List of garage rock and psychedelic rock compilation albums

This is a list of compilation albums featuring recordings entirely or mostly in the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres of rock music. For the most part, the recordings that are compiled on these albums were originally released in the mid-1960s and into the 1970s. In order to encompass the musical forms that are included in the Pebbles series, the list includes compilations of British and European recordings in the same general style (although the terms utilized in these cases include "Nederpop", "freakbeat", "mod", "beat" and others).

The Nuggets and Pebbles albums were the pioneering series, so they are listed first, followed by the remainder in alphabetical order. "Pebbles" is a takeoff on the name "Nuggets" (which may itself be based upon "rock" music), and this is true of many of the other series, particularly the older ones: Boulders series, Rubble series, Rough Diamonds series, Digging for Gold series, Hearts of Stone series, and a new one, Gravel series.

Contents

Overview

Despite the fact that many of the recordings being anthologized on these albums are extremely rare, the sheer volume of available garage rock recordings that have already been compiled is staggering. In all, there are reportedly more than 1,000 compilation albums of this sort, plus numerous other albums that concentrate on particular garage rock bands and artists. A large number of these compilation albums were released in limited runs of as little as 400 to 500 copies, such as the original 1978 release of the first album in the Pebbles series. Thus, many of these compilation albums have become rarities in themselves.

Most of these compilation albums were released in long series over a number of years, although many are standalone records. In many cases, the albums were first released on LP and later on CD; but many albums originated on CD, including some new volumes in established LP series. There are also numerous new LP's that are issued each year, including more than a few on 10" disks.

There are many on-line reference resources for garage rock and psychedelic rock music. Although most concentrate on the bands rather than the compilation albums, an exception is the remarkable database "Searchin' for Shakes", published by Ugly Things fanzine, which is available on line as well as in download form.

As good as most of these albums are, the list of inventive names that have been devised for these compilation albums is a treat in itself.

Criteria for Inclusion on this List

Some of these albums and series have a more eclectic group of songs than these two genres — the Born Bad series, for instance, includes numerous rockabilly rarities, novelty songs and instrumental rock recordings, with several being releases from the 1950s — but fit as well into this category as any other. In a few cases, such as the Rough Diamonds series, the series itself is compilation in nature, although the individual albums are by specific artists. Some of the albums are released in series but with significantly different names — e.g., Rave with the Amphetamine Generation and Riot of the Amphetamine Generation — so these albums are listed individually rather than trying to create a series name.

Generally speaking, the list does not include compilation albums of punk rock (as the term is generally utilized today), pop music and surf music. Compilation albums covering music from the late 1970s and later (even if the music is clearly garage rock or psychedelic rock) have also been omitted, as typified by the third Nuggets box-set, Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976–1995. Exceptions are compilations such as Rockabilly Psychosis and Garage Disease, which include some older tracks as well as newer releases.

Origin of the Music

While most of these compilations center on American recordings, other albums include music from Europe in the same vein, including the second Nuggets box set and the 10 albums in the Pebbles series that are subtitled The Continent Lashes Back. More recently, compilations of this type of music from Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere have been released, to the extent that garage rock and psychedelic rock recordings could truly be regarded as a category of world music; these compilation albums are also listed herein.

When known, the city, state, country or region of origin of this music is given in parentheses. "US" covers the United States of America, while "UK" covers all parts of the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Wales, etc.). "Mixed" means that the music comes from many parts of the world even if individual volumes within a series concentrate on a particular country or region.

Recitation of the List

Nuggets Series

Pebbles Series (unofficial)

Other

External links