Staff Editor on May 14th, 2015

0

There’s an old rock ’n’ roll story that involves John Lee Hooker telling the members of Canned Heat something to the effect: “You guys must’ve listened to all my records” when both parties were jamming out material for the album that would become “Hooker N’ Heat” in 1970.

If the same satisfactory aural affirmation was to be doled out on seminal San Francisco band the Flamin’ Groovies by their musical heroes, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers and even Elvis Presley would have to figure out how they were going to line up.

A tragically under-appreciated band (at least in the larger cultural sense), the Groovies culled the fertile musical landscape of 1950s and ’60s America to create their unique brand of proto-punk/power-pop/R&B glam-sleaze. Headed up by guitarist, singer and producer Cyril Jordan, the band released six stellar records from 1969-1971, and influenced countless bands along the way.

One of those albums — 1976’s “Shake Some Action” — is going on 40 years old, and to commemorate the occasion, the band played the record in its entirety Wednesday night in front of a packed house at the Roxy.

Jordan, along with original Groovies Chris Wilson (guitars/vocals) and George Alexander (bass), and newcomer drummer Victor Penalosa, let loose on an enthusiastic crowd, and created an atmosphere that recalled the venerable Sunset Strip landmark’s golden years. There were even two hand-spun psychedelic liquid light show stations being projected onto the backdrop of the stage.

The night was equal parts homecoming and American popular music history class.

“We played here 40 years ago with the Ramones!” Jordan said before the band tore into a few covers to start the set.

Freddy Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie” and the Byrds’ “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” were given the Groovies treatment, with Wilson’s surprisingly still-strong vocals out front, and Penalosa’s relentless driving backbeat laying the foundation that would set the tone for a sweaty evening.

If the Roxy has air conditioning anywhere in the building, it was not to be found on this night.

By the time the Groovies launched into “Shake Some Action,” the room felt more like a house show. They made their way through the album with fervor and enthusiasm that you don’t normally see in 60-somethings, and by the time it was over the small but adoring crowd was spent.

A much more temperate vibe greeted opener Morgan Delt when he and his band kicked off the festivities around 8:30 p.m. Delt has a cassette tape and full-length LP under his release belt, and does the whole lo-fi bedroom drone-psych thing very, very well. If you like the Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” then type “Morgan Delt ‘Barbarian Kings'” into your Google search bar right now and dig it.