Rockfield version should go on the first Sire album as the lead track. A bit of a pity as, although it is still a great record and you get a minute and a bit more for your money, it doesn’t have the dynamic impact of the Capitol version.
However, Philips, who handled Sire releases in Europe, fortunately picked up on the Capitol recording and opted for it as the lead- off single in the UK. Although the originally intended B-side, ‘When I Heard Your Name’, was replaced with the Spector-ish ballad ‘Teenage Confidential’, music fans were still hungry for the taste of classic rock-pop. Surely the long hot summer of ’76 would at last be the hour of destiny for the USA’s most undervalued band.
But that band was in London, where music fans were suddenly no longer particularly interested in good old-fashioned melody and harmony. On the 4th of July The Ramones made their UK debut at The Roundhouse supporting The Flamin’ Groovies. Although members of the Groovies might deny it,
have passed. On moving back to England for the latest Rockfield sessions, Cyril Jordan had deliberately changed the band’s visual image – garbing them out in mid-60s Carnaby Street style. Even as little as six months earlier it might have worked, but now they were widely dismissed by the “year zero” punk crowd as Beatles copyists, and were destined to remain a cult.
This was a pity because, although it can’t be denied that they did a heap of covers, their own songs from the Sire era included some real gems. The style, both musically and visually was undoubtedly derivative, but Jordan and Wilson had immaculate taste, and the three Sire albums – Shake Some Action (’76), Now (’78) and Jumpin’ In The Night (’79) – are rammed with fine examples of the jangling, harmony filled, amphetamine fuelled power-pop that readers of Shindig! will know so well. Start with The Crickets and aim for Teenage Fanclub, and the Groovies will be slap bang halfway along the same leyline.
The Now album featured a black and white sleeve somewhere between With The Beatles and Aftermath. Covers this time included ‘There’s A Place’, ‘Paint It, Black’, ‘Move It’ and a cracking version of ‘Feel A Whole Lot Better’, but again the originals stand up alongside them. ‘All I Wanted’ and ‘Don’t Put Me On’ are high on the list of Groovies greatness – I particularly love the use of the archaic word “poltroons” in the latter song – while ‘Take Me Back’ and ‘Good Laugh Mun’ are more examples of those multi-layered, dramatic ballads they did so well, and the latter has a gorgeous coda.
By the time of Jumpin’ In The Night the visual emphasis had shifted further Stones- ward and the band appeared on the cover in a fish-eye shot similar to that used on Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass). The quality of the content had dropped a little and the choice of covers seemed less inspired – good versions of ‘Absolutely Sweet Marie’ and ‘Werewolves Of London’ notwithstanding. The upside of this is that the best of the originals on the album, ‘First Plane Home’ –
observers (including Greg Shaw) claim that their Sire label mates completely stole the show.
Well, I wasn’t there, so I can’t say. However, I imagine that in terms of technical ability The Ramones were nowhere near as good as the headliners, but that’s not really the point is it? What the London crowd would have wanted at that time was a certain attitude, rawness and simplicity. The Groovies had all of that to some degree – but not as much as The Ramones.
The show was followed by a UK tour where the band was supported by British bands such as The Damned and The Vibrators. According to Shaw the same thing happened again and again – the reaction to the Groovies was less enthusiastic than that received by the support bands, some of whom had hardly put any records out at the time.
Just as their finest ever recording was finally issued, The Flamin’ Groovies time seemed to
50
The album sleeve for Shake Some Action (see sidebar) was as anglicised as they come. The band look moody wearing dark suits and mop-top haircuts whilst posing next to a Jaguar in front of hoardings advertising White Swan brandy and Piccadilly Filter fags. Whatever the content and the feelings of the London crowds – this is a classic “punk” album cover.
The tracks include a cover of Lennon and McCartney’s ‘Misery’ as well as other songs by Sebastian and Butler, Chuck Berry,WC Handy – six in all. But, as well as the title track, top class Jordan/Wilson originals on the record included the lovely ‘You Tore Me Down’, ‘Teenage Confidential’, two more urgent wall-of-sound ballads named ‘I’ll Cry Alone’ and ‘I Saw Her’ (the latter co-written by former Charlatan and future band member Mike Wilhelm), and the straight down the line rocker ‘I Can’t Hide’. On the whole this is the Groovies’ best album – it even managed to reach #142 during a seven week run on the Billboard album charts – as far as I know this was the only chart placing achieved by the band.
a rocker about feeling homesick for Frisco and London, ‘In The USA’ – a homage to Chuck Berry and the original rock ‘n’ rollers, and ‘Yes I Am’ – continuing the Stones influence, really stand out.
The Sire deal was up and the Groovies returned home again. After some sporadic recording and gigging, relationships in the band turned somewhat sour and Chris Wilson left at Halloween ’81, eventually returning to London to join The Barracudas. Cyril Jordan (and original bass player George Alexander) continued with various line ups, relocating at one stage to Australia, and put out a couple of “new” albums One Night Stand (ABC, ’87) and Rock Juice (National, ’92).
The first of these comprised live in the studio re-recordings of some Groovies’ classics and a few “new” covers, very energetic but hardly essential, although the version of The Hoodoo Gurus’ ‘Bittersweet’ is certainly worth hearing. Rock Juice was one of those situations where one was glad to be able to
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