History Of The World, Part II

In 1972, Lenny Kaye, who later became known as Patti Smith's guitarist, compiled the best of American garage rock from the mid-'60s and released it under the title Nuggets. The Elektra Records double LP included explosive bits of lo-fi, rhythm-and-blues and psychedelic pop from such bands as the Sonics, Remains, Music Explosion, Shadows of Knight, Count Five, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Love and others. The highly regarded collection was followed by many imitators, including the Pebbles and Back from the Grave series, and in 1998, Rhino expanded and reissued Nuggets as a sprawling, four-disc, 118-song set, accompanied by a fantastically colorful booklet crammed with rare facts and photos. It's essential.

Now Rhino has just released Nuggets II, a sort of "antisequel" following same tried-and-oh-so-true formula, assembling more obscurities from roughly the same era; the only difference is that these groups hailed from England and other international locales. After a suggested retail outlay of $64.97, one gets a staggering 109 tracks (over five hours of music) of British R&B, mod, psych-pop and freakbeat sounds concerning bad little women, real crazy apartments, witch doctors and so forth, as well another killer booklet.

Don't expect anything from the usual British invaders. The Kinks, Yardbirds, Hollies et al are omitted, but that's just the point. The only breakthrough acts here are Davy Jones (who later became famous as David Bowie) and Northern Ireland's Van Morrison, with his oft-covered gem, "I Can Only Give You Everything." For the most part, the rest of these bands stayed home, though some of their members later joined the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, T-Rex and other more popular acts.

One outfit that should've been huge was the Pretty Things, often regarded as a wilder, more raucous version of the Stones, represented here with their smashing protopunk classics "Rosalyn" and "Midnight to Six Man," as well as "Walking Through My Dreams." The same might be said for the Creation, which opens the collection with the rocking "Making Time," and also weigh in with "How Does It Feel to Feel" and "Biff! Bang! Pow!"

Outside the United Kingdom, the compilation features groups from the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Iceland. From Down Under, Australia's Easybeats check in with "Sorry" and "Friday on My Mind," an infectious track, which, besides the Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men," is the set's only single to hit the American charts. Eight more acts called Australia home, while New Zealand and Canada are represented by four bands apiece. There's also Mexico's Los Chijuas, Peru's We All Together, Uruguay's Los Shakers, Brazil's Os Mutantes (with its bouncingly rhythmic "Bat Macumba") and Japan's Mops, performing (what else?) "I'm Just a Mops" (sic).

Altogether, it's not too shabby. Once fully digested, this too will likely be considered essential. Buy now, ask questions later.