- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Subtitled “The Acid Gallery”, Pebbles, Volume Three collects many of the most bizarre records ever made that grew out of the effects of LSD.
The Greatest Music
Ever Recorded!
Pebbles, Volume Three (Various Artists) (1979): The musical genres of garage rock and psychedelic rock are often mentioned together, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably; but they are not the same thing, as Pebbles, Volume Three spells out clearly. Subtitled “The Acid Gallery”, Pebbles, Volume Three collects many of the most bizarre records ever made that grew out of the effects of LSD and other psychedelic drugs. This excerpt from the Allmusic review by Todd Kristel of the Pebbles, Volume 3 LP actually does a better job of describing the songs than the lyrics themselves would: “This compilation features Higher Elevation’s ‘The Diamond Mine’, a showcase for the nonsense rambling of disc jockey Dave Diamond; Teddy & the Patches’ ‘Suzy Creamcheese’, which manages to rip off both Frank Zappa and ‘Louie Louie’; Crystal Chandlier’s ‘Suicidal Flowers’, which sounds like the Doors drenched in fuzz guitar; [and] William Penn Fyve’s ‘Swami’, which is such a self-conscious attempt to evoke 1967 that it’s hard to believe it was actually released that year.” Other tracks include a presumed novelty song by a band whose name is a takeoff on Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Handkerchief’s “I’m Allergic to Flowers”. “Flight Reaction” by Calico Wall is one of the better songs on the collection, and the band name was used by Greg Shaw in the title of a collection of wacked-out psychedelic rock songs that I have, Beyond the Calico Wall (1990). The Chocolate Watchband were reportedly masquerading as the Hogs when they released a single called “Loose Lip Sync Ship”. The Driving Stupid deliberately tried to come up with the craziest lyrics they could think of, and the song names are just as out-there: “The Reality of (Air) Fried Borsk” and “Horror Asparagus Stories”. The Third Bardo has a more straightforward approach to their record “Five Years Ahead of My Time”, though with overcooked pomposity in the lyrics: “I’m living somewhere in a new dimension / I’m leaving everyone so far behind / Don’t waste (my) any time (girl), step inside my mind / I’m five years ahead of my time”. “Five Years Ahead of My Time” and the much stranger “Voices Green and Purple” by the Bees are included in the Nuggets box set. The bonus track on Pebbles, Volume 3 is a demented reimagining of the classic horror film The Fly (1958), featuring the famous high-pitched wail “help me”. Pebbles, Volume 3 also includes an alternate version of the Kim Fowley song “The Trip” from Pebbles, Vol. One, “Let’s Take a Trip” by Godfrey; and the album closes with “Like a Dribbling Fram” by Race Marbles, an off-the-wall take-off on the Bob Dylan signature song “Like a Rolling Stone”.