Various Artists - Pebbles, Vol. 10
Subtitled: Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics
1996 Archive International Productions (AIP)
CD cat. #: AIP CD 5027
Leather Boy, Bruthers, Others etc. The original series of 28 LPs contained obscure '60s recordings from all over the world. In preparing the series for CD release, we have taken a somewhat different approach. The first five volumes, always the popular favorites, have been kept largely the same, only omitting tracks more definitively reissued elsewhere, and adding several new bonus tracks to each album.
Subsequent volumes have begun to take a more regional approach, drawing not just from the original Pebbles and Highs albums, but also from other compilations that have since gone out of print, as well as from our large archive of previously unreissued tracks. Some of the new Pebbles CDs include tracks never before issued, and all have been completely remastered, with all-new liner notes reflecting the latest info available to us.
Twenty-four mid-'60s garage favorites, none available on CD before. It's above the median standard of such compilations, including numerous better cuts from the original vinyl Pebbles series:
the Leather Boy's truly strange "I'm a Leather Boy," and
the Clockwork Orange's Electric Prunes-influenced "Your Golden Touch,"
the Uncalled For's "Do Like Me," and
the Others' "I Can't Stand This Love." There are also a number of tracks that are relatively unfamiliar, the most interesting of these being "Leave Me Alone" by the Canadian Squires, who would turn into the Band (yes, the Band) a few years later.
Far from being a letdown, volume ten of the oh-so-awesome Pebbles series is a supremely rockin' disc, packed with some of the swinginest garage rock classics ever to roar their way outta the 60s. As a matter of fact, I may go so far as to say thatthis is one of the two or three best CD volumes in the entire series (!!!) The songs exemplify garage rock at its best and rawest, with plenty of attitude, electric organs, fuzz guitars, and teenage rage. I mean, seriously, listen to those tunes! "The Leather Boy" and "On the Go" (both by the elusive Leather Boy, a.k.a. Milan) are whaked-out weirdo biker anthems, greasy rockers with thuggish backup vocals, slashing guitars, and tough-guy lyrics.
The Bold's "Gotta Get Some" is a leering, saliva-dripping stomper that
makes the 'Stones seem tame. This set also features the group's cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'," which rocks with exactly the kind of untamed ferocity that makes garage rock so much fun.
The Bruthers snarl their way through an awesome raver entitled "Bad Way to Go," before the Canadian Squires burst onto the scene with a lean, mean pounder entitled "Leave Me Alone"
(Canadian Squires, by the way, would later find fame as the Band).
The Clockwork Orange turn in two tremolo laden classics by the name of "Your Golden Touch" and "Do Me Right Now," and
the Breakers' "Don't Send Me No Flowers (I Ain't Dead Yet)" is a gritty, cocky, and strutting rocker with a monstrous fuzz guitar attack. And then there's Spirite's tense,
the
Loved Ones' "Surprise Surprise," and
the Mach V's catchy anti-drug anthem, "If I Could." Am I done yet? Of course not! There's still the Others' jet-propelled "I Can't Stand this Love, Goodbye," and
the Prophets' infectious, low key three-chord jangler, "Yes I Know."
Ravin' Blue turn in a stormin' little blues-punker entitled "Love," before
the Rooks' "A Girl Like You" comes roaring out of your speakers, with its wonderfully distorted guitars and all-around catchiness. The RPM keep things short and sweet with the brief, but undeniably powerful, snarler known as "White Lightening."
The Silver Fleet's "Look Out World" is, admittedly, a ripoff of "Gloria." Still, it's an incredibly good one.
Who We Are mix sapced-out psychedelia with fuzz-blastin' garage punk quite effectively on "Last Trip," and
the Teddy Boys are just plain insane on their cover of Bo Diddley's "Mona." The Uncalled For's "Do Like Me" is subtle, sarcastic, and quietly intense, and
the Kidds' "Nature's Children" is a fuzzy punk pounder with lotsa bite.
The Regiments' "My Soap Won't Float" is a wonderfully bizzare psych-punk-popper which may or may not be an excellent parody of the whole concept of hippie mystecism.
It's also really, really, really catchy. And then there's "Doin' Me In." A garage-punk-rock-n-roll-proto-metal masterpiece in every sense of the word, the Gonn's "Doin' Me In" is a two-chord monster that combines every single adjective I've used so far in this review (except for "subtle." It isn't subtle), and throws in a few more (for example, "brutal"). Just plain awesome. Garage fans, get this disc right now. NOW!
01. The Leather Boy / I'm A Leather Boy - 02:08
02. The Bold / Gotta Get Some - 02:32
03. The Bruthers / Bad Way To Go - 02:53
04. Canadian Squires / Leave Me Alone - 02:38
05. Clockwork Orange / Your Golden Touch - 02:14
06. Clockwork Orange / Do Me Right Now - 01:30
07. The Breakers / Don't Send Me No Flowers (I Ain't Dead Yet) - 02:08
08. The Spirit / No Time To Rhyme - 02:37
09. The Leather Boy / On The Go - 02:13
10. The Loved Ones / Surprise Surprise - 01:59
11. Mach V / If I Could - 02:23
12. The Others / I Can't Stand This Love - 02:10
13. The Prophets / Yes I Know - 02:45
14. Ravin' Blue / Love - 02:09
15. The Rooks / A Girl Like You - 02:10
16. The RPM's / White Lightnin' - 01:47
17. Silver Fleet / Look Out World - 03:17
18. We Who Are / Last Trip - 02:30
19. Steve Walker and the Bold / Train Kept A Rollin' - 02:31
20. The Teddy Boys / Mona - 02:59
21. The Uncalled For / Do Like Me - 02:46
22. The Kidds / Nature's Children - 02:16
23. The Regiment / My Soap Won't Float - 02:17
24. Gonn / Doin' Me In - 02:45
