SneakersSnazz R2371, 1968
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When Roy Loney and his band The Flamin’ Groovies entered the recording studio for the first time in 1967 they were in a hurry. They had been a band for a couple of years but no record label were interested in them despite the fact that they came from San Francisco where almost every band got a record contract during the Summer Of Love. |
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The reason may have been that The Flamin’ Groovies didn’t sound like the other SF bands. Most of their songs were less than 3 minutes long and they were influenced by old fashioned Rock’n’Roll, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Kingston Trio and of course Beatles & Stones.
They were in a hurry because recording an album cost a lot of money, so they entered a cheap studio and cut a number of tracks in less than 8 hours! They recorded seven songs which they released on a mono 10 inch Maxi EP (or mini LP). The record was called Sneakers and was released in early 1968 on their own Snazz label. This album was the first of four studio releases from the Roy Loney era Groovies. During this period their line-up was Roy A. Loney (vocals and some guitar), Cyril Jordan (guitar and some vocals), Tim Lynch (guitar, harmonica and some vocals) , Danny Mihm (drums), and George Alexander (bass).
Side A
I’m Drowning (Roy A. Loney). Great fuzz guitars and some great harmony vocals. The band sounds really tight and shines throughout the song.
Babes In The Sky (Roy A. Loney) is very influenced by The Lovin’ Spoonful and has even the same guitar intro as Nashville Cats.
Love Time (Roy A. Loney) is a slow and moody rock and roll ballad with some psychedelic jazz feel.
My Yada (Roy A. Loney) is a very funny and very fast song. It sounds like a hybrid of a Dixieland song and a Rockabilly song.
Side B
The Slide (Roy A.Loney). A garage rocker with great fuzz guitars. This is also the longest track on the album, just over 4 minutes, and is the only track where you can hear some influences from the San Francisco scene. A Great song!
Golden Clouds (Roy A. Loney) is a great rocker again with some great fuzz guitars, but also some C&W picking guitars and harmony vocals.
Prelude In A Flat To Afternoon Of A Pud (Roy A. Loney - Cyril Jordan). Well this is just a one minute and twenty second filler with one single chord and a strange riff and a strange ending to a great first release from the band.
Summary:
This album isn’t as good as the albums that followed, but it’s still makes a very enjoyable listening and is filled with Great Spirit and enthusiasm and some songs that will point the direction for the future. But it also shows the band still in search for their style.
I will give it 6 of 10 stars.
This album was for a long time a collector’s item as it was pressed in just 2000 copies. It was re-released on the French Skydog label (also in 10” format) in 1975 and was released on CD as Supersneakers by Sundazed Records (SC 6077) in 1996 with a couple of very interesting bonus tracks, one of them is the best song on the CD! More about the bonus tracks.
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