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

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

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. 

......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 .

 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.

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.

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.

Try the "endless yourney"-trilogy,or the "mindrockers" and "bam-caruso" sampler.Or "acid-dreams".That´s nice stuff-but I thing it´s hard to get.

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Rockabilly-Psychosis-And-The-Garage-Disease/release/394550

The Beautiful Daze - City Jungle

Dynamite!  I did snag a copy of Back from the Grave Vol. 1 on vinyl from a friend a few months back, but further volumes have proven difficult to find.  I love Norton's stuff, but up until now I've mostly bought the rockabilly stuff, so I gotta branch out.  I look forward to exploring everyone's suggestions.  Thanks all!

Also, the "Ugly Things" comp. is highly recommend!

Norton Records (www.nortonrecords.com) has also put out a lot of great comps over the years. I'd highly recommend the Ft. Worth Teen Scene comps as a good starting point (not to mention their Sonics/Wailers reissues). They should also stock all of the Crypt Records comps mentioned above (Teenage Shutdown, Back From the Grave, Garage Punk Unknowns). Crypt doesn't have an online store for U.S. customers anymore, so your best bet in finding that stuff is through Norton, IMHO. The Pebbles comps can be found at www.bomp.com (they're on AIP, a subsidiary of Bomp Records). Sundazed also issued some killer '60s comps in their "Garage Beat '66" series. Here's Vol. 1: http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=679

Mike Stax's Ugly Things magazine is an excellent resource, too. His site also has a Garage Compilation Database that can come in handy when trying to track down which comps have certain songs.

http://www.ugly-things.com/

(Just click on "60's Come Database" in the menu on the right-hand side.)

Wow! You're about to have your life changed Joe. After you have absorbed all of the above mentioned obligatory collections, maybe you will have enough brain cells left to devour one of thee most extraordinary collections of music from the state in the union that seemed to be way ahead of everyone in the mid 60's - Texas!!! Yeah, go figure. Just Google these two words: Acid Visions.

Another good resource to check out is the website "Garage Hangover", an exhaustive and essential site that's a great resource on obscure garage bands from the '60's. The guy's done his homework over there plus there's free mp3 downloads. It's a must if you really want to research it. If you go (and you should) be prepared to spend a few hours! www.garagehangover.com 

Yep, all of the above, plus you'll be doing yourself a HUGE favor if you check out the Arf! Arf! Records website. Lots of great garage comps, bargain priced samplers, and some stuff that's truly off the wall, plus excellent anthologies on bands you can't go wrong with. Check out their online catalogue: www.arfarfrecords.com

Don't forget the Pebbles & Garage Punk Unknowns comps, too. Lots of good stuff there as well.

The Nuggets Box Set is a PERFECT place to start! And Back From The Grave series, as ixnayray has pointed out

Buy all the 'Back From The Grave' albums, buy all the 'Teenage Shutdown' albums. All available from Crypt Records. That should do it.