(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet

Album: Psychedelic Lollipop (1966)
Charted: 5
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Songfacts®:

  • Blues Magoos were a Psychedelic Rock group from The Bronx who were part of a New York City music scene that included The Lovin' Spoonful and The Youngbloods. "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" was their only hit, reaching its chart peak the first week of 1967. The band, led by lead singer Emil "Peppy Castro" Thielhem, was a huge influence on Syd Barrett and his band Pink Floyd. Thielhem later became lead singer of the band Balance.
  • This song occupies an interesting little niche in music history: somewhere between Acid and Punk Rock, with a little Mothers Of Invention "Freak Out" mixed in. The band is quite boastful in the song, declaring, "Nothin' can hold us and nothin' can keep us down, and someday our names will be spread all over town." Of course, they ended a one-hit-wonder, but the arrogance was part of a display that included big, stylish hair and electric blue/flashing light suits. They were hard to miss when they performed the song on various TV shows.
  • This was used in the 1968 movie Easy Rider.

Comments: 6

  • C.g. Dee from Big D, Texas, UsaCheck out The Blues Magoos doing Tobacco Road on Jack Benny's show from the old days. I think it was done live and Benny was a master of presentation. The group seemed to have enjoyed themselves a lot on it. Plus a wonderful idea that the "Floyd" dug them. And, yes, the tune is boastful. However, We Ain't Got Nothing Yet describes most musical acts, that is to say the literal lyric. Key word Nothing, except maybe memories and some good times, mixed with lots of frustration. Just sayin'.
  • Kc from IlliniosMy mother in law made those suits. She was an amazing designer.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 31st 1966, the Blues Magoos performed "(We Ain’t Got) Nothin' Yet" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    At the time the song was at #41 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; and thirty-six days later it peaked at #5 {for 2 weeks}...
    {See 2nd post below}.
  • Sam Williams from Sherman Oaks, Cathe song's prominent bass line was directly lifted from Ricky Nelson's version of George & Ira Gershwin's "Summertime" (Deep Purple later "borrowed" that same riff for their original song "Black Knight"). the Blues Magoos and Deep Purple legally got away with this because arrangements can't be copyrighted (the bass line was an idea of Ricky's band Member Joe Osborne, as a way of putting their own twist on the Tin Pan Alley classic. A guitar riff created by Ricky's Guitar player James Burton for the song, was also "borrowed" by Johnny Rivers when he recorded his own version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis".
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 5th 1967, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" by the Blues Magoos peaked at #5 (for 2 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on December 4th, 1966 at position #89 and spent 14 weeks on the Top 100 (and for 5 of those 14 weeks it was on the Top 10)...
    It was track one of side one on the group's debut album, 'Psychedelic Lollipop', and the album reached #21 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart...
    One other track from the album also made the Top 100, "One By One", and it peaked at #71, also in 1967 (its on You Tube).
  • Bob from Southfield, MiThe Blues Magoos were a fixture at the Chessmate Coffee House in Detroit in the late sixties. A big draw there, especially after this album came out.
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