Pebbles, Vol. Two (Various Artists) (1979): Bomp! Records typically released albums in batches rather than one at a time, and the general release of Pebbles, Vol. One in 1979 was accompanied by nine more in the series. I first ran across Pebbles albums in a local record store in Raleigh, NC called Schoolkids Records, with my first purchases being Pebbles, Vol. Nine and Pebbles, Vol. Ten. Pebbles, Vol. Two is loaded with classic garage rock songs, including perhaps my favorite song of all time (despite the truly terrible quality of the recording), “” by . The song was later covered by the Cramps and the Lemonheads, with the latter version of “Green Fuz” being included on their 2009 album Varshons. The opening number, “Makin’ Deals” by the Satans, features the lyric “Can you guess my name?” two years prior to the Rolling Stones on their song “Sympathy for the Devil”, and in a similar fashion to Mick Jagger’s snarling vocals. Other highlights include a second song by the Squires, “Go Ahead”, plus three songs that were later included in the 1998 Nuggets box set: “” by , “” by , and “So What!” by the Lyrics. had the opening track on Pebbles, Vol. One and close Pebbles, Vol. Two with a pounding version of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man”. The Moving Sidewalks song “99th Floor” features Billy Gibbons, later the founding guitarist and lead vocalist for ZZ Top; and “Wine, Wine, Wine” is an early song by Bobby Fuller who later had a hit “I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)” as the Bobby Fuller Four. Phil and the Frantics is one of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands that I wrote about years ago. The bonus track is a wah-wah pedal advertisement featuring the Electric Prunes, whose hit song “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” is the opening track on the original Nuggets double album. The liner notes on the Pebbles albums usually provide information on the bands and commentary on the tracks; but on Pebbles, Vol. Two, there is instead a crazed monologue by someone called “A. Seltzer”.
