A 60's Garage Primer

[Joe]

     Hey all!  I need some assistance. I have a reasonably good grasp of contemporary garage rock/punk, but my knowledge of original 60's garage is kinda spotty. What are the "must hear/must know" tunes or bands from that era? I'm a little familiar with The Sonics, ? and the Mysterians, The Seeds, Count Five, and a few of the hits (e.g., "Surfin' Bird"), but beyond that I don't know much.

     Also, is the Nuggets boxed set a good place for a beginner to start?

Thanks!

-Joe

[Dead Boy]

I found that "Acid Dreams" (the original version) has reissued on CD, but "Acid Dreams Testament" (which has many bonus tracks) is still available!  "Acid Dreams" has some tracks which "Acid  Dreams Testament" doesn't have, but "Testament" is better than the original, I think.

[Alexander]

Oh,didn´t know that they reissued "ACID DREAMS"-must try to get it!

Thanx for the info!!!!
 
Dead Boy said:

I found that "Acid Dreams" (the original version) has reissued on CD, but "Acid Dreams Testament" (which has many bonus tracks) is still available!  "Acid Dreams" has some tracks which "Acid  Dreams Testament" doesn't have, but "Testament" is better than the original, I think.

[John Battles]

 YES ! When I saw the heading on your column , the first thing I thought was , you should start with the Nuggets box sets , and go from there. You'll have a basic knowledge of some of the best stuff , and if there's something you REALLY like , you can pursue it further. Other comps , Like Rubbles , The Pebbles series , AND , WELL , THERE'S SO MANY OTHERS , IT'S SICK. i'M NOnot saying you should buy these $22 comps , sight unseen , but there's so muchgood stuff out there , that's affordable , if you're patient , and enjoy yourself along the way. Good Luck , John.

[John Battles]

......And definitely get the "Back From The Grave" and "Teenage Shutdown" records , as suggested elsewhere....Tim Warren at Crypt was determined to put out better - sounding versions of songs the late Greg Shaw had released , earlier (At least , that's the word on the street. Shaw's involvement with the Pebbles series has come into question , recently.) , and , he did succeed. Still , we owe it all to Shaw , and Lenny Kaye before him , for drumming up interest in a previously ignored genre. They HAD to call it Punk Rock or Garage Rock , because , in the 70's , this stuff did'nt have a name .

[Joe]

I've discovered that there's an enormous number of garage comps out there, but that's all the more for me to explore.  I'm a little wary of dropping big bucks some of the rarer releases (although the aforementioned Pebbles re-release is surprisingly affordable), if only because there's so much else available.  I did manage to find a used copy of Back from the Grave vol. 4 (already have vol. 1), and it's excellent as promised! 

I also picked up several Norton LP's recently.  Norton rules and their prices are great -- $10 for most of their LP releases. 

Friday at the Hideout: Boss Detroit Garage 64-67

Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things:  Rare & Unissued Virginia Garage 64-67

Both of these are outstanding.  I also got all five volumes of Norton's "Unissued Sixties Garage Acetates" series.  The quality of the tunes on these can be hit-and-miss, but there's still some amazing gems. 

All vinyl so far...I plan to look into CD releases soon -- possibly the Nuggets set, Acid Dreams, or the stuff available at Arf Arf or Sundazed, as suggested. 

[dave]

Hey, man, howya doin'? I got this on my blog, and thought ya might like it. Enjoy, Dave

charles lamey, the snarl meets the psyche

fyi- my blog, mainly other stuff