British blues is a form of music derived from American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of the genre including
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
the Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
,
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
and
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
.
Origins
![Alexis-Korner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Alexis-Korner.jpg)
American blues became known in Britain from the 1930s onwards through a number of routes, including records brought to Britain, particularly by African-American
GIs
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
stationed there in the Second World War and Cold War, merchant seamen visiting ports such as
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
and
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, and through a trickle of (illegal) imports.
[ Blues music was relatively well known to British jazz musicians and fans, particularly in the works of figures like female singers ]Ma Rainey
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of s ...
and Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and ...
and the blues-influenced boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pian ...
of Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...
and Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
.[R. F. Schwartz, ''How Britain Got the Blues: the Transmission and Reception of American Blues Style in the United Kingdom'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), p. 22.] From 1955 major British record labels HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
and EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
, the latter, particularly through their subsidiary Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
, began to distribute American jazz and increasingly blues records to what was an emerging market.[ Many encountered blues for the first time through the ]skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
craze of the second half of the 1950s, particularly the songs of Lead Belly
Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...
covered by acts like Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...
. As skiffle began to decline in the late 1950s, and British rock and roll
British rock and roll, or sometimes British rock 'n' roll, is a style of popular music based on American rock and roll, which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music in 1962. It was important in establishing Brit ...
began to dominate the charts, a number of skiffle musicians moved towards playing purely blues music.[M. Brocken, ''The British Folk Revival, 1944-2002'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 69-80.]
Among these were guitarist and blues harpist Cyril Davies
Cyril Davies (23 January 1932 – 7 January 1964) was an English blues musician, and one of the first blues harmonica players in England.
Biography
Born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham, Buckinghamshire, he was the son ...
, who ran the London Skiffle Club at the Roundhouse public house in London's Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, and guitarist Alexis Korner
Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...
, both of whom worked for jazz band leader Chris Barber
Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...
, playing in the R&B segment he introduced to his show.[ The club served as a focal point for British skiffle acts and Barber was responsible for bringing over American folk and blues performers, who found they were much better known and paid in Europe than America. The first major artist was ]Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1903 – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African American audiences. In the 1930s ...
, who visited England in the mid-1950s, but who, rather than his electric Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...
, played a folk blues
Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...
set to fit in with British expectations of American blues as a form of folk music. In 1957 Davies and Korner decided that their central interest was the blues and closed the skiffle club, reopening a month later as the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club
The London Blues and Barrelhouse Club ran between 1957 and 1961 at the Round House public house at the junction of Wardour Street and Brewer Street in Soho, London. Established by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner, it hosted many visiting Americ ...
. To this point British blues was acoustically played emulating Delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...
and Country blues
Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...
styles and often part of the emerging second British folk revival. Critical in changing this was the visit of Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
in 1958, who initially shocked British audiences by playing amplified electric blues
Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...
, but who was soon playing to ecstatic crowds and rave reviews.[V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'' (Backbeat, 3rd edn., 2003), p. 700.] Davies and Korner, having already split with Barber, now plugged in and began to play high powered electric blues that became the model for the subgenre, forming the band Blues Incorporated
Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Davy Graham, Ginger Baker, Art Woo ...
.[
Blues Incorporated became something of a clearing house for British blues musicians in the later 1950s and early 1960s, with many joining, or sitting in on sessions. These included future ]Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
, Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...
and Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
; as well as Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
founders Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...
and Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...
; beside Graham Bond
Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974) was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s.
Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, und ...
and Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...
.[ Blues Incorporated were given a residency at the ]Marquee Club
The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...
and it was from there that in 1962 they took the name of the first British Blues album, ''R&B from the Marquee
''R&B from the Marquee'' is an album by Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated released in November 1962 on Decca Records. Blues Incorporated was a British rhythm and blues band in the early 1960s. Although never very successful commercially, it ...
'' for Decca, but split before its release.[ The culmination of this first movement of blues] came with John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...
, who moved to London in the early 1960s, eventually forming the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...
, whose members at various times included, Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...
, Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick R ...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, Peter Green and Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...
.[
]
British rhythm and blues
While some bands focused on blues artists, particularly those of Chicago electric blues, others adopted a wider interest in rhythm and blues, including the work of Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
' blues artists like Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
and Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...
, but also rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
pioneers Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
and Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
.[V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), , pp. 1315-6.] Most successful were the Rolling Stones, who abandoned blues purism before their line-up solidified and they produced their first eponymously titled album in 1964, which largely consisted of rhythm and blues standards. Following in the wake of the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' national and then international success, the Rolling Stones soon established themselves as the second most popular UK band and joined the British Invasion of the American record charts as leaders of a second wave of R&B orientated bands.[ In addition to Chicago blues numbers, the Rolling Stones covered songs by Chuck Berry and ]the Valentinos
The Valentinos (also known as The Womack Brothers) was an American family R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio, best known for launching the careers of brothers Bobby Womack and Cecil Womack. Bobby went on to find greater fame as a solo artist whil ...
, with the latter's "It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover versio ...
" giving them their first UK number one in 1964.[Bill Wyman, ''Rolling With the Stones'' (DK Publishing, 2002), , p. 137.] Blues songs and influences continued to surface in the Rolling Stones' music, as in their version of "Little Red Rooster
"Little Red Rooster" (or "The Red Rooster" as it was first titled) is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His ...
", which went to number 1 on the UK singles chart in December 1964.
Other London-based bands included the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
(whose ranks included three key guitarists in Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page), The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
(with pioneer songwriter Ray Davies
Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...
and rock-guitarist Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...
), and Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...
(considered to have one of the most authentic sounding vocalists in the scene in Paul Jones) and the Pretty Things
The Pretty Things were an English band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent. They took their name from Willie Dixon's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the Unite ...
, beside the more jazz-influenced acts like the Graham Bond Organisation, Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...
and Zoot Money
George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn ...
.[ Bands to emerge from other major British cities included ]the Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
from Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
(with the keyboards of Alan Price
Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician. He was the original keyboardist for the British band the Animals before he left to form his own band the Alan Price Set. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a m ...
and vocals of Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powe ...
), the Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...
and Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...
from Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
(the latter largely a vehicle for the young Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...
), and Them
Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to:
Books
* ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet''
* '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...
from Belfast (with their vocalist Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
).[ None of these bands played exclusively rhythm and blues, often relying on a variety of sources, including ]Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...
and girl group songs for their hit singles, but it remained at the core of their early albums.[
]
The British Mod subculture
Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and ...
was musically centred on rhythm and blues and later soul music, performed by artists that were not available in small London clubs around which the scene was based.[V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), , pp. 1321-2.] As a result, a number of mod bands emerged to fill this gap. These included the Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
, The Creation, the Action
The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music.
Career
The band was formed as the Boys in Au ...
and, most successfully, the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
.[ The Who's early promotional material tagged them as producing "maximum rhythm and blues", but by about 1966 they moved from attempting to emulate American R&B to producing songs that reflected the Mod lifestyle.][ Many of these bands were able to enjoy cult and then national success in the UK, but found it difficult to break into the American market.][ Only the Who managed, after some difficulty, to produce a significant US following, particularly after their appearances at the ]Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...
(1967) and Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
(1969).
Because of the very different circumstances from which they came, and in which they played, the rhythm and blues these bands produced was very different in tone from that of African American artists, often with more emphasis on guitars and sometimes with greater energy.[ They have been criticised for exploiting the massive catalogue of African American music, but it has also been noted that they both popularised that music, bringing it to British, world and in some cases American audiences, and helping to build the reputation of existing and past rhythm and blues artists.][ Most of these bands rapidly moved on from recording and performing American standards to writing and recording their own music, often leaving their R&B roots behind, but enabling several to enjoy sustained careers that were not open to most of the more pop-oriented beat groups of the first wave of the invasion, who (with the major exception of the Beatles) were unable to write their own material or adapt to changes in the musical climate.][
]
The British blues boom
The blues boom overlapped, both chronologically and in terms of personnel, with the earlier, wider rhythm and blues phase, which had begun to peter out in the mid-1960s leaving a nucleus of instrumentalists with a wide knowledge of blues forms and techniques, which they would carry into the pursuit of more purist blues interests.[R. Unterberger, "Early British R&B", in V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'' (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), , pp. 1315-6.] Blues Incorporated and Mayall's Bluesbreakers were well known in the London Jazz and emerging R&B circuits, but the Bluesbreakers began to gain some national and international attention, particularly after the release of ''Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
''Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton'', colloquially known as ''The Beano Album'', is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and ...
'' album (1966), considered one of the seminal British blues recordings. Produced by Mike Vernon, who later set up the Blue Horizon record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
, it was notable for its driving rhythms and Clapton's rapid blues licks with a full distorted sound derived from a Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...
and a Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
amp. This sound became something of a classic combination for British blues (and later rock) guitarists, and also made clear the primacy of the guitar, seen as a distinctive characteristic of the subgenre. Clapton stated, "I spent most of my teens and early twenties studying the blues—the geography of it and the chronology of it, as well as how to play it". Peter Green started what is called "second great epoch of British blues", as he replaced Clapton in the Bluesbreakers after his departure to form Cream. In 1967, after one record with the Bluesbreakers, Green, with the Bluesbreaker's rhythm section Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...
and John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...
, formed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
, produced by Mike Vernon on the Blue Horizon label. One key factor in developing the popularity of the music in the UK and across Europe in the early 1960s was the success of the American Folk Blues Festival
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day such as Muddy Waters, Howl ...
tours, organised by German promoters Horst Lippmann
Horst Lippmann (17 March 1927 in Eisenach, Germany – 18 May 1997 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German jazz musician, concert promoter, writer and television director, best known as promoter of the influential American Folk Blues Festival tours of ...
and Fritz Rau.
The rise of electric blues, and its eventual mainstream success, meant that British acoustic blues was completely overshadowed. In the early 1960s, folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
guitar pioneers Bert Jansch
Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...
, John Renbourn
John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...
and particularly Davy Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...
(who played and recorded with Korner), played blues, folk and jazz, developing a distinctive guitar style known as folk baroque
Folk baroque or baroque guitar, is a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British folk music to produce a new and elaborate form o ...
. British acoustic blues continued to develop as part of the folk scene, with figures like Ian A. Anderson
Ian A. Anderson (born 26 July 1947, in Weston-super-Mare, England) is an English people, English magazine editor, folk musician and Radio presenter, broadcaster.
Country blues, The Village Thing and "psych folk"
Anderson first performed in h ...
and his Country Blues Band, and Al Jones. Most British acoustic blues players could achieve little commercial success and, with a few exceptions, found it difficult to gain any recognition for their "imitations" of the blues in the US.
In contrast, the next wave of bands, formed from about 1967, like Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After
Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...
, Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band) were an English blues rock band formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they ...
, and Free
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procur ...
, pursued a different route, retaining blues standards in their repertoire and producing original material that often shied away from obvious pop influences, placing an emphasis on individual virtuosity.[D. Hatch and S. Millward, ''From Blues to Rock: an Analytical History of Pop Music'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), p. 105.] The result has been characterised as blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
and arguably marked the beginnings of a separation of pop and rock music that was to be a feature of the record industry for several decades. Cream is often seen as the first supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to:
* Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields
* Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry
* Supergroup ...
, combining the talents of Clapton, Bruce and Baker; they have also been seen as one of the first groups to exploit the power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...
. Although only together for a little over two years, from 1966–69, they were highly influential and it was in this period that Clapton became an international superstar. Fleetwood Mac are often considered to have produced some of the finest work in the subgenre, with inventive interpretations of Chicago Blues. They were also the most commercially successful group, with their eponymous début album reaching the UK top five in early 1968 and as the instrumental "Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...
" reached number one in the single charts in early 1969. This was, as Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz put it, "The commercial apex of the British blues Boom". Free, with the guitar talents of Paul Kossoff
Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, mainly known as the co-founder and guitarist for the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All ...
, particularly from their self titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
second album (1969), produced a stripped down form of blues that would be highly influential on hard rock and later heavy metal. Ten Years After, with guitarist Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After.
Early life
He w ...
, formed in 1967, but achieved their breakthrough in 1968 with their live album ''Undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
'' and in the US with their appearance at Woodstock the next year. Among the last British blues bands to gain mainstream success were Jethro Tull, formed from the amalgamation of two blues bands, the John Evan Band and the Mcgregor's Engine in 1967. Their second album, ''Stand Up
Stand Up may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Stand-up comedy, a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience
Film
* ''Stand Up'' (2007 film), a film featuring Modi Rosenfeld
* ''Stand Up'' (2008 film), a Brit ...
'', reached number one in the UK in 1969.
Decline
British blues entered a rapid decline at the end of 1960s. Surviving bands and musicians tended to move into other expanding areas of rock music. Some, like Jethro Tull, followed bands like the Moody Blues away from 12-bar structures and harmonicas into complex, classical-influenced progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
. Some played a loud version of blues rock that became the foundation for hard rock and heavy metal. Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, formed by Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page, on their first two albums, both released in 1969, fused heavy blues and amplified rock to create what has been seen as a watershed in the development of hard rock and nascent heavy metal. Later recordings would mix in elements of folk and mysticism, which would also be a major influence on heavy metal music. Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
developed a sound based on "squeezing and stretching" the blues, and achieved their commercial breakthrough with their fourth and distinctively heavier album, ''Deep Purple in Rock
''Deep Purple in Rock'' is the fourth studio album by Deep Purple, released on 5 June 1970. It was the first studio album recorded by the Mark II line-up of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.
Work on ''In Rock ...
'' (1970), which has been seen as one of heavy metal's defining albums. Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
was the third incarnation of a group that started as the Polka Tulk Blues Band in 1968. Their early work included blues standards, but by the time of their second album ''Paranoid
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...
'' (1970), they had added elements of modality and the occult that would largely define modern heavy metal. Some, like Korner and Mayall, continued to play a "pure" form of the blues, but largely outside of mainstream notice. The structure of clubs, venues and festivals that had grown up in the early 1950s in Britain virtually disappeared in the 1970s.
Survival and resurgence
Although overshadowed by the growth of rock music the blues did not disappear in Britain, with American bluesmen like John Lee Hooker, Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.
Biography
Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing ...
, and Freddie King
Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...
continuing to be well received in the UK and an active home scene led by figures including Dave Kelly and his sister Jo Ann Kelly
Jo Ann Kelly (5 January 1944 – 21 October 1990) was an English blues singer and guitarist. She is respected for her strong blues vocal style and for playing country blues guitar.
Early life
Kelly was born in Streatham, South London, England ...
, who helped keep the acoustic blues alive on the British folk circuit.[''Year of the Blues'']
, retrieved 20 July 2009. Dave Kelly was also a founder of The Blues Band
The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band’s first line-up also included bass ...
with former Manfred Mann members Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness, Hughie Flint
Hughie Flint (born 15 March 1940, Manchester, Lancashire) is an English drummer, known for his stint in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, for his group McGuinness Flint in the early 1970s and for his subsequent association with The Blues Band. ...
and Gary Fletcher.[ The Blues Band was credited with kicking off a second blues boom in Britain, which by the 90s led to festivals all around the country, including The Swanage Blues Festival, The Burnley National Blues Festival, The Gloucester Blues and Heritage Festival and The Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival at Colne.][ The twenty-first century has seen an upsurge in interest in the blues in Britain that can be seen in the success of previously unknown acts like ]Seasick Steve
Steven Gene Wold (né Leach, 19 March 1951),/nowiki>freight_trains.html" ;"title="freight_trains.html" ;"title="/nowiki>freight trains">/nowiki>freight trains">freight_trains.html" ;"title="/nowiki>freight trains">/nowiki>freight trains/nowiki> fo ...
, in the return to the blues by major figures who began in the first boom, including Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Chris Rea
Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...
and Eric Clapton, as well as the arrival of new artists like British Blues Awards Winner
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and I-Tunes Blues chart topper Dani Wilde
Dani Wilde (born 25 August 1985, in Hullavington, Wiltshire, England) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who fuses roots genres including blues, country, gospel, soul and Americana into popular song.
The American periodical, ''Blues B ...
as well as Matt Schofield
Matt Schofield (born 21 August 1977, Manchester, England) is an English blues guitarist and singer. His band, the Matt Schofield Trio, play their own material, a blend of blues, funk and jazz, as well as covers of blues classics such as Albert ...
, Aynsley Lister
Aynsley Lister (born 14 November 1976 in Leicester, England) is a British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter.
Biography
Lister started playing guitar at 8 and played his first concert in a bar band at the age of 13. He had learned g ...
and most recently in 2017 the Starlite Campbell Band
Starlite & Campbell is a group based in Portugal. Formed in 2016, the band is led by married couple Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell. Their debut album, ''Blueberry Pie'' was nominated for a European Blues Award in November 2017 and blends Britis ...
.
The British blues tradition lives on, as a style, outside of Britain as well. American guitarist Joe Bonamassa
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...
describes his main influences as the 1960s era British blues players, and considers himself a part of that tradition rather than the earlier American blues styles.
Significance
Beside giving a start to many important blues, pop and rock musicians, in spawning blues rock British blues also ultimately gave rise to a host of subgenres of rock, including particularly psychedelic rock, progressive rock, hard rock and ultimately heavy metal.[W. Kaufman and H. S. Macpherson, ''Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'' (ABC-CLIO, 2005), p. 154.] Perhaps the most important contribution of British blues was the surprising re-exportation of American blues back to America, where, in the wake of the success of bands like the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, white audiences began to look again at black blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...
and John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...
, who suddenly began to appeal to middle class white Americans. The result was a re-evaluation of the blues in America which enabled white Americans much more easily to become blues musicians, opening the door to Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...
and the development of Texas blues
Texas blues is blues music from Texas. As a regional style, its original form was characterized by jazz and swing influences. Later examples are often closer to blues rock and Southern rock.
History
Texas blues began to appear in the early 1900 ...
musicians like Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...
.[
]
See also
*List of British blues musicians
This is an incomplete list of British blues bands and musicians.
Individuals
*Ian A. Anderson
* Elles Bailey
*Ginger Baker
*Long John Baldry
*Chris Barber
*Norman Beaker
*Jeff Beck
*Duster Bennett
*Graham Bond
*Marcus Bonfanti
*John Bonham
*Geo ...
Notes
References
* Bane, M., (1982) ''White Boy Singin' the Blues'', London: Penguin, 1982, .
* Bob Brunning
Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Career
Fleetwood Mac
When Peter Green left t ...
, ''Blues: The British Connection'', Helter Skelter Publishing, London 2002, - First edition 1986 - Second edition 1995 ''Blues in Britain''
* Bob Brunning
Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Career
Fleetwood Mac
When Peter Green left t ...
, ''The Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
Story: Rumours and Lies'', Omnibus Press London, 1990 and 1998,
* Martin Celmins, '' Peter Green'' - ''Founder of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
'', Sanctuary London, 1995, foreword by B.B.King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shim ...
,
* Fancourt, L., (1989) ''British blues on record (1957–1970)'', Retrack Books.
*
* Dick Heckstall-Smith
Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pri ...
, ''The safest place in the world: A personal history of British Rhythm and blues'', 1989 Quartet Books Limited, - Second Edition : ''Blowing The Blues - Fifty Years Playing The British Blues'', 2004, Clear Books,
* Christopher Hjort, ''Strange brew: Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
and the British blues boom, 1965-1970'', foreword by John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...
, Jawbone 2007,
* Paul Myers, ''Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...
and the Birth of the British Blues'', Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
2007, GreyStone Books,
* Harry Shapiro ''Alexis Korner
Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...
: The Biography'', Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London 1997, Discography by Mark Troster,
* Schwartz, R. F., (2007) ''How Britain got the blues : The transmission and reception of American blues style in the United Kingdom'' Ashgate, .
* Mike Vernon, ''The Blue Horizon story 1965-1970 vol.1'', notes of the booklet of the Box Set (60 pages)
External links
British Blues Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Blues
British styles of music
Blues music genres