The Essential Pebbles Collection, Vol. 1

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Subtitled - Ultimate '66 Garage Classics! The very cream of the most classic songs found on the first ten volumes of the Pebbles CD series, in a two disc set. Includes 29 all-time classics on disc one and 26 bonus tracks on disc two that have never been released before - 'Someday' Motif, 'Brainwashed' Shays, 'Sinnerisme' Sinners, 'Hang Around' Missing Lynx, 'Can't You Stop It Now' Mixed Emotions, 'Heart So Cold' Thunderbolts, 'What A Life' Strangers, 'You Gotta Run' Roosters, 'Hey Mama' Peter & Wolves, 'Only Everything' Peter & Wolves, 'Travel Agent Man' Sound Apparatus, 'Down The Road Apiece' Shades, 'Sick & Tired' Dynamic Nutones, 'You're Through' Dry Grins, 'Sky Is Black' Hustlers, 'Girl With The Long Black Hair' Other Half, 'I'm In Love' Thorns, 'I've Gotta Go' Malibus, 'I Want You' Creations, 'I Just Don't Know' unknown artist, 'Fed Up' unknown artist, 'I've Had It' Banshees, 'It's Your Fault'

Tracks:

Who Do You Love - Preachers
Going Away Baby - Grains Of Sand
You Treat Me Bad - Ju Jus
1-2-5 - Haunted
Beaver Patrol - Wild Knights
So What! - Lyrics
Green Fuz - Green Fuz
Suzy Creamcheese - Teddy & Patches
Faces - T.C. Atlantic
Swami - William Penn V
No Good Woman - Tree
Go Away - Plague
Its A Crying Shame - Gentlemen
Searching - Omens
Need A Little Lovin' - Foggy Notions
Rebel Woman - Dean Carter
One Girl Man - Lost Agency
Every Night & Every Day - Trolls
I Never Loved Her - Starfires
No Correspondence - Beckett Quintet
She's Not Just Anybody - Dovers
Everything's There - Hysterics
Shattered - Good Feelings
I Aint Dead Yet - Breakers
Do Like Me - Uncalled For
Doin' Me In - Gonn
Bottle Up And Go - Mile Ends
Enough - Bohemian Vendetta
Don't Crowd Me - Keith Kessler

Tracks:

Someday - Motifs
Brainwashed - Shays
Sinnerisme - Sinners
Hang Around - Missing Lynx
Can't You Stop It Now - Mixed Emotions
Heart So Cold - Thunderbolts
What A Life - Strangers
You Gotta Run - Roosters
Hey Mama - Peter & Wolves
Only Everything - Peter & Wolves
Travel Agent Man - Sound Apparatus
Down The Road Apiece - Shades
Sick & Tired - Dynamic Nutones
You're Through - Dry Grins
Sky Is Black - Hustlers
Girl With The Long Black Hair - Other Half
I'm In Love - Thorns
I've Gotta Go - Malibus
I Want You To Know - Malibus
I Want You - Creations
I Just Don't Know - Unknown Artist
Fed Up - Unknown Artist
I've Had It - Banshees
It's Your Fault - Roy/Bristols
Some Other Guy - Terry Dee/Roadrunners
Go Go Girl - Unknown Artist

Album Description

Subtitled - Ultimate '66 Garage Classics! The very cream of the most classic songs found on the first ten volumes of the Pebbles CD series, in a two disc set. Includes 29 all-time classics on disc one and 26 bonus tracks on disc two that have never been released before - 'Someday' Motif, 'Brainwashed' Shays, 'Sinnerisme' Sinners, 'Hang Around' Missing Lynx, 'Can't You Stop It Now' Mixed Emotions, 'Heart So Cold' Thunderbolts, 'What A Life' Strangers, 'You Gotta Run' Roosters, 'Hey Mama' Peter & Wolves, 'Only Everything' Peter & Wolves, 'Travel Agent Man' Sound Apparatus, 'Down The Road Apiece' Shades, 'Sick & Tired' Dynamic Nutones, 'You're Through' Dry Grins, 'Sky Is Black' Hustlers, 'Girl With The Long Black Hair' Other Half, 'I'm In Love' Thorns, 'I've Gotta Go' Malibus, 'I Want You' Creations, 'I Just Don't Know' unknown artist, 'Fed Up' unknown artist, 'I've Had It' Banshees, 'It's Your Fault'

Customer Reviews:

One of the finest garage rock sets ever assembled. .......2007-06-07

Along with Nuggets and the Back from the Grave CDs, the first volume of the Essential Pebbles series is one of the greatest purchases that a garage rock fan can make. The two discs that make up this set are crammed full of brainbending mid-60s classics of the highest order. The songs are raw, crude, murderously energetic, and more fun than a roller coaster- in other words, everything that rock 'n' roll is supposed to be.

The first disc of the set is particularly impressive. It cobbles together 29 of the best tracks from the first ten CDs of the long-running Pebbles series, as well as three cuts from Ear-Piercing Punk, an offshoot of the series. These songs are simply astounding. The Preachers' cover of "Who Do You Love" opens the album with a menacing burst of drums, some filthy guitars, and an absurdly thuggish, greasy, mean-as-hell vocal. The Grains of Sand keep the party going with the hyperactive "Going Away Baby," which features an ultra-hip vocal and an organ solo that practically bounces off the walls of the recording studio. The Jujus' "You Treat Me Bad" is as absurd as it is catchy, thanks to its oddly appealing impish vocals and shimmering guitar line. The Haunted's "1-2-5" is a churning, greasy punk rocker with a nasty guitar line and a strutting rhythm section. The Wild Knights' "Beaver Patrol" is pure macho-posturing frat-rock, with a hilariously stupid vocal performance and a grinding R&B sensibility. The Lyrics' "So What" is a furious snarling stomper with some truly mean harmonicas. The Green Fuz's "Green Fuz" may very well be the greatest garage rock song of all time- it's inarticulate, deranged, played without an ounce of professionalism, and catchier than anything you've ever experienced. Crank it up. Teddy & The Patches "Suzy Creamchease" is a hilarious Frank Zappa ripoff with a brutal fuzz guitar onslaught, while T.C. Atlantic's "Faces" is a grooving acid storm with some truly trippy lyrics. William Penn V's "Swami" is a gut-bustingly funny piece of acid-rock-garage with some buzzing guitars and an addictive rhythm. The Tree's "No Good Woman" is a raving three-chord pounder with furious vocals, and the Plague's "Go Away" expands on the wildest aspects of the Kinks' early singles. The Gentlemans' "It's A Crying Shame" is a roaring stomper that begs you to sing along with it, and the Omens' "Searching" is a firestorm of swirling organs and roaring guitars. The Foggy Notions' "Need a Little Loving" is a (relatively) slow burning tune with some awesome, sensual vocals. Dean Carter's "Rebel Woman" is a classic piece of salivating desire, and the Lost Agency's "One Girl Man" is a sneering stomper of the highest order. The Trolls' "Every Night & Every Day" is a catchy three-chorder with some surprisingly funny lyrics. The Starfires' "I Never Loved Her" is quiter than some of the other songs here, but it burns with its own fiery intensity. The Beckett Quintet's "No Correspondance" is a merseybeat popper with a shimmering guitar lick. The Dovers' "She's Not Just Anybody" is just plain astounding, a bewitching slice of Beatles-influenced folk rock with a delicate cascade of guitars and a wistful, haunting vocal. The Hysterics' "Everything's There" has what may be the single filthiest vocal performances in history, and the broken-glass guitar line is icing on the cake. The Good Feelings' "Shattered" is a spacey swirl of keyboards and crunching guitars, while the Breakers' "I Ain't Dead Yet" is a defiant rocker with a rumbling melody. The Uncalled For's "Do Like Me" is one of the catchiest songs ever, a strutting popper that steadily builds in intensity. The Gonn's "Doin' Me In" is another one of those incredble garage rock epiphanies- it's a two chord punk apocalaypse with what can only be described as a gloriously desperate vocal. The Mile Ends' "Bottle Up and Go" is a sneering, dissafected raver, and the Bohemian Vendetta's "Enough" pounds along with a smokey organ riff. Keith Kessler closes out the disc with the surging "Don't Crowd Me." So, yep, every single song on disc 1 is awesome.

Disc 2, meanwhile, brings together a bunch of incredibly rare garage rock tunes that've never been reisuued before. They're not all winners, but there are enough good 'uns (such as the Motifs' "Someday" and the Shays' brilliant "Brainwashed") to make it an excellent listen for both newbies and diehard garage fans alike.

This is one of Garage rock's very finest compilations, a testiment to the power of the music at its best. Nobody who's even remotely interestred in garage shoudl be without this.

the unheard music is usually the best.......2006-09-17

Very enjoyable rock-n-roll. Any one of these bands could've made it big had they been in the right circumstances. I wonder what all these guys are doing now. This stuff is timeless.

time warp.......2005-07-06

What a surprise to discover that a song I recorded when I was 15 years old, in 1965, is selling on a compilation in 2005!!! I played the farfisa organ on "Searching" by the "Omens". We recorded this in a cramped, second floor apartment in Hammond, Indiana on a reel to reel tape. It was a wild time, playing teen clubs and sock hops, and paying WLTH DJ Ron Borden every $ we made to play the record on his radio show. This collection captures the vibrant energy of the 60's and showcases the raw talent that was rampant at the time.

Don't think twice about picking this one up!.......2004-06-07

It goes without saying, with a collection title like ESSENTIAL PEBBLES, each song should be a winner. Disc 1 collects the creme de la creme of the first 10 CD volumes of the PEBBLES garage/punk series, and not one of these songs is bad! From The Preachers' "Who Do You Love" to Teddy and Patches' "Suzy Creamcheese" to The Trolls' "Every Day and Every Night" to The Uncalled For's "Do Like Me" to Keith Kessler's "Don't Crowd Me", all 29 tracks are a superb primer for the newcomer to the garage scene and will have you scrambling to get every volume of the PEBBLES collection (buyer beware: not all of them are this great). The last three songs, The Mile Ends' "Bottle Up and Go", Bohemian Vendetta's "Enough", and "Don't Crowd Me", are from the EAR PIERCING PUNK CD, an offshoot volume of the PEBBLES run.

Disc 2 is where the collection starts to wane. Containing 26 rare 45's and acetates from around the U.S., including some groups whose names are unknown (!), this is the real reason that even those who have every PEBBLES CD will be in heaven with this set. Not every song on this disc is a classic; as a matter of fact, you might say some of them deserve to be left in the dusty vaults they came from. But the highlights include: The Motifs' "Someday", The Shays' "Brainwashed" (which is bleeped for profanity!), The Sinners' French-language "Sinnerisme", The Mixed Emotions' "Can't You Stop It Now", The Thunderbolts' "Heart So Cold", Peter and the Wolves' "Hey Mama" and "Only Everything" (a cover of Them's "I Can Only Give You Everything"), The Shades' "Down the Road Apiece", The Dynamic Nutones' "Sick and Tired", The Hustlers' "The Sky is Black", The Thorns' "I'm in Love", and an unknown group's "Fed Up". Unfortunately a lot of the songs tend to sound identical to one another, but the fact that they probably weren't heard outside of their particular region makes them a real treat to finally be able to experience!

USA Today.......2004-04-04

I was getting my oil changed at the local walmart the other day when I saw a lead article in USA today about how kids are starting to listen to the same music their parents did. Most of the kids quoted complained about a lack of quality with todays rockers. This is true. The problem is that no kids are learning to make it anymore.
The essential pebbles collection has none of this. All of the songs here were made by kids who were emulating everyone else they could see. 1966 was the most prolific musical year in history. And there are no bad songs on disc one. Even disc two is historically interesting. By the way, there are no master tapes to make the cd from. The singles are all that survives now. Some of what is on disc two has only one copy known worldwide. It saddens me to think what likely has been lost over the years.
This is the disc that made me get off my rear end and break out the old bass guitar, at age 42. If you know a kid who listens to Queen or the Rolling Stones, get them this and the nuggets box. We need new blood very badly.

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