Further investigations revealed that the Groovies had been going since the ’60s. They had brought out a bunch of albums that suggested they had crawled from the same Californian swamp as John Fogerty. Then, in ’72, they had put out the single ‘Slow Death’ – in a different style but almost as good as ‘Shake Some Action’. With this 45 they equalled or even exceeded the efforts of the Exile On Main Street-era Stones.
So, with those two singles, this “new” (to me) band had already had two shots at the title, but neither had come off and nowadays, original Groovies’ albums are thin on the ground. So, why is this?
I think that, on the whole, it was mostly to do with timing – but for now, let’s go back to Frisco.
The band formed in ’65 at the height of the British Invasion and the garage band boom, but didn’t release any records until Sneakers, a ’68 10” mini-LP on their own Snazz label. By this time California, and indeed the world, was obsessed with peace, psychedelia and portent, but Sneakers comprised Chuck Berry riffs, Byrds jangle, Beatles harmonies and pre-Medway Delta attitude. Brilliant – but hopelessly out of kilter with the mood of the day, nevertheless, it did attract the attention of some of the majors.
Over the next few years came three albums that were more in step with the more exciting elements of contemporary popular music. As well as Creedence, The Band were then at the height of their powers, and in the UK both the Stones and The Faces were among those successfully returning to a more rootsy sound.
The Groovies’ Supersnazz (released on Epic in ’69), Flamingo (Kama Sutra, ’70) and Teenage Head (Kama Sutra, ’71) bear comparisons with the work those acts put out during the same period, with songs such as ‘Heading For The Texas Border’, ‘Roadhouse’, ‘Yesterday’s Numbers’ and the title track of ‘Teenage Head’ particularly standing out.
Although the timing was better, on these occasions the record companies let the band down. Their first single, ‘Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu’, got plenty of airplay, but Epic didn’t press up enough copies of the record or its parent album to meet the likely demand – people wanted to buy Groovies’ material but couldn’t. Then Kama Sutra failed to provide the necessary budget, or even inclination, to promote the next two albums properly, despite the critical acclaim received for both of them.
By ’72 the band was proving more popular in Europe than their homeland, and lead guitarist and songwriter Cyril Jordan decided to relocate their base to London. The other principal songwriter, vocalist Roy Loney, was edged out and replaced by Chris Wilson, who had previously supported the Groovies as a member of Loose Gravel.
Signed by United Artists in the UK, the new line-up recorded six tracks with Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios. When it came to choosing a lead single the band wanted ‘You Tore Me Down’, a brilliant 12-string ballad topped with beautiful harmonies and undoubtedly one of the all-time Groovies’ classics. But UA insisted on the crunchy- riffed rocker ‘Slow Death’.
In terms of the musical styles of the day they were absolutely right – it was perfect – but, although the song actually had an anti-hard drug message, the BBC picked up on lyrics about “mainlining” and morphine. As a consequence the single was banned and, although John Peel defied his masters and continued playing the track for a while, the first title shot had failed. ‘Married Woman’ – the follow-up single – also panned, the band’s relationship with UA deteriorated and they returned home.
In early’73 the Groovies were invited by Capitol to record tracks for a possible single. A take of ‘Shake Some Action’ had been recorded at Rockfield, but Jordan and Wilson wanted a clearer version. This second take is the one I heard on the common room jukebox five years later and 8,000 miles away. For the proposed flip side the band recorded another original called ‘When I Heard Your Name’, a beautifully understated song of unrequited love, with a quiet, shuffling Bo Diddley beat – another Groovies’ classic. What a single this combination of tracks would have made. Contracts were proposed and… nothing. A new vice-president arrived at Capitol, staff were fired and hired and all outstanding projects were cancelled.
Things then went quiet for the band. A shame, as anywhere between ’73 and ’75 might have been the right time for the breakthrough. After the worst excesses of the progressive era (I know, I know, it wasn’t all bad) there was a huge revival of interest in the raw basics of rock ‘n’ roll and ’60s music and, particularly in the UK, many reissued singles and compilations were making the charts. Even the best contemporary pop was stealing riffs and rhythms from rockabilly and the beat boom. Imagine the reaction to the amazing high energy
At first, you could, if you weren’t paying attention, mistake it for just another British Invasion pastiche. Many did, some still do, and that’s their loss. Of course that’s what it came out of: this remarkable construction with a myriad of elements. Those shimmering burnished guitars, those plaintive yet assured voices, that “top of the world, ma” confidence which let them make the perfect three minute single that actually lasts four and a half.
It is the ultimate guitar pop record precisely because the guitars are given so much head and allowed to run. It's half a minute before the voices arrive and a full minute before we actually reach "Shake some action's what I need". Then at around 2:15 there's this marvellous shout of "Whoah" and a full 40- second, sublime instrumental break follows, which could frankly run on forever.
It hits now with a wonderful blend of nostalgia and possibility, but remaining fresh as the day it was made. Those elements were always there though 30 years on we experience them differently. Perhaps saved by its failure to become ubiquitous, it can still pull us up with a tug to the heart when it's played in a club or at a party. Where there'll always be another pair of smiling eyes to meet in complicity.
Oh... the drums are perfect too. NICK WEST
of ‘Shake Some Action’ on a glam-packed Top Of The Pops. But the moment was gone again.
Cyril Jordan next approached an old friend of the band, the late Greg Shaw, with the Rockfield and Capitol tapes. He convinced Shaw to put out a single on his Bomp! label, partly to serve as a demo for major labels. Shaw preferred ‘Shake Some Action’, but this time around the band got their way and ‘You Tore Me Down’ was issued as the A-side, with a newly recorded cover of Paul Revere & The Raiders’ ‘Him Or Me (What’s It Gonna Be)’ on the flip.
The record wasn’t a chart hit, but received extensive airplay. On the back of this – and also as a result of Greg Shaw’s contacts – Seymour Stein signed the band to Sire and took them back to Rockfield to record more tracks with Dave Edmunds. Of the previous takes of ‘Shake Some Action’, Stein felt the
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SHAKE SOME ACTION!
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