THE GROUNDHOGS
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The Groundhogs , to me, have always been the sole occupants of that boogie
netherworld which lies between ZZ-Top and Captain Beefheart- A statement
which,in and of itself, goes pretty far in explaining their wild unpopularity
here in the states- but even in their native England ; where I assumed the
mere mention of their name would pack the same rock-snot punch as, say...
(I'll shoot low...) "Peter Greene"- It was typically met with
a moans, groans and confounded amusement (also native to England).
(And this, from the country who added a good ten years to the logical lifespan
of Status Quo.)
The Groundhogs were formed in the mid-'60s by Guitarist/Vocalist/Songwriter;
T.S. "Tony" McPhee. Named for a John Lee Hooker song. The band
was also known as "John Lee's Groundhogs" backing Hooker himself
on some of the blues singer's mid-'60s British shows, and also recording
an album with him.(--crypticly titled;"The Groundhogs with John Lee
Hooker" -which is next to non-exsistant ...as far as I can tell...)
In 1966, a"psychedelisized" Groundhogs became"Herbal Mixture"-
long enough to release a single, "Machines" -(which is currently
reissued, along with all of the Groundhogs' singles on -Distortions)
- A reformed Groundhogs appeared in 1968- Originally a quartet- (bassist
Pete Cruickshank also remained from the original Groundhogs lineup), the
Hogs had become a power trio by the time of their commercial breakthrough,
"Thank Christ for the Bomb", which made the U.K. Top Ten in 1970.
This is thought by many to be their finest record (not the least of whom
is Monster Magnets' Tim "Mountain of Judgement" Cronin)-
"Thank Christ for the Bomb" is certainly their most straight ahead
effort- Like many of their British, blues-rock peers, the Hogs tended to
grow a little more experimental with each record (...in an almost eerie,
incremental way). Which is not meant to be any kind of warning -er... quite
the opposite- They were easily on par with (Clear Spot era) Captain Beefheart
at 13 bar-boogie-mutations, equally adept at sounding reverent AND fucked-up
at the same time- because , like Beefheart, The Groundhogs' blues mutations
were built on a thorough knowledge of the original item.
This is evident in McPhees' consistently suberb guitar playing. A master
of both lo-fi- choogling, and hi-fi processing ... his technique
of claw-hammer comping packs that rare sense of boogie that is usually indicative
of a very large record collection (...and knowing how to use it). McPhees'
straight blues riffing is as white-boy-precocious as Ry Cooders' work with
the Magic Band-
And his soloing seems to have more in common with (the economical) Steve
Cropper- than any of his guitar-slinging, Blu-Brit contemporaries.
Tradition aside- McPhee was equally proficient at shoving his Gibson SG
thru every stomp box known to man (or Can, and then some) and did so without
ever upsetting the big, blue, gut-bucket.
In my humble opinion it was McPhees fondness for signal processing which
earned them a very misleading "progressive" tag-- Because their
"progressiveness" had little to do with (70's-requisite) attempts
at fusion.- and everything to do with McPhees' experiments in the
recording studio. Because T.S. not only wrote, played and sang this stuff
- he also produced it. Although he could be a little ham fisted on the hoo
ha knobs-his overall production is crisp, jaggedy and bears more resemblance
to modern digital snippetry than the reverb-swollen, cave paintings that
were commonplace in the early British 70's
Even on later records, such as "Black Diamond" when T.S. liberally
peppered the proceedings
with an ARP synth-- The Hogs never lose sight of their basic stomp quotient-
( and given the ultra-reverant nature of euro-blues-fanatics [...y'know...groundhogs'
fans...], this must have been considered blasphemy). In fact, at
a time when most British Blues outfits had abandoned the Chi-town/ push/
pull -to allow room for a more florid drumming style -The Groundhogs continued
to roll out the barrelhouse with a true-blue HONK.
Twelve bar blues may seem restrictive to some - And it is rare, indeed,
to find a white guy capable of working within it's boundaries who doesn't
end up sounding sycophantic (Clapton) or like a complete idiot (Thorogood)
(-and rarer still are the instrumentalists who can extend its' reach while
keeping both feet the ground. -I can count 'em on one hand). The Groundhogs
never sound handicapped by the 12 bar - and at times, they seem completely
in-awe of it - -
and listening to The Groundhogs 25 years after the fact, it's plain that
T.S. Mcphee was well aware that; 12 bars can be an eternity ....
that is,... if you know what youre doing......
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