Nuggets From The Golden State series continues with She Wants A Piece Of You, wholly dedicated to the near-legendary garage band She.
In perhaps its most remarkable volume so far, Big Beat's acclaimed She were an all-girl band from Sacramento, California, that operated between 1964 and 1971 and were led by sisters Nancy and Sally Ross. Unlike most acts ascribed to the "girls-with-guitars" genre, She was one hundred per cent authentic - they genuinely played their own instruments, sang and wrote their own striking but original material and copped one hell of a bad attitude that would put most self-proclaimed rebel boy bands to shame.
Appealingly crude in their early incarnation as the Hairem, by their later years She was a force to be reckoned with. The group became a massively popular live attraction in northern California but unfortunately never made a commercial breakthrough, despite healthy airplay for their lone release on the Kent label, the classic Outta Reach.
Far, far more than a mere novelty, musically and philosophically She were in a class of their own, with drop-dead good looks and such memorable tunes as Like A Snake, Piece Of You and Bad Girl. And indeed She were bad girls, getting thrown out of movie theatres and even the California State Capitol building for their disruptive behaviour and smart-ass punk attitude. Truly the female equivalent of the Stones.
She Wants A Piece Of You collects together most of the combo's recorded legacy, including both sides of the Kent 45 and seventeen further cuts, all previously unissued. All of the the compilation, from the Hairem's 1966 demos to the studio outakes from the Kent session, puts every other female garage band to shame, and much of it sounds ahead of its time. The potential audience for She Wants A Piece Of You is huge. Everyone from die-hard 1960s girl group collectors through garage rock enthusiasts to the cutting edge indie and riot grrl crowd will marvel at and enjoy this exciting collection.
As with all Nuggets, the accompanying booklet details the band's full history and a plethora of memorabilia and enticing photos of this wild and most unusual combo. In fact, we had such a surplus of visual material, that what isn't in the package - including further interviews with band members - can be viewed here
by Rufus T. Ram
