[Left to Right: L-R Jack Lee, Paul Collins, Peter Case, Photo credit to Paul Collins Archives]
Third Man Records has just released The Nerves – Best Collection, the definitive anthology from groundbreaking Power Pop pioneers The Nerves. Released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles-based trio’s self-titled 1976 EP, and the only official release of their brief lifespan, the compilation is available digitally as well as CD and 2xLP standard Black and limited-edition Red Marble vinyl. Both physical releases have exclusive new liner notes by Peter Case.
The Nerves – Best Collection gathers 66 minutes of studio, live, and demo recordings, compiled in close association with surviving members Paul Collins and Peter Case, along with the late Jack Lee’s daughter Cynthia. Unlike previous anthologies that often relied on secondary copies or rips from vinyl and CDs, Third Man located The Nerves’ original source recordings, now newly mastered or remastered by Warren Defever at Third Man Mastering in Detroit, especially for this release.
As a result, The Nerves – Best Collection features the definitive versions of these tracks as they were originally intended, many of which have not been heard since the day they were recorded. Highlights include Lee’s “Hanging on the Telephone”, made famous by Blondie on their breakthrough third album, Parallel Lines. Also, Case’s classic “When You Find Out”, later reimagined by Case with The Plimsouls and covered by such artists as Graham Coxon and Peter Bjorn and John), and Collins’ “Working Too Hard. The latter two songs are featured on an archival live performance now available via YouTube.
Formed in San Francisco by the late Jack Lee (guitar), Peter Case (bass), and Paul Collins (drums) in 1974 and later based in Los Angeles, The Nerves proved to be one of the most exhilarating and influential bands in the annals of Power Pop, forged with a DIY spirit. The recorded their eponymous EP in 1976 and it was released on Greg Shaw’s Bomp! Records label.
Later, without any record company support, The Nerves took the bull by the horns and booked their own national tour, unheard of in those days, and traveled across America playing shows with such peers as Devo, Pere Ubu, DMZ, and the Ramones.
27,000 miles later, the band returned to L.A. and recorded what would’ve been their next single, “One Way Ticket” and “Paper Dolls,” but creative differences interceded and The Nerves called it a day before the Punk and New Wave explosion where they might have found a home. Case and Collins carried on as The Breakaways, recording a number of songs originally intended for The Nerves and included on The Nerves – Best Collection, before themselves breaking up.
All three founding members of The Nerves went on to lead their own singular careers, Lee as a songwriter and solo artist, Case both with The Plimsouls and his own acclaimed solo body of work, and Collins as frontman of The Beat and The Paul Collins Beat. Now, five decades after leaving their mark, The Nerves – Best Collection does long overdue justice to a landmark group of Rock ‘n’ Roll songs, finally remastered and united on Third Man’s definitive edition.
