British | All About Blues Music

KIM SIMMONDS

Guitarist Kim Simmonds is the leader and founding member of Savoy Brown, the British Blues-rock band who rose to fame in the Blues Boom of the 60s, gathered a big following in The States and are still touring today. Kim has extended his boundaries by going back to acoustic Blues as a solo artist, and…

KEEF HARTLEY

The Blues was a dying form of music in its heartlands in the early 60s, but when some British kids discovered the music and used it to talk to new generations, it came back to America re-invigorated. Bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles sold Blues and R&B back to its American roots, and…

CLIMAX BLUES BAND

The Climax Chicago Blues Band rode the late-60s wave of popularity in Britain, as the vital new sounds of bands like The Stones, Fleetwood Mac and Cream placed new music at a crossroads, with paths leading to Hard-rock, Progressive music, Jazz-Fusion and Heavy Metal as musicians used the language of the Blues to speak to…

NICKY HOPKINS

Best known for his work with The Rolling Stones, Nicky Hopkins’ Blues-soaked piano figures also featured on the work of The Jeff Beck Group, The Who, The Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and a host of others. Nicky’s on-going health issues made it extremely difficult for him to commit to the punishing…

VAN MORRISON

‘Van the Man’ is a unique performer who crosses a lot of boundaries with his brand of ‘Celtic Soul’. Elements of Gospel, Folk and Blues are fused behind a vocal style that also draws heavily on wildly emotional Jazz phrasing. He revealed that he learned a lasting lesson from studying many early Louis Armstrong records,…

ANDY FAIRWEATHER-LOW

Andy Fairweather-Low has that light but fatally cracked vocal quality that is very simpatico with a Blues tune. The plaintive appeal that radiates from his version of ‘Gin House’ on the first Amen Corner album opened a lot of young ears to the emotional power of the Blues. Andy pursued a successful solo career in…

JEFF BECK

Jeff Beck was a young session guitarist who was taken up by one of the leading bands of the British Blues Boom and, when he went solo, went on to produce ‘Truth’, one of the most influential albums of his generation. Joe Bonamassa, every single Hard-Rock power-trio and the entire Heavy Metal genre took something…

JACK BRUCE

Jack Bruce is best known as the thunderous yet delicate bass player and singer in the 60s ‘Supergroup’ Cream whose short career laid a huge foundation stone in the basement of Blues-Rock. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, Jack was at the heart of the London jazz and Blues scene before setting up Cream to form…

ERIC BURDON

Eric Burdon’s primitive, gut-wrenching vocals were a revelation to American youth when his band The Animals followed The Beatles as pioneers of The British Invasion of American music in 1964. With his great Blues growl, Eric took his shot at world music stardom with the band; enjoyed an association with some original Blues legends; then…

MICKY WALLER

During the British Blues Boom of the 60s, a lot of music superstars got started in bands of young players who got together to explore American Blues and R&B with a distinctly local flavour. Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, John Mayall and The Stones rubbed shoulders with Rod Stewart and Elton John as they played in…