Pebbles Vol. 1: Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics

by

Various Artists

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This whole damn series is great! This is what rock is about! The pebbles series is the best in psychedelic freak outs and punk that makes Jhonny Rotten hide under his bed. This is a good primer for what lies ahead. The politcally incorrect song "Spazz" by the Elastik band is a great funny song about, how do I say it nicely, the mentally challenged, then you got "Beaver Patrol" by a bunch of horny teenagers looking for some action and then the song "Black Out of Greteley" the best line of the song being " the universe is permeated with Kerosene" then a insane scream and they just rip in to the song. Picks up where Rockabilly stopped in 1959.

The PEBBLES series is well-documented as the underdog follow-up to the infamous NUGGETS set, but real music lovers in the know have learned it is the far superior collection, compiling more obscure tunes by more obscure bands. Now, to be fair, not all the volumes in the series are really worth getting. VOL. 1 is a superb introduction to the series. Word of warning: The Litter's "Action Woman", The Haunted's "1-2-5", Kim Fowley's "The Trip", The Elastic Band's "Spazz", The Sparkles' "No Friend of Mine", and Gonn's "Blackout of Gretely" all have appeared on either NUGGETS or NUGGETS II, but they're presented here sounding like they're blaring out of your turntable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Plus "Blackout of Gretely" is much longer here than it appears on NUGGETS!

Not all the songs on this set are worth a relisten, but some of the real gems are The Preachers' "Who Do You Love" (quite a departure from the familiar Woolies version), The Grains of Sand's "Going Away Baby", The Split Ends' "Rich With Nothin'" (great song about a rich girl who turns her back on her roots), and The Wild Knights' "Beaver Patrol", which must be one of the raunchiest rock records ever recorded. A bonus track, "It's Your Time" by The Weeds, is really cool, too!

Another word of warning: Wig's "Crackin' Up" and The Third Booth's "I Need Love" are not included on this CD, despite being on the track listing. Most of the best songs on this CD would be included on the later ESSENTIAL PEBBLES compilations, but this is still one disc you shouldn't be without in your 60s garage band collection.