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| The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
This year marks the 50th anniversary of
The Flamin' Groovies and 38 years since I first met them at Rockfield Studios in Wales on January 1st 1978 the night after the legendary Ramones gig at The Rainbow. Having accompanied them on their Spring tour of 1978 I was all ready to see this band conquer the world but I had to wait 35 years to see them play again when Cyril Jordan, Chris Wilson and George Alexander got together with new drummer Victor Penalosa to reform the band.
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| The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
Since then
The Flamin' Groovies have gone from strength to strength and their gig at London’s Scala in Kings Cross last month was part of their second European tour in as many years. After living in London for quite some time Chris moved back to the US last year and life seems to be suiting him out there on the West Coast, within reasonable distance of San Francisco where the band have been in the studio in recent months. Recently the ‘Groovies released their first new single in almost 25 years to celebrate their 50th anniversary, it's called
"Crazy Macy" and is out on 7" vinyl from
Burger Records, with "Let Me Rock" – the first ever Jordan/Wilson collaboration - on the B-side.
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| Chris Wilson of The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
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| Victor Penalosa of The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
For me the ‘Groovies have a special place in my own personal Rock and Roll hall of fame – like the 'Feelgoods here in the UK they kept the Rock and Roll flag flying during the Seventies and were a major influence on Punk and the music that followed it. Now this re-energised band is ploughing the same furrow gaining new fans with their no-compromise approach to Rock and Roll. With a catalogue of great songs, and superb guitars, they really can do no wrong. And as they crack into The Byrds "Feel a Whole Lot Better", which by now is a ‘Groovies standard, you can see that the crowd are mad for it right from the start - and go crazy they do!
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| Cyril Jordan of The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
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| George Alexander of The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
With a set list that includes great songs like "Tore Me Down" , "I Can’t Hide", "Please Please Girl" and "Tallahassee Lassie" Chris belts out a mean lead vocal and does great harmonies with Cyril while the two of them do those jangly guitar duels ever so well. Cyril still favours his heavy-as-lead Dan Armstrong plexiglass guitar – the sound from that thing is amazing and of course Cyril’s been playing it for over forty years and loves it. Victor’s tireless drums and George’s rhythmic bass provide such a superb base for each song, with Chris and Cyril building both the vocal and guitar harmonies but George gets finally his chance on vocals with the excellent "Married Woman".
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| The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
Then it’s "Between The Lines", "Slow Death" and "Shake Some Action" to finish. The crowd go potty and finally coax the band back to play the encores of "Teenage Head" and "Let Me Rock" and the band’s work is over. If you are a Rock and Roll fan you are going to be hard pressed to see a band this good play such a great set list and this is what makes the Groovies legends. And long may they play. I just can’t wait to see them play in San Francisco one day. - Paul Slattery June 2016
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| The Flamin' Groovies photographed at The Scala by Paul Slattery |
With many thanks to Paul for the excellent report and photographs. You can hear The Flamin' Groovies new single
"Crazy Macy" along with Paul chatting about the band in Episode 23 of
Retrosonic Podcast, which is free to listen to/download from
Soundcloud.
Then don't forget our superbly entertaining
Retrosonic Podcast special interview and career retrospective with Chris Wilson where he takes us on a journey from his early teens, watching and being
inspired by some of the great Blues musicians in Massachusetts to LA and
San Francisco where he joined up with ex-Charlatans guitarist Mike
Wilhelm in Loose Gravel and later The Flamin' Groovies. Responsible for
some of the most iconic rock classics ever recorded such as "Slow Death"
and "Shake Some Action" The Flamin' Groovies never quite made the
breakthrough to commercial success, but remain a huge influence on Power
Pop and Punk bands alike. Chris also covers his time with The Barracudas, recording with Dave Edmunds, meeting Ringo Starr and not to
mention seeing photographer Paul Slattery again for the first time in 35
years! In this candid and amusing story, Chris also picks out some of
his influences, favourite songs and highlights from his own back
catalogue including his excellent solo album "It's Flamin' Groovy!"
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