Flamin' Groovies Now

by Flamin' Groovies

Overview

While it took a long and torturous five years for the Flamin' Groovies to find their way back to an American record deal with Shake Some Action, a year and a half later the band had a follow-up ready, and while 1978's Flamin' Groovies Now isn't quite as cohesive as the album that preceded it, in many respects the band sounds at once tighter and more relaxed, with some time on the road firming up the rhythm section while giving the songs a bit more room to swing (which wasn't one of the strong suits of the British Invasion bands that provided their aural template). The band lost guitarist James Ferrell during the post-Shake Some Action tour, but former Charlatans picker Mike Wilhelm proved to be a more than simpatico replacement on these sessions, and while leader Cyril Jordan didn't come up with another new song as transcendent as "Shake Some Action," "All I Wanted" comes pretty close. But it's significant that most of the songs on Flamin' Groovies Now are covers, and while all of them are played with love, enthusiasm, and the right period flair (especially the Beatles' "There's a Place," Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Ups and Downs," and "Move It," an early U.K. hit for Cliff Richard), they give the album a feeling of being padded, and just because covering the Rolling Stones rarity "Blue Turns to Grey" was a good idea didn't mean the Flamin' Groovies had any business tackling "Paint It Black." All in all, Flamin' Groovies Now is a terrific-sounding record that captures a fine band when it was in great form, but it also makes clear that the gremlins that often dogged the Groovies in the studio (namely their inability to make a 100 percent satisfying album) hadn't gone away. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	03/18/2022
Label:	Liberation Hall
UPC:	0089353506629
Rank:	62422

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Flamin' Groovies   Primary Artist
David Wright   Percussion,Drums,Drums,Drums,Percussion
George Alexander   Guitar (Bass),Bass,Vocals,Percussion
Chris Wilson   Harpsichord,Guitar,Vocals
Chris "Poet" Wilson   Vocals,Percussion,Harpsichord,Guitar (Rhythm)
Cyril Jordan   Guitar,Vocals,Mellotron,Guitar (Rhythm)
Dave Edmunds   Piano,Guitar,Vocals
Mike Wilhelm   Guitar

Technical Credits

Dave Edmunds   Audio Production,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Paul McCartney   Composer
Terry Melcher   Composer
King Curtis   Composer
Chris Wilson   Composer
Cyril Jordan   Composer
Freddie Slack   Composer
Don Raye   Composer
Gene Clark   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Mark Lindsay   Composer
C. Miller   Composer
Alec Palao   Liner Notes
Keith Richards   Composer
Ian Samwell   Composer
Pat Thomas   Producer
Patrick Roques   Reissue Art Director
Mick Jagger   Composer
Gary Hobish   Reissue Mastering
Johnny Spence   Composer
Armand Haye   Cover Photo
Tom Sheehan   Cover Photo