Flamingo [PA]

Performer: The Flamin' Groovies
Distributor: Infinity Entertainment Gr

Notes: Contains 6 CD bonus tracks. This reissue of FLAMINGO includes six bonus tracks. Flamin' Groovies: Tim Lynch (vocals, electric guitar, cello, percussion); Roy Loney (vocals, guitar, percussion); Cyril Jordan (electric & slide guitars, percussion, background vocals); Danny Mihm (piano, organ, drums, percussion); George Alexander (bass, percussion). Additional personnel: Commander Cody (piano). Producer: Richard Robinson. Reissue producer: Mike Ragogna. Includes liner notes by Andy Kotowicz. Digitally remastered by Elliot Federman (SAJE Sound, New York, New York). Widely considered--along with its 1971 follow-up TEENAGE HEAD--to be the Flamin' Groovies' garage-rock masterpiece, 1970's FLAMINGO is one of those rare albums which is every bit as good as its reputation suggests. The Groovies were truly a remarkable band at this time, every bit as rootsy and poppy as their more celebrated Bay Area compatriots Creedence Clearwater Revival, but without the faux-bayou pretensions. Singer Roy Loney and guitarist Cyril Jordan never pretended to be anything but what they were, a pair of rockabilly and British Invasion-obsessed pop fans whose own songs sounded like timeless, radio-ready classics: "Second Cousin" and "Comin' After Me" are particular highlights. This reissue has three bonus tracks, including reverently sloppy renditions of Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else" and Link Wray's "Rumble." Right around the time Jefferson Airplane was singing about a revolution and Jim Morrison was turning into Mr. Mojo Rising, the Flamin' Groovies were leading a '50s oldies revival that only Sha Na Na seemed to notice. Led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan, the Groovies had already been dropped by Epic when Richard Lewis approached them about recording for Neil Bogart's bubblegum-pop label Kama Sutra. The resulting album, FLAMINGO, became a garage-rock classic. When the Flamin' Groovies weren't playing a punk cover of the '50s classic "Keep a Knockin'" the California quintet was raucously poking fun at Jerry Lee Lewis' incestuous dalliance ("Second Cousin") and playing loping honky-tonk ("Childhood's End") and fey psychedelia ("She's Falling Apart"). Elsewhere, the Groovies churned out molten garage-rock ("Road House"), jammed on Screamin' Jay Hawkins-like blues ("Comin' After Me") and got caught up in a righteous rave-up ("Headin' for the Texas Border"). The bonus tracks on this reissue also include TEENAGE HEAD out-takes consisting of covers that were staples of the band's live show, including interpretations of material by Chuck Berry ("Around and Around"), Fats Domino ("My Girl Josephine"), Link Wray ("Rumble"), Eddie Cochrane ("Somethin' Else"), and Huey "Piano" Smith ("Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu").

Rolling Stone (8/6/70, pp.33-4) - "...The Groovies are endless Saturday afternoons in someone's basement, right next to the ping pong table, and cheap Picasso prints....deliciously simple rock and roll music....Get [FLAMINGO] and bop..." Rolling Stone (8/6/70, pp.33-4) - "...The Groovies are endless Saturday afternoons in someone's basement, right next to the ping pong table, and cheap Picasso prints....What they do is play deliciously simple rock and roll music....Get [FLAMINGO] and bop..." Spin (11/99, p.194) - 7 out of 10 - "...fairly-pedestrian post-'50s garage idolatry, more failed Seeds than stoned Stones..." Entertainment Weekly (8/6/99, p.65) - "...boasts two masterpieces ('Coming After Me', and 'Second Cousin') and a lovably loopy rockabilly aesthetic....you've got all the ingredients for a Groovies kind of love." - Rating: A- Q (9/00, p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[It] can still make heads spin. Heads-down rockers such as 'Gonna Rock Tonite' and 'Headin' For The Texas Border' propel FLAMINGO ever-forward in searing fashion..." Uncut (8/00, p.103) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A sound parked midway between pub rock and power pop..." Alternative Press (11/99, p.100) - 3 out of 5 - "...Simultaneously maturing and regressing, they embraced outrageous original material written by bandleaders Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan....the Groovies were retro-rock/proto-punk icons who inspired groups like the Cramps..." Mojo (Publisher) (7/00, pp.128-9) - "...Garage R&B speed-freaks should sample [this album]..."

Something of an American underground institution, San Francisco's the Flamin' Groovies started out in the mid 1960s as a Stones-tinged throwback to the early days of rock & roll. Although the band had its fans, they were too out of step with the Summer of Love to break through to the mainstream. Though this era would produce one of their two signature songs, "Teenage Head." By the '70s, the band switched up their sound and recast themselves as power-pop songsters. It was during this period that the Flamin Groovies would release their other beloved classic, "Shake Some Action," one of the all-time great power-pop tunes.

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