What would you say is THE BEST?

[HarvestmanMan]

What would you say is "the ultimate garage rock song"?

For me, it's the Burgundy Runn's "Stop!". In my eyes, it's literally a perfect performance. What's your favorite?

 

[soundog III]

More than a few & then some...

But of course that's not the question.

I'll go with this long time fave , the first garage 45 I paid 3 figures 4:

 

[Michael W]

 

[axel]

"Stop!" is one of my faves as well. But, of course, to call something THE best is impossible.

I'd say "Have Love Will Travel" and "City of People" would serve as two good representatives for the genre.
My personal faves at the moment are: "Project Blue" by the Banshees and "I Give You An Inch (And You Take A Mile)" & "You've Got Another Think Coming" by the Mods.

Sorry, by the way, to call garage "wimpy". That's an inside band joke, something like the snarling vocals in the 80s, as cultivated by the Stomach Mouths and such. "It's got to be more wimpy!" It's not serious.
Garage can be tough as hell. I'm always amazed when hearing a song from 1966 that just blows everything else to pieces.

 

[greenfuzz]

Little Boy Blue by Tonto & The Renegades.

 

[bosshoss]

I don't know if you can say which '60s garage tune is the best. But '60s garage is definitely the best music ever created. That's not an opinion, it's a clear fact . As much as I like Chuck Berry.

5 of the best (of the best)

Adrian Lloyd - "Lorna"
13th Floor Elevators - "You're Gonna Miss Me"
The Chob - "We're Pretty Quick"
The Kinks - "All Day And All Of The Night"
The Tremors - "Wondering Why"

Also - ? & The Mysterians, The Blues Magoos, The Music Machine, The Sonics, The Easybeats and The Electric Prunes deserve every ounce of respect they earned. Lately I'd even have to include Love in that list.

But for me, the last tune left standing would have to be The Elevators. It's got everything - chilling screams, the coolest riff ever, the best bridge ever, unique instrumentation, the best vocal ever, brilliant sound quality and production, great lyrics.

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

The Seeds - A Thousand Shadows. The essence of the Seeds sound distilled and concentrated into one perfect Seedy song. The whispered intro, Jan Savage and his 4 note lead riff, over and over twisting the mind. I love the Seeds, Savage especially, but this takes every good idea the seeds ever had and squashes them into this 2 & a 1/2 minutes garage masterpiece.

The Grim Reepers - Two Souls. Another two chorder, twin lead guitars, the off timed, off keyed, low end guitar twisting the fuzz rock and rollering lead into a darker mysterious place.

Half Pint and the Fifths - Orphan Boy. "Maybe I'd be better off in jail" lyrically this is so depressing it can bring me to tears. This song is a loners friend.

3 for starters. The best though! it is an impossible futile task ...The Human Expression - The Painted Ship - The Strangeloves proved their garage heroics on more than one occasion.

Medals.... we need Medals for these innovators in musical stupidity/bravery

 

[ratfinkie]

'Ultimate?' I don't know about that. "No Good Woman" by The Tree (see my profile pic) has always been my favorite. I bought it for $20 from Mark Crocker in the '80's. It just sounds NASTY.

 

[paul messis]

The Elite - My Confusion.... has it all, great bass, great drums, killer guitar, great vocal, typical garage chording and guitar styling.

perfectly placed with the 65 - 66 sound, no psychedelic influence setting in... perfect GARAGE

great lyricism - best lyric of all time in the form of "the luxuries have gone to your head".


Also I boast to being biased, because I actually own this slab of wax.

 

[TomK]

Are you guy's forgetting Appollo's Apache's "Boss" Be Good To Me / we'll do it my way baby or we'll do it no way at all, be good to me or baby your tears will fall. Hah, now who's wearing the pants ... LOL

 

[The Swyne]

Oh geez, the 'BEST?', that's a tough question. There's so many great ones. Of course The Keggs come to mind.. "To Find Out" is my favorite 60's garage cut. But there are others that I feel are just as great.

Here are some killers that come to mind:

The Worlocks - I Love You
The Bacardis - Don't Sell Yourself
Skip Ellis - Ice Cube Girl
Shepherd's Heard - I Know
The Nightcrawlers - Want Me
The Opposite Six - I'll Be Gone

I could go on and on... and ON, but you guys get the picture. There's just so much of this stuff. I definitely agree with Mark on 60's garage being the coolest music ever created! It's absolutely amazing! :)

 

[pfft]

The one that introduced me to '60s punk is still the best:

Alarm Clocks - No Reason To Complain.

It's perfect.

 

[Lee de Parade]

Keggs is THE number one - without doubt.

But just to be different: The Checkmates International's Thinkin' About You is smooth, suave and got 100% soul and inspiration. It rocks, it rolls, got some cool chord changes and the lyrics are teenish cute as hell.

Psychodelic Feeling by Krels are also right up my ass, as well asAlarm Clocks' No Reason.

But really...The Keggs RULE!

 

[paul messis]

depending on one's "school" of garage... I'd also rank The Crucibles - You Know I Do, as a masterpiece.

I'll agree with Mark on The Tremors - Wondering Why... the amount of energy in that one recording, shits on anything punk post 1976, seriously 'wondering why' is possibly the most intense, raucous and head kicking garage punk... EVER!! CASE CLOSED!!!

For my second LP out next year.... I am gonna attempt at making something that savagely nuts... seriously.... I'm on it!!!

 

[MopTopMike]

I like the Keggs, but it's not the epitome of the genre for me.

 

[tom kirby]

To me, a "Garage" song sounds like The Gnomes "The Sky Is Falling". Many of the aforementioned groups and songs are Rock and Roll.

 

[Lee de Parade]

Not again with that "everything is rock'n'roll", dude!!
Not even the KING of rock'n'roll played that much rock'n'roll.

The epitome of garage? I wish Sonic's Boss Hoss had've been that. I much prefer 96 Tears over You're Gonna Miss Me - The 13th Floor Elevators was just too damn strange. Like Cap'n Beefheart.

I tried for a long time to find anything as brutal as Swamp Rats versh of Psycho but that proved to be impossible. That might be the coolest song recorded in the 60s (apart from Keggs 2-sided doublemurderer of a 45)

But my second vote goes to All Day And All Of The Night. Pure punk. Fuck Beat with a stick and leave it bleeding on the street..

 

[Andreas]

... The Gnomes "The Sky Is Falling".

Is it just me, or is the intro to this reminiscent of the intro to "The Red Telephone" by Love...?

 

[TheOriginal1966BadApple]

Bad Apple (Pilgrimage). Hey that's my blogname: Charles Vermont - The Original 1966 Bad Apple. Had a band in the '80s (North Vancouver, B.C.) too call The Bad Apples [no gigs but we were bad-a**].

Congenial: We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet (Blues Magoos), q.v., classic black Mercury label used as icon.

 

[buckeyebeat]

Kingsmen - Louie Louie
Sonics - the Witch
Remains - Don't Look Back
Young Rascals - Come On Up
Animals - Don't Bring Me Down or Inside Looking Out
Rolling Stones - Satisfaction

agree on the Elevators, Chob, and Alarm Clocks