Flamin' Groovies: Flamingo

Flamin' Groovies is proof that willpower and snotty attitude can make up for being born at the wrong time. Formed in San Francisco in the late '60s, the group's retro-minded bursts of old-school British Invasion rock 'n' roll couldn't have been more out of place in an age of acid tests and hirsute hippies. Songwriters Roy A. Loney and Cyril Jordan's somewhat ironic practice of playing American music in the style of British imitators like the Beatles and Stones eventually paid off in a solid cult following, but a few of their key albums have remained out of print. The resurrected Buddha label has just made available two great Groovies albums, Flamingo and Teenage Head. The former was originally released in 1970 and features a raucous selection of originals and covers that pay tribute to '50s rock pioneers—Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis—with the raw electric energy added by those artists' English admirers. Flamingo is passionate, stripped-down revival music as it should be: It's riveting through and through, and brimming with a conviction contrary to the indulgences that marked San Francisco's music scene at the time. The reissue includes a half-dozen bonus tracks, two never before released, that extend the pleasures of Flamingo for a few blissfully polish-free minutes. Loney eventually left Flamin' Groovies, and Jordan later teamed up with producer Dave Edmunds for 1976's power-pop masterpiece Shake Some Action, but first the original Groovies released 1972's Teenage Head. The album is even rawer and bluesier than its predecessor, a precursor to punk's dedication to passion over pretension, as well as roots-rock's respect for the music of the '50s. The title track is a biting highlight, a grungy anthem as rebellious and riotous as anything The Rolling Stones recorded. Teenage Head also adds seven bonus tracks, including a Buddy Holly cover, a version of "Louie Louie," and three songs never released in the U.S. While the curious may be best sated by the comprehensive Groovies Greatest Grooves, fans of the band's raw side should eat up these welcome reissues.