Flamin’ Groovies: “Let It Rock: Live From The San Francisco Civic Center 1980” (2024) CD Review

I hope you all enjoyed the Black Friday version of Record Store Day and got all the records on your lists. As for me, I just couldn’t do it this time. I couldn’t bear the thought of getting up early and waiting for hours outside of a store. As a result, I didn’t get much. But some of the albums are getting CD releases too, so if you, like me, slept in on Black Friday, there is still a chance to obtain the music. One such record is Let It Rock: Live From The San Francisco Civic Center 1980, a new concert album from Flamin’ Groovies that comes out on CD in early December. The album contains the band’s performance from October 26, 1980, which was part of The Western Front, a ten-day music and arts festival held in various venues in the San Francisco area. And guess what? The CD contains three bonus tracks that are not on the record, those coming from the band’s set at the Old Waldorf a couple of days earlier, also part of that festival. The band at this point was made up of Cyril Jordan on guitar and vocals, Chris Wilson on guitar and vocals, Mike Wilhelm on guitar and vocals, George Alexander on bass and vocals, and David Wright on drums. And while these guys did write a lot of original material, here they decide to focus on fun covers.

The recording includes the band’s introduction by Dirk Dirksen, who approaches the job with a certain sense of humor. “For those of you that keep yelling ‘Boring, boring,’ the next group has been called that, so you should be very happy because your group is coming up,” he jokes. He then names the band, and some folks cheer. “Obviously, you know who they are, so there is no further use for me on the stage.” The band then kicks off the set with a cover of “Never Been In Love,” delivering some delicious rock and roll. This is a song that Dave Edmunds included on his 1978 album Tracks On Wax 4. These guys do a great job with it. The energy then increases for their rendition of “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” a song written and originally recorded by Larry Williams. The first version I ever heard was that by The Beatles, and that is clearly the version that inspired the Flamin’ Groovies. The song was included on Help!, which came out in 1965, the year the Flamin’ Groovies started as a band. This is a seriously fun rendition. They stick with The Beatles then, delivering a good raw version of “Back In The U.S.S.R.,” the lead track from the White Album. In 1980, punk was hot, and this group does a great job of mixing 1960s sounds with punk vibes and attitude, this song being a perfect vehicle for such a combination.

I’ve heard (and seen) some fantastic renditions of “River Deep – Mountain High” over the years, and these guys really get into the spirit of it. The energy to the vocal delivery is perfect, taking things to the edge. The audience is clearly impressed too. It must have been something to have been there, dancing to this rendition. The Flamin’ Groovies then tackle a rock and roll classic number, Chuck Berry’s “Around And Around,” first urging folks to dance (did they really need any urging?), telling them there is a big enough dance floor. I love the way the bass is holding everything together here, as there is the feeling that things could go off the rails at any moment. The excitement of rock and roll! “We never stopped rocking,” they sing, and it’s fucking true. This band is still going like sixty years after its inception. How about that? They follow “Around And Around” with another Chuck Berry song, “Let It Rock,” and somehow this has even more energy and features some really nice stuff on guitar and another great bass line. In the song’s introduction they refer to Chuck Berry as “the king of rock and roll.” Certainly a strong argument can be made for him as king; same goes for Little Richard. Elvis Presley, as good as he was, can’t touch either of them.

The Flamin’ Groovies return to Beatles material with “A Hard Day’s Night.” These guys do such a great job with this song, recreating that sort of energy and joy of The Beatles in the first half of the 1960s. Think of all that famous live footage where the girls are screaming. This track has that kind of feel. Someone in the crowd calls out a request for “Shake Some Action,” but the band decides to follow “A Hard Day’s Night” with a rocking rendition of the blues number “Please Don’t Go,” inspired by the Them version. Here the band cuts loose, jamming on this song, and adding some vocal riffing too. “My baby’s leaving on that midnight train.” They give it a surprisingly sudden ending. They change directions then, delivering a good, and fairly faithful, rendition of The Byrds’ “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” That song is followed by “Paint It Black,” which has always been one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs. I love the way these guys throw themselves into it, and I love the guitar work on this track. I’ve never seen the Flamin’ Groovies in concert, but listening to this recording, I realize I’ve been missing out. There is some tuning and stage banter before the show concludes with “Juju Man,” a song written by Jim Ford and covered by Dave Edmunds, who included it on his 1977 record Get It. Before that, Brinsley Ford had recorded it for the Silver Pistol album. The Flamin’ Groovies deliver a high-energy rendition, with a wildness to the vocals.

Bonus Tracks

The disc’s final three tracks come from the show the Flamin’ Groovies did on October 24, 1980 at the Old Waldorf. I’ve heard a lot about this venue (it was mentioned in Laurie Kaye’s book, Confessions Of A Rock ‘N’ Name-Dropper, which I just finished reading), and wish I could have seen some shows there. It closed in the mid-1980s. “Here’s a little song for you,” they tell the crowd and then go into a cover of “Do I Love You,” a song that was a hit for The Ronettes. It might begin with a sweeter vibe, but don’t worry, approximately halfway through the energy increases. That’s followed by “Fall On You,” a song by fellow San Francisco group Moby Grape, who included it on their 1967 self-titled debut album. The disc concludes with “Shake Some Action,” the song that guy at the other show wanted to hear. It’s an original song, written by Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson, the only original number on the disc. “Some of the older folks might remember this one,” they say in the song’s introduction, which is funny, as that album came out only four years before this performance. But we look at time differently when we’re younger, don’t we? Four years can be a long time. Now it’s a heartbeat. Anyway, this song is a great power pop number. “It’s taken me so long/To get where I belong/Oh, but, oh, please don’t send me back that way/For I will make you pay.”

CD Track List

1. Dirk Dirksen Introduction
2. Never Been In Love
3. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
4. Back In The U.S.S.R.
5. River Deep – Mountain High
6. Around And Around
7. Let It Rock
8. A Hard Day’s Night
9. Baby Please Don’t Go
10. I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better
11. Paint It Black
12. JuJu Man
13. Do I Love You
14. Fall On You
15. Shake Some Action

Let It Rock: Live From The San Francisco Civic Center 1980 is scheduled to be released on CD on December 6, 2024.