Flamin' Groovies "Supersnazz" 1969****

It would take almost a decade for the world to catch up with the Flamin' Groovies but they sure as hell were rough-and-ready from the get-go. The 3 albums they recorded in the late 60's/early 70's with original singer Roy Loney at the helm were all flawless timeless rock'n'roll with the odd blues or country ballad thrown in for good measure. "Supersnazz" was their LP debut and the only one to be released on a major label. Garage rock scorcher "Love Have Mercy" opens the album in an explosive manner with the band recorded live and in great spirits. It starts off a bit like the Blues Brothers, but pretty soon you understand that this brand of R&B has been injected with punk energy and hard rockin' guitars. It sounds exactly like the album cover looks: Rollicking good fun! "Girl Can't Help It" is a throwback to the 50's without sounding retro - the energy levels are too high to ever think of it like that, guitars and sax really rip! "Laurie Did It" is slower with pop and country elements. It sounds like it could have come straight out of the Rolling Stones' "Between The Buttons". "A Part from That" is a gentle ballad with strings and "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" carries a New Orleans R&B flavour, piano and all. "First One's Free" is rockabilly country with Elvis vocals and wild harmonica and piano. "Pagan Rachel" is a mid tempo jazz/country ditty and "Somethin' Else/Pistol Packin' Mama" is a rockabilly/punk powerhouse. Compare this to the Sex Pistols' version and it's obvious why the punks adored the Flamin' Groovies when they first met them in '76. "Brushfire" is a bona fide country number and "Bam Balam" a fast old-timey dixieland piece, so infectious and funny I always play it twice in a row. "Around the Corner" closes the album with some relatively tame pop rock. Somehow, this great album failed to reach a wider audience and the Groovies were dropped from their label. I can only guess that the record buying public was looking for something more serious or contemporary, this being the beginning of the progressive era. Neither "Supersnazz" nor the two superb (and even louder) albums that followed it met with any success. But the Groovies (along with Iggy Pop and New York Dolls) did carry the torch of simple, unadorned and loud rock'n'roll until the punk generation picked it up. Kudos to them for that!

**** for Love Have Mercy. Girl Can't Help It, Laurie Did It, Somethin' Else/Pistol Packin' Mama, Bam Balam

*** for A Part from That, Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, First One's Free, Pagan Rachel, Brushfire, Around the Corner