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| The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
For me going to see the The Flamin' Groovies is a kind of pilgrimage. I
first heard "Teenage Head" at a party in the USA in 1972 and just six
years later was taking photographs of them on their UK tour of 1978. I'd collected pretty well all their records by then and had become a
huge fan so for me going on the road with them was like some kind of
dream for a young photographer and Cyril Jordan and the rest of the band were
really good to me. Their encouragement pretty well set me up as a rock photographer and I'm eternally grateful for that opportunity. It was now fifty years since I first heard a Groovies record and 44
years since I first met Cyril but due to various circumstances and of
course Covid, I hadn't seen the reformed Groovies and Cyril in five
years. Since they reformed I'd seen them in London in 2013, done a mini tour
with them in France in 2015, and the last time had been in London in
2017. All these gigs can be found here in the Retro Man Blog archive, plus there's a fab Retrosonic Podcast with Chris Wilson here.
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| The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
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| The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
I walked into the dressing room at the 100 Club to see Cyril picking
away at his iconic Dan Armstrong Plexiglass guitar which looks and
sounds so fantastic but does weigh a ton. He's looking pretty good for a 74 year old and I'm only a couple of years behind so here's to old men in rock and roll! Cyril's been using this guitar for more than fifty years now. There we
were chatting backstage when who walks in but Sid Griffin from the Long
Ryders and Coalporters with a beard like a mountain man.
The Long Ryders too are one of my fave bands and you can read all about them and see my photos in the blog archive
here. Since the Groovies reformed in 2013 original member George Alexander had
quit in 2017 and now Chris Wilson is on "hiatus" so Cyril is now the
only original band member left. Chris was such an integral part of the
band co-writing with Cyril nearly all of the bands greatest songs, and
his guitar duels with Cyril are legendary. So I was wondering what was going to happen with the vocals as Chris was
the lead voice of the Groovies for such a long time, but I shouldn't
have worried.
Chris Von Sneidern who is a legend in his own right has switched from
bass to guitar and is a great singer. Tony Sales whose dad also Tony
played bass with Iggy Pop and David Bowie has music running through his
veins - he does a really spot-on job on the drums AND vocals from behind
the kit.
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| Chris Von Sneidern, The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery | |
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| Tony Sales, The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
Atom Ellis plays right funky bass lines stalking the stage
like AC/DC's Angus Young! "Way Over My Head" kicks off the night with great guitars from Cyril
and Chris, then "You Tore Me Down" and "First Plane Home" really get the
crowd rocking. A relatively old crowd but a lot of young faces too,
young Sem and her friend who are both just in their 20's have come all
the way from Zurich to see the gig. Cyril comes on with a posh red jacket which he discards after the first three songs - the place is already getting hot and you've got to be fit
in the 100 Club's tropical atmosphere! After being a lifetime smoker
Cyril's trying not to inhale these days on the way to packing up the
ciggies completely. If he can do it I'll be impressed! I really can't tell you what it's like standing feet away from probably
one of your favourite bands of all time listening to great songs like "Slow Death" and "Between The Lines". Cyril and Chris get the
jangling guitars riffing away on "I Can't Hide" and I'm in Rock and Roll heaven! "Married Woman" is a belter, as is Chuck Berry's "Around and Around"
and the crowd go crazy for "Teenage Head" and of course "Shake Some
Action".
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| Atom Ellis, The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
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The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery
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| The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
I've always loved the Groovies' "Married Woman" which I first heard on
a United Artists EP called "Flamin' Groovies" in 1976. Dave Edmunds
produced it at Rockfield in 1972, going on later to produce the
legendary "Shake Some Action" album in 1976 when the band were at their
absolute Zenith blowing away the Ramones at The Roundhouse. There's a
great review of the gig by Max Bell on the Roundhouse site
here. Let's not forget the other Dave Edmunds produced album 1978's "Flamin'
Groovies Now". It was on my visit to Rockfield Studios on New Year's
Day in 1978 that I first met the Groovies so that album is pretty
special for me. Atom gets a really funky bass riff going and the band launches into "Way Down Under", a superbly riffy number, followed by David Crosby's "Ladyfriend" and finished off with the title track of the band's '79 album
"Jumpin' In The Night". With a sixteen song set-list of greatest hits, the appreciative crowd do
not go home disappointed and for me it's a memorable and extremely
emotional night. Rock and Roll at its best. I hope I don't have to wait another five years to see Cyril and the band
again. I walk up the back stairs of the 100 Club and say my goodbyes to
the band as the van is loaded for the next gig in Holland. Such is Rock
and Roll!
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| Cyril Jordan, The Flamin' Groovies at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
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| Cyril Jordan and Sid Griffin at The 100 Club - Copyright Paul Slattery |
For more info on
The Flamin' Groovies please check out their web-site
here. Finally, big thanks to Barry Simons, take care and see you soon.
- Paul Slattery May 2022. |
Groovies, Roundhouse June 1978. L-R Cyril Jordan, David Wright, George Alexander, Mike Wilhelm, Chris Wilson. Copyright Paul Slattery
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