I literally heard about the Flamin’ Groovies for the first time two days ago, when I saw a review of their third album Teenage Head on the excellent hotfox63 music blog. The next thing I learned was Mick Jagger reportedly noted similarities between that album and Sticky Fingers, adding the Flamin’ Groovies had done a better job in revisiting the theme of classic blues and rock & roll than The Rolling Stones on their widely acclaimed 1971 studio release. That got my full attention!
After listening to Teenage Head, an amazing album that sounds very “Stones-esque,” I decided to go back to the band’s beginning: Supersnazz, their first studio album released in Sep 1969. Just like Teenage Head, the record is full of raw energy and has a good dose of Stones-like sound.
Right from the get-go, the Flamin’ Groovies leave no doubt they mean business, kicking things off with a fast blues rocker, Love Have Mercy. This is followed by a fantastic cover version of the Bobby Troup classic The Girl Can’t Help It, which was first performed by Little Richard in 1956. Other standouts among the upbeat tunes on the album are The First One’s Free, Bam Balam and the final song on the original release: Around the Corner, where the band throws in vocal harmonies that are a bit reminiscent of The Beach Boys.
The album’s mid-tempo songs also include gems, such as Laurie Did It and A Part From That, which sound less like blues rock and more like British Invasion pop. It’s a style the band would largely embrace on their albums beginning from the mid 70s – a trajectory that started when co-founder Roy Loney left in 1971 and was replaced by singer and guitarist Chris Wilson. While in the process the Flamin’s Groovies lost some of its originality, as a huge fan of the British Invasion, I don’t consider their transformation as a turn-off!
For a debut album it’s impressive that of the 12 songs on the original edition only four were cover versions. Speaking of covers and coming back to Teenage Head, the CD edition of that album features seven bonus tracks, most of which are remakes. Superb versions of Shakin’ All Over (Johnny Kidd & the Pirates), That’ll Be the Day (Buddy Holly), Louie Louie (The Kingsmen) and Carol (Chuck Berry) prove the high caliber of The Girl Can’t Help It from Supersnazz was not a one-off.
Here’s a clip of Love Have Mercy.
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube
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