Pebbles, Volume 1
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| Pebbles, Volume 1 | |||||
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| Compilation album | |||||
| Released | 1978 (LP) 1979 (LP – BFD Records) 1992 (CD) |
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| Recorded | Mid-1960's | ||||
| Genre | Garage rock, Psychedelic rock | ||||
| Length | 37:56 (LP) | ||||
| Label | Mastercharge Records BFD Records AIP Records |
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| chronology | |||||
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Pebbles is a compilation of US underground and garage singles from the mid to late 1960s. It had a limited original release in 1978 and a more general release in 1979 (where the album was identified simply as Pebbles); this album was followed by several subsequent Pebbles compilations and albums (nearly 100 in all). This album is nowadays known as Pebbles, Volume 1 and was originally issued in 1978 as Pebbles, Volume 1: Original Artyfacts from the First Punk Era, an obvious riff on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, a similar, groundbreaking compilation from 1972.
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[edit] Release Data
The Pebbles album was originally released as an LP on Mastercharge Records in 1978 as a collaborative effort of several collectors in a limited edition of just 500 copies. The album had no catalogue number and a plain pink-and-black cover sheet; it had the appearance of a bootleg recording. Greg Shaw was probably one of the collectors involved in this album, since the on-line listing of the original liner notes is marked as being "Courtesy of Greg Shaw". The AIP Records that he founded released the later volumes in the series. The Mastercharge Records label appears to have been created only for this release and is apparently not a real record company.
The release of this album on BFD Records in 1979 gained the record and the Pebbles series wide recognition. AIP Records kept the LP in print for many years.
AIP Records issued the first volume in the Pebbles series in CD format in 1992. Although the CD has bonus tracks and a colored cover, the two formats are largely the same album and even have similar catalogue numbers. Also, ESD Records released an earlier edition of Pebbles, Volume 1 on CD in 1989 with almost completely different tracks.
Two box sets of the first five volumes of the Pebbles series have also been released, the Pebbles Box on LP (in 1987) and the Trash Box on CD (in 2004).
[edit] Omitted Tracks on the CD
Due to a mastering error, the tracks printed on the cover copy for the CD differ somewhat from the tracks actually included on the album. Two songs were listed on the tray card that are not included on the album: "Crackin' Up", by The Wig (which was included on the LP) and "I Need Love", by Third Booth (which was to have been a bonus track). Also, the Shadows of Knight song is split into two tracks on the CD.
Also, when AIP issued the early volumes of CDs, they omitted some tracks from the corresponding LP for the stated reason that they were already widely available on other anthologies. In this case, another track on the LP is not included on the CD: "Going All the Way", by the Squires.
[edit] Notes on the Tracks
The music on this first volume is uniformly excellent and highly representative of the best of the obscure music collected in the Pebbles series. The first cut on the LP includes a skip during the break – on the master, according to the liner notes – scrambling the line: "You say you love me, girl, but why are you so cold", but otherwise not really affecting the enjoyment of this genuine classic. Despite the fact that the Litter released three albums and is among the most prominent bands on this album, "Action Woman" was almost unavailable without this skip for many years. For instance, the bonus track at the end of the CD is a 1985 cover of this song which also omits the line. (The artist is not given on the CD but is identified on the AIP Records website as Echo and the Bunnymen).
The frantic cover of the Count Five classic by Positively 13 O'Clock is from a one-time studio session that includes members of Mouse and the Traps; it also appears on a retrospective album of this band that was released on Eva Records. The cover of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is hilariously to the tune of "Louie Louie".
Songs by well known bands are normally not included on Pebbles albums unless they are curiosities, and the track(s) by the Shadows of Knight – famed for their major hit with Van Morrison's "Gloria" – is no exception. Following a brief clip of "Gloria", the band introduces themselves with corny yet charming answers – sample: "What kind of fans do you prefer?", "I prefer electric fans" – followed by a song that the band wrote "especially for you". "Potato Chip" was originally released on a promotional flexidisc (evidently for a potato chip company) and is surely the most earnest ode to a snack food ever recorded.
The bonus tracks on the CD include one of the most beloved of all garage rock songs, "Blackout of Gretely" by GONN. Remarkably, the band issued a reunion album 30 years later (in 1995) with all new material.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] LP
Side 1:
- The Litter: "Action Woman", 2:30 — rel. 1967
- The Preachers: "Who Do You Love" (Ellas McDaniel), 2:11 — rel. 1965
- The Floyd Dakil Combo: "Dance Franny Dance", 2:10 — rel. 1964
- The Outcasts: "I'm in Pittsburgh (and it's Raining)", 1:56 — rel. 1966
- The Squires: "Going All the Way", 2:18
- The Grains of Sand: "Going Away Baby", 2:10 — rel. 1966
- The Ju-Ju's: "You Treat Me Bad", 2:18 — rel. 1966
- The Haunted: "1-2-5", 2:46 — rel. 1966
Side 2:
- The Soup Greens: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan), 2:40 — rel. 1965
- The Wig: "Crackin' Up" (Rusty Wier), 2:18 — rel. 1966*
- Positively 13 O'Clock: "Psychotic Reaction", 2:00 — rel. 1966
- Kim Fowley: "The Trip" (Kim Fowley), 2:00 — rel. 1965
- The Elastik Band: "Spazz", 2:45 — rel. 1967
- The Split Ends: "Rich with Nothin'", 2:15 — rel. 1966
- The Shadows of Knight: "Potato Chip", 3:23 — rel. 1967
- The Wild Knights: "Beaver Patrol", 2:16 — rel. 1965
- The Wig's "Crackin' Up" is not on the vinyl BFD release of the album, even though it does appear on the track list.
[edit] CD
- The Litter: "Action Woman" — rel. 1967
- The Preachers: "Who Do You Love" (Ellas McDaniel)" — rel. 1965
- The Floyd Dakil Combo: "Dance Franny Dance" — rel. 1964
- The Outcasts: "I'm in Pittsburgh (and it's Raining)" — rel. 1966
- The Grains of Sand: "Going Away Baby" — rel. 1966
- The Ju Jus: "You Treat Me Bad" — rel. 1966
- The Haunted: "1-2-5" — rel. 1966
- The Soup Greens: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan) — rel. 1965
- Positively 13 O'Clock: "Psychotic Reaction" — rel. 1966
- Kim Fowley: "The Trip" (Kim Fowley)" — rel. 1965
- The Elastik Band: "Spazz" — rel. 1967
- The Split Ends: "Rich with Nothin'" — rel. 1966
- The Shadows of Knight: "Radio Spot" — rel. 1967
- The Shadows of Knight: "Potato Chip" — rel. 1967
- The Wilde Knights: "Beaver Patrol" — rel. 1965
- The Sparkles: "Ain't No Friend of Mine" — rel. 1967
- GONN: "Blackout of Gretely" — rel. 1966
- The Weeds: "It's your Time" — rel. 1966
- Echo and the Bunnymen: "Action Woman" — rel. 1985
[edit] Release History
[edit] LP
Mastercharge Records (no catalogue number) — 1978
BFD Records (#BFD-5016) — 1979
AIP Records – several reissues
[edit] CD
AIP Records (#AIP-CD-5016) — 1992
