The Electric Flag - "Groovin' Is Easy" - 60s R&B / "American Music" Band - Nick & Knarf Re-Reactions

Hi...we're Nick & Knarf. Today, we're Re-Reacting to a terrific song from an outstanding, short-lived R&B / Rock band that embodied the distinctive and unforgettable San Francisco sound of the 1960s...It's The Electric Flag.... featuring the great Buddy Miles and Mike Bloomfield...the song is "Groovin' Is Easy"!!

The Electric Flag was an American R&B / soul / rock band, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed The Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint with the Butterfield Blues Band. With his appreciation for blues, soul and R&B, Bloomfield wanted to create a group of his own that would feature what he called "American Music." The band reached its peak with the 1968 release, "A Long Time Comin' ", a fusion of rock, jazz, and R&B styles that charted well in the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

"A Long Time Comin' " is the first album by The Electric Flag. The album has a mix of musical styles, including soul along with blues and rock, with a horn section. The album contains "Groovin’ Is Easy" and "Over-Lovin’ You", which had been released as a singles in 1967.

Bloomfield and Goldberg developed the group in San Francisco, under Albert Grossman's management, and immediately began working on the band's first project: the soundtrack for the film "The Trip". Actor Peter Fonda approached Bloomfield for the project, as a replacement for Gram Parsons' International Submarine Band. Their initial recording was a soundtrack a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman.

By June 1968, only months after the release of the album, Bloomfield quit the group, based on exhaustion brought on by continuing insomnia that was ineffectively medicated through heroin. Though they strove to carry on under Buddy Miles' direction, The Electric Flag was effectively finished. They issued the late 1968 album "The Electric Flag: An American Music Band", but personality conflicts, differing aesthetics, and a series of drug problems hastened the band's downfall.

Al Kooper left Blood, Sweat and Tears in April 1968, and was inspired by a jam recording with Moby Grape to organize the similarly structured "Super Session" album. The lineup included Electric Flag members Bloomfield, Brooks, and Goldberg. Bloomfield eventually dropped out of the sessions due to insomnia, and was replaced by Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills.

Bloomfield and Kooper later toured together, while drummer and vocalist Buddy Miles went on to form the Buddy Miles Express, and play in Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys. Bloomfield developed a solo career, commencing with the release of "It's Not Killing Me" in 1969, which included former Electric Flag bandmate Marcus Doubleday on trumpet.

So, strap on your seat belts...turn up the volume...and rip off the knob...and enjoy this excellent
R & B / Rock classic from The Electric Flag!

We ARE Nick & Knarf....2 brothers, and delightful old fellows, who are passionate ( and we mean "hot" and "sweaty" passionate ) about music of all kinds, and from many eras...Join us, as we share great hits, little-known gems, artists, and deep album cuts that got little or no air-play on the radio.

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