4
I'd like to say "Teenage Head is awesome" and leave it at that, but some people might mistake that review for R. Kelly's life motto.
Teenage Head is the third studio album by the San Francisco rock band Flamin' Groovies, released in March 1971 by Kama Sutra Records.Released the same year as the Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers, Mick Jagger reportedly noticed the similarities between the albums and thought the Flamin' Groovies did the better take on the theme of classic blues and rock 'n roll revisited in a modern context.
I'd like to say "Teenage Head is awesome" and leave it at that, but some people might mistake that review for R. Kelly's life motto.
Unless this is just one person's personal list, i dont understand how this album could be considered an album you HAVE to listen to.
At first I thought this was an album called Flamin’ Groovies by Teenage Head, which I was looking forward to. This is great. One of my new “I can listen to every track without skipping” albums. Looking it up on Wikipedia, Mick Jagger apparently said this was a better version of Sticky Fingers, and I agree. Rockabilly edging into proto-punk. I love this so much. Favourite track: “Whiskey Woman”
Teenage Head by The Flamin’ Groovies (1971) The 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die project presents wonderful opportunities for expanding the musical horizons of the serious listener. There are those albums that are pleasant new listening experiences created long ago—albums that breathe new life into the heart of the listener with their interesting and long-forgotten virtuosity and creativity; albums that you’re eager to add to your collection; albums that inspire deep philosophical reflection on perennial issues; albums that make powerful political statements; albums that were ahead of their time; albums that should have been classics. This album is not one of them. Dropped tempos, sloppy accompanying instrumentals, boring guitar riffs, mechanical bass lines, bad backing vocals, uncreative mixing, mindless lyrics, monotonous interludes, and over the hill rockabilly grooves, all demonstrate that The Flamin’ Groovies are a poor imitation of The Rolling Stones (when they’re not being a poor imitation of the early Elvis Presley [“Evil Hearted Ava”!—yuck]). Compare this album with the Stones’ Sticky Fingers, released the same year, and grab the Ipecac. These guys might have sufficed to play at your high school prom—yours, but not mine. Did you ignore this in 1971? If you did, it was for good reason. 1/5
i love their refusal to jump on the bandwagon of the times, and instead just rip up some awesome bluesy rock & roll. fantastic album
just a bit of bluesy rock, but has that kinda proto-punk 70s sound coming through a bit. not too bad but I'll probably never listen again. 3/5.
Decent album, but nothing that rocked my world lol
For a band I've never heard of, this album was freaking great. It's everything I love about The Rolling Stones with a healthy dose of Violent Femmes sprinkled on top. This came out the same year as "Sticky Fingers" even. Apparently, after listening to "Teenage Head" Mick Jagger was like, "Oh yeah. That's what we were trying to do with 'Sticky Fingers' but they did it better." And he's not wrong. Put the two albums up against each other and "Teenage Head" just might come out on top. Absolute monster of an album.
This band reminds me a lot of the Rolling stones but maybe the band and the lyrics aren't as controversial? They have that 70's rock/blues thing going though I'm not sure if there is anything totally exceptional about this album. Maybe it's here because Mick Jagger thought they were better than the Rolling Stones?
These boys FUCK! Kinda like The Rolling Stones with a little of The Stooges thrown in. There’s almost no way they weren’t an influence on Eagles Of Death Metal and early Kings Of Leon. Pretty fun album!
Interesting albums with lots of blues and inspiration from other artists. Could hear hendrix, dylan, and elvis in a few songs. Liked the different vibes throughout the album
Very blues, very loud. The sound is totally on point but the songwriting does nothing for me. I'm mostly just along for the ride with this album, letting it go from one song to next while soaking in the sheer bluesiness of it all. Overall good.
not my thing really
I've heard this band in the past, but never properly checked them out. This one apparently is the third and greatest album, just before one of the founding members left. It's quite pleasant. 30 mins of throwback rock n roll with a country tinge and some blues cover songs. If you are a big fan of 1950s/60s rock classics, you would definitely have a blast with this. I tapped my toes along to the whole thing, and there weren't any dull moments. But it's not a style I'm particularly enamoured with. 3.5
I’d never heard of Flamin Groovies before this album and it’s not bad. I would say that there is definitely a noticeable Rolling Stones influence to the band’s sound. Which is not a bad thing, there are noticeable influences from multiple artists on the record. But I was left thinking “most of these songs could be on a Rolling Stones album”.
Mick Jagger doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. "Sticky Fingers" takes this shit to the cleaners and then some.
I hear a lot of Wilco
groovy hehe
I enjoyed this bluesy early 70s rock way more than I expected to. The recording sounds fantastic and the music is really well done. The performances are so energized and visceral. These guys are really great here! Loved the rockin' tracks like "High Flyin' Baby" and "Have You Seen My Baby." "Yesterday's Numbers" has a fantastic vocal performance... one of my favorite tracks. The title track's rockin' blues vibe and supporting harmonica runs through this album like a freight train. Great stuff! There's a great bluesy vibe really evident in "City Lights" about a country boy headed to NYC to see 'the empire's tallest building where the plane shot that big monkey, and they killed him.' You also get a dose of the 50s in songs like "32-20", "Evil Hearted Ada" (which could be an early Elvis song) and "Doctor Boogie" (with a particularly fun performance by the lead singer). The last song of the original album release "Whiskey Woman" is a great closer to the album. Love this song. I prefer stopping there for the album listening experience and not playing the six additional tracks added in 1999. Not that any of the additional songs are bad - in fact I liked them - but the album really feels most complete in its original incarnation. Maybe I'm just getting tired of great albums feeling a bit compromised when bonus tracks are tacked on willy-nilly in their re-releases. I really dig this album... happy to welcome Flamin' Groovies aboard my musical library!
Fucking great.
You can draw a direct line from this to my sweetheart Detroit 90s-00s rock scene. Hell yea
It's Been A While I guess, But Life Is Good, You're Doing Well. Keep On Focusing On The Process. And Go With The Flow That You Like.
Puro rock
The Cramps before The Cramps
Muy sorprendente disco. Quizá a ratos no suena de 1971 sino de 1964 o algo así, pero la verdad es que me gustó mucho. Combinación agradable de Rock psicodélico y Blues, transicional de la época. Le doy la razón a Mick Jagger, este disco es mejor que uno de los Stones. Y encima la versión de lujo trae unos covers que tampoco tienen desperdicio.
Amazing record from track 1 to the end - from pure party garage rock to acoustic folk blues. I can imagine that Evil Hearted Ada influencing the psychobilly Lux Interior of The Cramps with it’s circus mirror reflection of Elvis. As for comparisons, I’d listen to this before the Stones every time.
I love the Flamin Groovies.. They could have picked the album before or after and I would have been happy too. Dirty bluesy garage rock sound can't be beat.
Garage rock. No los conocía... ¡Vinilo!
This was really fucking good
One of the greatest albums ever recorded.
This is THE best thing I’ve listened to in a long time! Wow, I’m blown away. This fucking rips. The slide guitar, the RIFFS, that ramp up at the end of Whiskey Woman, the title track, this is amazing stuff. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of them. This is going right in the regular rotation.
I definitely hear the co.parisons to the Stones, but I enjoyed the more raw edge and rockabilly nature of this. I was tapping my toe to pretty much every track. Sounds like a bunch of guys just playing music they love in a fun way.
That was an unexpected burst of joy.
Quite a mixture of sounds. Enjoyed the first half more but was good
I didn't know the band, but I was happily surprised. I know they are supposed to play many styles, but this album is a good rock album. It reminds me of newer rock bands like The Sheepdogs.
Great discovery, didn't know them at all, will certainly listen to it again.
Fairly fun-- very much a Rolling Stones sound. Would listen again.
american equivalent to Sticky Fingers is good, but not better than Sticky Fingers! come on, mick! fav track: whiskey woman
Favourite band name so far. This was a big fat Jam loved it all, especially Doctor Boogie and Shakin All Over. Whiskey Woman was my highlight though - surprisingly beautiful. Also a great rendition of Louie Louie.
se creedence e ny dolls tivessem um filho
Bem legal mas mt longo
Rockabilly surf-music, folded into some more mellow blues-y jams. Good stuff
Ô Meo, toca Ramones, meu!
cool cool cool
Not bad
Rockzinho lá de outros tempos né, bacana, acho que até conhecia alguma, mas nada que mds adoro ouvir não.
7.5
Het heeft een paar goede nummers maar ik vind het verder veel lawaai.
Ihan uusi tuttavuus tämäkin. Mielestäni kelpo rokkia tuolta aikakaudelta. Kivasti eri tyylisiä kappaleita levyllä, ei käynyt yksitoikkoiseksi, vaikka levy olikin täyden tunnin mittainen.
Flamin and groovy! Groovy 70's rock, nothing bad about it. Whiskey Woman is my fav
Yea I liked it. There was some Elvis vibes. I can abide.
really good, Rockn'Roll!! 4.0
Y
10th June 2021 Listened on my phone through the day - Jen still recovering from Covid and busy workday. Very hot. Had it saved on Spotify previously, I love the firdt half but not sure about the British invasion covers. Some total bangers on here though.
Slidetastic, Stones turned up to 11
Hey this album whips ass. I enjoyed it from front to back and will be listening to it again. This is some great rock with an energy all its own.
Really cool bluesy style with a distinct 70's production and vocal style. Really fun to just put on and jam out to!
WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS BAND?! Funky slidey Southern Beefheart grooves. Makes Television make sense. Evil Hearted Eva channels Elvis through a rockabilly sound.
Groovy is an apt description for this album!
Thoroughly enjoyed it; some classic rockabilly tracks to lighten the mood. 4.5/5
One of the best albums the Stones ever put together was not actually by the Stones. Most excellent blues rock.
Really enjoyed this. Raw guitar sound is great. Simple, balls out rockin.
7/10
surprisingly decent
What a surprise this was. I was completely unsure what to expect. The band name and title made me a li’l nervous. But then there was some good ol' bluesy, old school rock 'n' roll sounds that I really liked from the first time through…the whole thing, in fact. The vocals are sometimes a little wonky, and I jumped when they started screaming in "Yesterday's Numbers," and I'm not a big fan of gun violence threats against girlfriends (which seem to be very common in several genres of popular music). But I love all the varied guitar sounds in this. I love the bass in the title track. Each of these songs is just a little jarringly weird, and I really like them.
Classic sounds. Enjoyable and fresh. Will listen again!
Surprenant, bon blues rock ca sonne craimemt birn. 4.
I know more of this than I thought. I but dated in places mind.
Punky, Ramones achtig, goed
According to wikipedia, Teenage Head was released the same year as the Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers, and Mick Jagger reportedly noticed the similarities between the albums and thought the Flamin' Groovies did the better take on the theme of classic blues and rock 'n roll revisited in a modern context. I tend to agree. it is like a rougher version of Sticky Finger s(one of my favourite Stones albums), so this is a revelation. Loved the slide playing, the rough boogie, and the grunt. Fabbo, and definitively going on my want list.
leuk bluesey rock and roll album
This.....is..... AMAZING! It’s like the Stones with a little kiss of punk. Love it so far Fav Tracks: "High Flyin' Baby" "Teenage Head"
Fine enough blues rock
Great sound- great covers. Can hear why the Stones liked them.
Possibly their best album, either this one or Shake Some Action. I'm not usually a big fan of covers but these guys are really good at it.
Head
This proves that The Rolling Stones are one of the most overrated bands ever. 7/10
7/10. Pretty good
Apparently, Mick Jagger said that this album was a better take on a modern updating of blues and rock 'n roll than the contemporarily released "Sticky Fingers". Mick is right.
Excelente album de un grupo que no había escuchado
They've got some really cool stuff going on in that 1970s bluesy rock space, which makes me wonder why they're not more well-known. Maybe their marketing department sucked? Maybe it's the dreadful band name? Maybe it's the ill-advised, super terrible Elvis impersonation? Best track: Whiskey Woman
I'm a member of the FEELIN Groovies after listening to this!!
Fun throughout Best song was Whiskey Woman. The chorus sounded a lot like knocking on heavens door but I think this song is older than that one
Loved it. Never heard of them and want to know more. Sound like a test tube baby of the Beach boys, early stooges, the Stones etc. 4*s
Cet album de rock gentil passerait presque pour un chef d'œuvre grâce à la bousasse qui l'a précédée (celle de Throbbing Gristle).
Thoroughly enjoyable rootsy/country-tinged RnR. Contemporary comparisons to Sticky Fingers are very apposite. Liked it a lot! bonus tracks are uniformly poor however
Wantlist
Initially I was hoping to find "Shake Some Action" on this album, since it's the only FG song I knew, but when I got into it I liked the bluesy, rockabilly-with-edge feel. The title track sounds very Howlin' Wolf. It's hard to tell from the Wiki notes if the lead vocals are shared, but if they're not, they certainly have one diverse vocalist. I guess you'd have to add FG to the list of the first (pre) punk bands, sticking to rock n' roll when hard rock and prog was all the rage.
Buen rock. Mi única queja es la hora que dura. Sólido 4.
Very hard rocking modern rock n roll, way better than I was expecting.
A band I was not familiar with at all. Really good stuff, will be listening to it again. Lots of comparisons to The Rolling Stones, but I think the Groovies did it better.
This was dope. Quality garage rock. A harbinger of what was to come.
This was a good one.
4.4 - I can see why Mick Jagger thought this was a more successful blues rock record compared to "Sticky Fingers." To Jagger's credit though, this record doesn't have the same "Wild Horses" level climax. Some great cuts including "32-20", "Evil Hearted Ada" and "Whiskey Woman."
It's pretty dang groovy. As much as I push back against horrible bluesy acts of the 60s-70s that can't seem to figure out how to do the blues right... I think this is very good.
Very listenable.
This was unexpected as I had never heard of this band and didn't know what genre it would be. I loved the guitars but the vocals weren't completely up to snuff. The production also really sounded modern. Definitely will be adding some of these songs into my rotation since I enjoy me some old blues rock.
Fun fact: High Flyin' Baby is Robert Plant's favourite track from this album. He bangs babies. He also LOVES Have you seen my Baby? The man loves touching babies.
Mick Jagger was awfully nice and gracious when he praised *Teenage Head* as an album that was actually better than the Rolling Stones' own *Sticky Finger*, out in the same year. But as good as that Flamin' Groovies album is, it's still a notch under the Stones' magnum opus. Side 1 is almost perfect, but three tracks in the middle of side 2 make the album lose its momentum somehow. Those cuts are not horrible, but they are a little too derivative just as they go to older types of rockabilly and bluesy numbers. Fortunately, the record ends on a very high note with Whiskey Women. As already noted elsewhere, this album is also very interesting for Cramps fans: the title track and "High Flyin' Baby" have clearly inspired Lux Interior and Poison Ivy for their own twisted take on good ole rock'n'roll. Does all this make *Teenage Head* an *essential* album, though? The jury's still out on this one. Number of albums left to review: 724 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 135 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 66 (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 76
I broke this up over way too many days but the Flamin’ Groovies are a fun listen