1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 212. Flamin’ Groovies – Teenage Head (1971)

 

As is always the case when I’ve not heard of a band, I usually listen out for, and check afterwards, if it’s an act where some artist later famous in their own right got their start. That doesn’t seem to be the case with the Flamin’ Groovies, who are the other type of band unknown to me – the Also-Rans. 

That is not to say that they’re not good. They deserved more, I think. They take 1950s Rock and Roll and play it in the Seventies style (about half a decade before that really took off), with quite a heavy emphasis on rockabilly – 32-20 and Evil-Hearted Ada being prime examples. They have a very garage band aesthetic, noticeable in the sketchy recording of Danny Mihm’s drumming and of the dual vocal/guitar duties of Cyril Jordan and Ron Loney. Sometimes veering into Stooges level of heaviness, the Flamin’ Groovies also often sound like The Rolling Stones. 

And the “Wikipedia fact” about this album is that is was released at around the same time as the Stones’ Sticky Fingers, and Mick Jagger apparently stated that he thought that the Flamin’ Groovies did a better job of modernized rock and roll. The final track, Whiskey Woman, is more of a country rock number that sounds a little like Crosby/Still/Nash/Young, especially Young with the guitar soloing. And perhaps this is why the Flamin’s Groovies never quite took off – they sound a little bit like other acts but don’t have a distinctive sound of their own. Which is a shame, because any track on this album ought to get air play. 

On the extended remastered version, there are a collection of live tracks that are all covers of classic rock and roll songs – Shakin’ All Over, That’ll Be The Day, Louie Louie and so on, that are played in a heavier fashion than they quite hit on the album, which makes me think that their true home is as a live band, belting out pumped-up covers in a small music venue where the walls are painted black and the floor is sticky with old lager.