Paul Kopf and Lenny Kaye. Photo by Elise Thompson for the LA Beat.
Wild Honey’s Tribute to Nuggets at the Alex Theater, hosted by its original compiler, Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group, was a hot night in Glendale. With a set list made up entirely of “artyfacts from the first psychedelic era, 1965-68”, members of the Seeds, Love, Count 5, Electric Prunes, the Leaves, MC5, Chocolate Watchband, the Paley Brothers, Billy Vera and even the lead singer of the Archies shared the mic with GoGos, Bangles, Fleshtones, Plimsouls, Loons and the entire Three O’Clock, and the formidable force of the Wild Honey Orchestra. It was an old fashioned all-star revue, with Kaye as its chatty Ed Sullivan host keeping the “really big shoo, folks” moving along.
These Wild Honey shows, under the direction of Paul Rock, are known for their attention to detail and dedication to accurate re-creations of classic records, and the Nuggets repertoire proved to be a perfect object to receive their affections. The trippy arrangements of psychedelic gems like “My World Fell Down” – complete with samples obtained from the actual 1960s sound effect records used on the original Sagittarius recording, and triggered by band member Jim Mills – and “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night” sounded incredible in the hands of these players. I know many of them as high level pros from the likes of Brian Wilson’s band, who have enough sense of fun, camaraderie and adventure to do this once in a while.
Every song is a winner, so the trick was matching the singer to the material, and this they did with a high rate of success. Cameron Dye slayed on Blues Project’s “No Time Like Like The Right Time”, while Paul Kopf proved why he has the gig as current singer for the Seeds on a relentless “Pushin’ Too Hard.” Modern Soul diva Evie Sands led a full choir for some of the night’s most impressive vocal harmonies on “An Invitation To Cry” and “My World Fell Down.”
