I remember this song in Easy Rider from the cool bass line. The Blues Magoos were a psychedelic rock band formed in 1964 as the “The Trenchcoats” in the Bronx, New York. This song came off of the album Psychedelic Lollipop (Great name) in 1967. The song peaked at #5 in 1967 in the Billboard 100 and the album peaked at 21 in the same year.
By 1972 the Blues Magoos name was retired, although the group reunited for live shows in the late 2000s
The Spectres…soon to be Status Quo also covered the song in 1967.
From Songfacts
Blues Magoos were a Psychedelic Rock group from The Bronx who was 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 the 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.
We Aint Got Nothin’ Yet
One day you’re up and the next day you’re down
You can’t face the world with your head to the ground
The grass is always greener on the other side, they say
So don’t worry, boys, life will be sweet some day
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
We made enough mistakes
But you know we got what it takes
Oh, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
No, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
Nothin’ can hold us and nothin’ can keep us down
And someday our names will be spread all over town
We can get in while the getting is good
So make it on your own, yeah, you know that you could
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
We got to make the break
‘Cause we got too much at stake
Oh, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
No, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
We made enough mistakes
But you know we got what it takes
Oh, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
No, we ain’t got nothin’ yet
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