The Blues Magoos--(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet (1966)

Ah...the power of a riff.

There are some riffs that are known for decades. Try to find a guitar student (ANY guitar student) who has been playing more than a few minutes and you will hear a variation of Deep Purple's, "Smoke on the Water". Musicians have been "borrowing" riffs for as long as there has been men and women writing music. Which brings us to The Blues Magoos....

The group began as "The Trenchcoats" in 1964 with a change to "The Bloos Magoos" and then "The Blues Magoos" by 1966. Along with it came a change to a Psychedelic sound, and their first single after signing with Mercury Records, "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet reached #5 late that year. 

The song begins with a very cool organ riff, which has a very similar sound to, "Summertime", the George Gershwin standard which was given the rock and roll treatment by Ricky Nelson in 1962. The Magoos' song inspired Deep Purple's, "Black Night" in 1970.

The group struggled up until 1972, when they broke up, having never achieved any of the success that this single did. Interestingly enough, the band has come back together and has a new album slated for 2012 called Psychedelic Resurrection.