CHRIS BARBER

Nobody did more to introduce the Blues into Europe than Chris Barber, bringing over American stars in the 50s to play with his band and going on to inspire the young men who started the British Blues Boom. Chris saw no meaningful barrier between Jazz and Blues players as he rated the qualities of musicianship…

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TONY ‘TS’ McPHEE

When the British Blues Boom was getting underway, Tony McPhee was one of the kids that followed Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies around and then decided to play the Blues themselves. He had learned his chops playing the Blues club circuit so thoroughly that his band The Groundhogs were asked to back John Lee Hooker…

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ALVIN LEE

Alvin Lee was the front-man for British hard-rock band Ten Years After, a Blues-based four-piece who were very popular on the British club scene before exploding to world fame after appearing at the Woodstock Festival. Alvin played staggeringly quick-fingered guitar solos and as the tall, skinny, long-haired guy splattering guitar notes around the room, he…

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PAUL JONES

Paul Jones was one of the graduates of the Ealing Blues Club who fuelled the British Blues Boom in the early 60s. With pop-star looks he took to the West-End stage, putting his Blues harp away and spending a decade as a leading man, until he re-emerged as the frontman of The Blues Band in…

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STAN WEBB

Stan Webb was at the heart of the British Blues Boom as he led his band Chicken Shack around the Blues club circuit in the late 60s. Londoner Stan played guitar in skiffle groups before forming his own band in 1965, playing a series of residencies in Hamburg, Germany over the next couple of years.…

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DICK TAYLOR

Dick Taylor is a British Blues guitarist who played with Mick Jagger and Keef Richards before they were in a band, and went on to form The Pretty Things. Mick and Dick went to the same school in Dartford, near London and when Dick went to Sidcup Art School, he met up with Keef. The…

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CYRIL DAVIES

Cyril Davies was a fine singer and an authentic electric harp player, and a Blues afficionado who did a great deal to foster the British Blues Boom of the early 60s. Cyril learnt guitar and banjo as a kid, but when he heard Little Walter on records, he switched to the harp. He joined Chris…

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LONNIE DONEGAN

The Scottish singer born Anthony James Donegan was a fan of Blues and Country music, and played guitar around the London clubs in the early 50s. He joined Chris Barber‘s Band as they brought new kinds of American music to Britain, but he was drafted into the Army and sent to Germany where he met…

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JO ANN KELLY

Like Memphis Minnie before her, Jo Ann Kelly was the genuine article: a woman who could play the Blues as hard and deep as any man. Her rich, strong voice and authentic acoustic slide guitar work made her a big attraction on the British folk/blues circuit. Usually playing alone and sometimes singing ‘a capella’, she…

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LONG JOHN BALDRY

In the early 60s, Chicago Blues was a source of inspiration for a generation of young players in the UK who were looking for a way of expressing their frustration with a dull and restrictive post-WWII society. When they heard Muddy Waters’ moan, Elmore James’ searing guitar, and Jimmy Reed’s simple but powerful songs, the…

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