If a single compilation can be attributed to beginning the oldies revolution, it is easily the original 1972 double LP Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968. Compiled by Elektra Records founder
Jac Holzman with assistance and input from guitarist and music historian
Lenny Kaye, this deceptively haphazard 27-track aggregate became the cornerstone of both the serious appreciation of '60s underground music as well as a rather off-scale model for a plethora of reissue-based record labels such as Rhino, Sundazed, and See for Miles. A glance at the way the tunes stack up on the original two-disc vinyl collection reveals that
Holzman was indeed looking beyond. Rather than re-treading the same tired "golden oldies" packages -- which were being hocked on TV and in print adverts by mail order throughout North America in the early '70s -- he and
Kaye began to gather the secondary and even tertiary layers of rock music. These tunes likewise had a stated influence on a new breed of rocker. Musicians such as
Patti Smith -- for whom
Kaye happened to play lead guitar --
the Ramones,
the Talking Heads, and
R.E.M. were more than simply enthusiasts. As their new wave of
pop music would reflect, they were actually students and disciples. One important factor that unifies and likewise levels the playing field for all 27 sides chosen for the first run of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 is that they were all issued as singles. There are both Top 20 charting
pop hits -- "Dirty Water" (
Standells), "Liar, Liar" (
Castaways), and at number five the highest-charting 45 of the bunch, "Psychotic Reaction" (
Count Five) -- as well as several sides that never made the Top 200. These include the equally inspired "Let's Talk About Girls" (
Chocolate Watchband), "Don't Look Back" (
Remains), and "An Invitation to Cry" (
Magicians). Each track is also given a brief bio which was researched and penned by
Kaye. His comments go beyond the facts and figures of the typical discography, relating to the music as the personal experience that it was. This further unifies the subtle assertion that a new generation of
pop/rock music fans were listening beneath the charts and the formats that began to dictate the contents of the airwaves as well as record store shelves. In 1998 Rhino Records reissued this set in an expanded edition containing 91 additional
garage and
psychedelic stacks of wax. As a paean to the two-LP set that started it all, the first CD in the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 box replicates the running order and artwork of this fundamental
rock & roll anthology. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
![Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 [LP]](http://ca.sacdstatic.com/200/drf200/f251/f25186z86nt.jpg "Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 [LP]")
