Flamin' Groovies

The Flamin' Groovies are an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic (Supersnazz) and Kama Sutra (Flamingo and Teenage Head), Loney left the band in 1971. He was replaced as co-leader by Chris Wilson, and the band's emphasis shifted more toward British Invasion power pop.

In addition to the band's role in the advancement of power pop, the Flamin' Groovies have also been called one of the forerunners of punk rock.

The band signed to United Artists Records in 1972, releasing just three more singles until 1976. The Groovies then signed to Sire Records and released three albums between 1976 and 1979, Shake Some Action, Flamin' Groovies Now (both produced by Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios in Wales) and Jumpin' in the Night. The 1976 album's title track "Shake Some Action" (also released as a single) became a power pop anthem and is revered by many, including Greil Marcus in his book, The History of Rock and Roll in Ten Songs. Wilson left the band in 1981, and the band continued in various forms, including the release of three more albums, before breaking up in 1991. After a couple of limited reunions with different lineups, the 1970s nucleus of Jordan, Wilson, and Alexander reformed the group in 2013, and the band's first post-reunion album, Fantastic Plastic, was released in 2017. Alexander left the reformed band in 2017, and in 2019 Wilson went on hiatus. Loney died later that same year.

Career

Beginnings

Roy Loney and Tim Lynch, who met in first grade, had put together a Kingston Trio-type folk band with guitars when they were in junior high and high school. Beginning in 1965, after adding their friend George Alexander (whom they told to learn bass), they became a Rolling Stones-influenced rock band with drummer Ron Greco. Greco knew a 15-year-old lead guitarist named Cyril Jordan, who quickly became a part of the group, although Greco then left and was replaced by Danny Mihm. After playing together for about three years under various group names and not getting any record company offers, they decided to put up their own money and make their own EP, which they could also use as a label demo. That EP, 1968's Sneakers, was recorded on 4-track and mixed in about eight hours total and featured Jordan (guitar, vocals), Loney (vocals, guitar), Alexander (bass, harmonica, vocals), Lynch (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Mihm (drums). As a result of its success, they were signed to a contract by Epic Records. Around the same time, their manager leased The Fillmore from Bill Graham, and they became managers of the venue.

During a stay in Detroit, the band would be exposed to local bands such as MC5, the Stooges, and the Frost, which caused the Groovies' sound to become heavier. During this period, they released 1969's Supersnazz. In Loney's words, the album was "all over the map" and "kinda grasping at every possible straw"; it contained both re-creations of 1950s rock and roll and more melodic songs that anticipated the power pop movement of the 1970s—a genre to which the Flamin' Groovies would eventually contribute significant work. However, the album's low sales led to their release by Epic. They then started doing national tours, and their further exposure to Detroit's musical scene "hardened up our sound a whole lot", in Loney's words.

At the instigation of Richard Robinson (a journalist and the Groovies' future producer), the Groovies then signed to Kama Sutra Records for their next two albums, 1970's Flamingo and 1971's Teenage Head. Jordan was unhappy with the sound quality of Flamingo." Teenage Head is listed in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and Mick Jagger reportedly compared the album favorably to the Rolling Stones' contemporaneous Sticky Fingers.

Despite the critical plaudits, though, neither album sold well, which caused Loney and Lynch to lose interest and left the Groovies in limbo about their future. Loney and Jordan clashed over the band's direction, due to the former's preference for rock and rockabilly and the latter's interest in pop acts such as the Beatles. Jordan, however, felt the band was just evolving. Tim Lynch then left the band and was replaced by James Ferrell, shortly before the Groovies played a concert for the closing of the Fillmore West that was broadcast live on local San Francisco radio station KSAN.