Pebbles (series)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pebbles (series)
Compilation album by
Various Artists
Released1978–2007
Recorded1965–1968
GenrePsychedelic rock, garage rock, Freakbeat
LabelAIP
Mastercharge
BFD
ESD
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic (series)
[1]

Pebbles is an extensive series of

Bomp! marked the 30th anniversary of the original Pebbles
album with a spartan, limited-edition, clear-vinyl reissue complete with the original pink cover insert.

The Pebbles series played a significant role in the emergence of a "canon" of garage-rock music and artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In his review of the Pebbles series for

Nuggets compilation reawakened listeners to the sounds of mid-'60s garage rock, it only focused on the tip of the iceberg. Behind those forgotten hits and semi-hits lurked hundreds, if not thousands, of regional hits and flops from the same era, most even rawer and cruder. . . . More than any other factor, these compilations [in the Pebbles series] were responsible for the resurgence of interest in garage rock, which remains high among collectors to this day."[2]

Including the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, Best of Pebbles series, Essential Pebbles series, Planetary Pebbles series, and two box sets, more than 60 compilation albums have been released using the Pebbles name.[3] Following on the heels of the success of the Pebbles series, dozens of other series of garage rock compilation albums have been started, with numerous albums being released each year for several decades.

"Pebbles" compared with "Nuggets"

The name "Pebbles" is a derivative of the name of the seminal

master tapes
like the Nuggets series), often without the knowledge of the musicians or producers involved, BFD and AIP had a much larger range of music to choose from.

In addition, while the original Nuggets album from 1972 bore the subtitle "Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1969," the Pebbles series made a different claim through its subtitle: "Original Artyfacts from the First Punk Era." In this way Pebbles explicitly sought to connect the garage style of the 1960s to the then-current (1979) punk movement typified by artists like

The Sex Pistols
, and others.

Nature of the music

The Pebbles series describes the recordings on their albums as "Original punk rock from the psychedelic 60s!"

cover songs
have also been compiled on the Pebbles series.

"Punk rock" is now mainly applied to several waves of bands that formed in the 1970s and later, and many of these bands cite the music on Nuggets and Pebbles albums as major influences. This type of music is now generally identified as the genres of

marijuana and LSD
, or to artistically replicate the feelings generated during such an experience.

Mastercharge Records

The original release of the first Pebbles album was on the

MasterCard
). One radio playlist posted on the Internet mentioned a "Pebbles, Volume 2" on Mastercharge Records, but this was probably an incorrect reference to the BFD release.

BFD Records

The first 10 LPs in the Pebbles series, including a reissue of the original volume were credited in the name of BFD Records of Kookaburra, Australia. These albums were released in a span of just two years (1979 and 1980) and are regarded by some as the best volumes in the series.[2]

The legitimacy of BFD Records (and the apparently associated company BFD Productions) has long been in question, not least because

Pebbles, Volume 11
 LP, which was released in 1983. Thus, Bomp! seems to be taking tacit responsibility for the entire series.

In any case, whether or not it is a charade, the BFD label has been perpetuated throughout the releases on the Pebbles series. The reissues of the first 10 volumes have no reference to Bomp! or AIP, and the first 10 CDs in the Pebbles series include the same "BFD" catalogue numbers—which are not all consecutively numbered—as the corresponding LPs. Copyright notices referring to BFD continued to be exhibited on almost all of the albums in the Pebbles series well into the 2000s, including both the ESD CD's and the AIP CDs. Also, there are subtle differences in the packaging and programming of the BFD releases as compared to the later releases on AIP. Although the albums in the Pebbles series were produced in such small numbers that tracking down anyone regarding royalties might have been next to impossible, neither Bomp! nor anyone else has evidently been sued for copyright infringement with regard to these releases. Finally, these same charges have been made about other reissue record companies over the years as well, such as Collectables.

AIP Records

Beginning in 1983,

surf rock tracks from the Pebbles, Volume 4
LP were released on that CD.

When

The Continent Lashes Back
.

According to the

Pebbles, Volume 12 CD—represents the last album that will ever be issued in the Pebbles series. More recently, AIP has begun the Essential Pebbles series and Planetary Pebbles series
; whether there will be future volumes in these series is uncertain.

To their credit, when AIP began issuing Pebbles albums on CD, the albums included numerous recordings that were not as yet on the LPs. Also, after the release of the first six volumes on CD, all of the tracks on the Pebbles CDs had been previously un-reissued on CD. Even the first two releases in the Essential Pebbles series include a second CD of previously un-reissued music in addition to the distillation from the previous Pebbles albums.

ESD Records

According to the

Pebbles, Volume 1, many of the tracks are either new to Pebbles or are buried on the higher-numbered volumes in the Pebbles series or Highs in the Mid-Sixties series. The albums had a limited run of only 1,000 each and are now difficult to locate; but, not surprisingly, the ESD and AIP CDs are often confused. One added bonus in the ESD CDs is that the excellent liner notes are written by Nigel Strange (who wrote liner notes for several of the BFD Records
albums also).

Discography

LPs

  • Pebbles, Volume 1; #BFD-5016 — (no volume number on the BFD Records LP release; no catalogue number on the initial Mastercharge release)[citation needed]
  • Pebbles, Volume 2
    ; #BFD-5019
  • Pebbles, Volume 3: The Acid Gallery; #BFD-5020
  • Pebbles, Volume 4: Summer Means Fun; #BFD-5021
  • Pebbles, Volume 5; #BFD-5022
  • Pebbles, Volume 6
    : The Roots of Mod; #BFD-5023
  • Pebbles, Volume 7
    ; #BFD-5024
  • Pebbles, Volume 8
    ; #BFD-5025
  • Pebbles, Volume 9
    ; #BFD-5026
  • Pebbles, Volume 10
    ; #BFD-5027
  • Pebbles, Volume 11
    ; #AIP 10001
  • Pebbles, Volume 12
    ; #AIP 10002
  • Pebbles, Volume 13; #AIP 10013
  • Pebbles, Volume 14; #AIP 10016
  • Pebbles, Volume 15: The Continent Lashes Back! The Netherlands 1965–1968; #AIP 10018
  • Pebbles, Volume 16; #AIP 10023
  • Pebbles, Volume 17; #AIP 10032
  • Pebbles, Volume 18: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage Rock Part 2; #AIP 10033
  • Pebbles, Volume 19: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities Pt 3: Denmark; #AIP 10034
  • Pebbles, Volume 20: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage Rock Part 4: Sweden; #AIP 10035
  • Pebbles, Volume 21; #AIP 10036
  • Pebbles, Volume 22; #AIP 10037
  • Pebbles, Volume 23: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Holland, Pt. 2; #AIP 10040
  • Pebbles, Volume 24: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Germany; #AIP 10043
  • Pebbles, Volume 25: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Holland Pt. 3; #AIP 10042
  • Pebbles, Volume 26: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Sweden Pt 2; #AIP 10044
  • Pebbles, Volume 27: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Switzerland; #AIP 10045
  • Pebbles, Volume 28: The Continent Lashes Back! European Garage, Beat, & Psych Rarities: Sweden Pt 3; #AIP 10046

CDs — AIP Records

CDs — ESD Records

  • Pebbles, Volume 1; #ESD 80252
  • Pebbles, Volume 2; #ESD 80262
  • Pebbles, Volume 3; #ESD 80362
  • Pebbles, Volume 4; #ESD 80372

Box Sets

See also

References

  1. ^ Allmusic (series) review
  2. ^
    Allmusic
    .
  3. ^ "Searchin' for Shakes" on-line compilation album database at Ugly Things website. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  4. ^ Included as a stock section on the liner notes of several of the Pebbles LPs.
  5. ^ Liner notes, Pebbles, Volume 3 LP.
  6. Bomp! website on AIP Records Archived 2007-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
    .

External links
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