t claim to be. As Lenny Kaye himself says in the original sleeve notes, “The notes enclosed are intended to provide a frame of reference in which to approach these hand-picked tracks, and have no pretense either to complete enlightenment or total truth” Happy downloading1