"Nuggets" Comes Alive

Rhino Records founder attends live "Nuggets" show benefitting the Autism Healthcare Collaborative

In 1970 Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman thought that the many wonderful, obscure singles by post-Beatles American rock bands should be preserved. He assigned staffer Lenny Kaye to assemble a lineup that was released in December 1972 as "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968". It didn’t sell well enough to make the charts. In 1998 Rhino’s four-CD box set—compiled with Kaye’s input—got the attention it deserved and sold 100,000.

To coincide with Rhino’s vinyl-only enhanced Record Store Day release—limited to 6,000 boxes—the Wild Honey Foundation staged a fundraiser for autism at Glendale’s Alex Theatre on Friday, May 19. Original artists sang their Nuggets track, notable singers tribute versions, and it was all backed up by rotating musicians billed as the Wild Honey Orchestra Nuggets All-Star Band. Familiar instrumentalists included Elliot Easton of the Cars and Peter Buck of REM; featured on one song apiece, Wayne Kramer of the MC5, Johnny Echols of Love, and Darryl Hooper of the Seeds. Lenny Kaye acted as emcee, played guitar and sang on a few songs, including the record he released in 1966 as Link Cromwell.

The performances were uniformly good, and the lineup changes reasonably fluid. There were a number of standouts. Billy Vera, best known for his number one hit “At This Moment,” energized “Don’t Look Back,” his composition as recorded by the Remains. Ex-Textone Carla Olson sang “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by the 13th Floor Elevators, joined by Kathy Valentine, a Textone before becoming a Go-Go.

Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, hit the extreme high parts of the Castaways’ “Liar Liar.” Evie Sands elevated the Magicians’ “Invitation to Cry.” The Bangles Susanna Hoffs bounced to the Strangeloves’ “I Want Candy” and also sang the Mojo Men’s “Sit Down I Think I Love You” accompanied by “Weird Al” Yankovic on accordion.

 Among the original singers, the Electric Prunes James Lowe sang “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night),” and David Aguilar prowled the stage much like he did with the Chocolate Watchband as he sang “Let’s Talk About Girls.” Kenn Ellner, who sang and played harmonica on the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction,” sported a cape like one he wore on the group’s first album cover. The most enthusiastic response was directed at Jim Pons and John Beck, the original singers of the Leaves’ seminal “Hey Joe.” Bassist Pons left the Leaves to join the Turtles, then followed singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman into Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.

The thirty-two-song extravaganza concluded with the cast filling the stage to perform, in Lenny Kaye’s words, the night’s “national anthem,” Van Morrison’s “Gloria.” It was a magical evening, but surreal. Like a cross between Toy Story and Back to the Future, a jukebox of obscure 45s coming to life. Some of the performers even looked like Doc Brown.