Back to Rockfield

In June 1972, the Flamin' Groovies cut a handful of tracks with legendary producer Dave Edmunds at his Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in south Wales. The songs were intended to be included on an LP called Bucketful of Brains (after their producer's fondness for the Welsh beer Brains), but the full album never materialized, because the label (UA) lost interest after a couple of singles failed to chart. Apparently, UA were trying to market the Flamin' Groovies as rock 'n' roll revivalists like Sha Na Na, when they were actually proto-punks and power-pop previvalists, as this promo film for "Slow Death" shows.

The first three songs the Groovies recorded at Rockfield were "Slow Death","Shake Some Action", and "You Tore Me Down" -- three stone-cold classics that have all been compiled and covered numerous times, and still sound fresh 35 years later. Cyril Jordan told me in 2002 that those three songs payed his bills for the next 30 years. "You Tore Me Down" was finally released as the first single by Greg Shaw's Bomp Records in 1974, but "Shake Some Action" didn't come out until it appeared on the album of the same name in the summer of 1976. People who talk about the Flamin' Groovies' transition from the early 70's "Slow Death era" to the mid 70's "Shake Some Action era" might not realize that the two songs were cut at the same recording session.

Two more songs the Groovies cut with Dave Edmunds at Rockfield were released as their second UA single ("Married Woman"/"Get a Shot of Rhythm & Blues") in the fall of 1972. These were covers of songs originally by Frankie Lee Simms and Arthur Alexander, both fun and energetic tunes, but I don't know why the label chose to release them over "Shake Some Action" or "You Tore Me Down". I've also included a video of the Groovies playing "Roll Over Beethoven" on French TV in 1972 that I just found on youtube.

The Flamin' Groovies
(Rockfield Studios, South Wales, June 1972)
Slow Death
Shake Some Action
You Tore Me Down
Married Woman
Get A Shot of Rhythm & Blues

Bonus: Roll Over Beethoven (live on French TV, 1972)