The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
in 1963 by
Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...
(guitar), brothers
Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and
Muff Winwood
Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is a British songwriter and record producer, and the older brother of Steve Winwood. Both were members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood pla ...
(bass guitar), and
Pete York
Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Redcar, Yorkshire, England) is a British rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s.
Biography
Born in Redcar, he attended the Nottingham High School and learnt to play the trumpet and snare drum ...
(drums). Their best known songs include the UK
number ones "
Somebody Help Me" and "
Keep on Running
"Keep On Running" is a song written and first recorded by Jackie Edwards. It became a hit in the UK for The Spencer Davis Group; their version reached number one in the charts.
Recordings
"Keep On Running" was written by Jamaican singer-songwrit ...
" (both written by
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
musician
Jackie Edwards), "
I'm a Man" and "
Gimme Some Lovin'
"Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest So ...
", which reached #2 in the UK and #7 in the US.
Steve Winwood left in 1967 to form rock band
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
.
After releasing a few more singles, the band ceased to be active in 1969. Davis revived the group on two more occasions, without the involvement of the Winwood brothers, first in 1973–1974 for two more albums, and again from 2006, since when they had primarily been a touring act. Davis died on 19 October 2020, effectively ending the band.
History
Formation
The Spencer Davis Group was formed in 1963 in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
after the Welsh guitarist
Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...
encountered vocalist and organist
Steve Winwood (then aged 14 and still at school), and his bass playing brother
Muff Winwood
Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is a British songwriter and record producer, and the older brother of Steve Winwood. Both were members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood pla ...
performing at a pub, the
Golden Eagle, as the Muff Woody Jazz Band. He recruited them and
Pete York
Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Redcar, Yorkshire, England) is a British rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s.
Biography
Born in Redcar, he attended the Nottingham High School and learnt to play the trumpet and snare drum ...
on drums to form the Rhythm and Blues Quartette, which performed regularly in the city. In 1964, they signed their first recording contract after
Chris Blackwell of
Island Records saw them at an appearance in a local club; Blackwell also became their
producer. (Island was then a small independent label with UK
Fontana contracted for distribution.) Muff Winwood came up with the band's name, reasoning, "Spencer was the only one who enjoyed doing interviews, so I pointed out that if we called it the Spencer Davis Group, the rest of us could stay in bed and let him do them."
Breakthrough success
The group's first professional recording was a cover version of "
Dimples
A dimple, also called a gelasin (, ) is a small natural indentation in the flesh on a part of the human body, most notably in the cheek. Numerous cultures believe that cheek dimples are a good luck charm that entices people who perceive them as ...
". At the end of 1965 they gained their first
number one
Number One most commonly refers to:
* 1 (number)
Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song
* ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song
* ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC
* ''n.1 ...
single with "
Keep On Running
"Keep On Running" is a song written and first recorded by Jackie Edwards. It became a hit in the UK for The Spencer Davis Group; their version reached number one in the charts.
Recordings
"Keep On Running" was written by Jamaican singer-songwrit ...
".
In 1966, they followed this with "
Somebody Help Me" and "
When I Come Home".
They had one single issued in the US on Fontana, as well as "Keep On Running" and "Somebody Help Me" on
Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to:
Businesses
* ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies
** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company
* Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...
, but due to lack of promotion, none of these singles gained airplay or entered the American charts.
For the German market, the group released a medley of "Det war in Schöneberg, im Monat Mai" and "Mädel ruck ruck ruck an meine grüne Seite" (the first is from a 1913 Berlin
operetta, the second is a
Swabian traditional) as a
tribute single for that audience, Davis having studied in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
in the early 1960s.
By the end of 1966 and the beginning of 1967, the group released two more
hits, "
Gimme Some Lovin'
"Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest So ...
" and "
I'm a Man".
Both of them sold over one million copies, and were awarded
gold record status. These tracks proved to be their two best-known successes, especially in the U.S. (where they had signed to
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
).
Jimmy Miller
James Miller (March 23, 1942 – October 22, 1994) was an American record producer and musician. While he produced albums for dozens of different bands and artists, he is most closely associated for his work with several key musical acts of ...
was their
producer.
The group starred in ''
The Ghost Goes Gear'' (1966),
a
British
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, ...
musical comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
, directed by Hugh Gladwish, and also featuring
Sheila White and
Nicholas Parsons. The plot involved the group in a stay at the childhood home of their manager, a haunted
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
in the English countryside. The film would later be considered a mistake by Winwood.
Disbandment
Steve Winwood left to form Traffic in 1967; his brother, Muff, moved into the
music industry working in
artists and repertoire
Artists and repertoire ( colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumental ...
(A&R) at Island Records.
In the same period, both the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic featured on the soundtrack of the film ''
Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' released in that year.
After the Winwoods' departures, the Spencer Davis Group continued with the addition of guitarist
Phil Sawyer (ex-
Les Fleur de Lys) and keyboardist/vocalist
Eddie Hardin (ex-A Wild Uncertainty).
This line-up recorded several tunes for ''Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush'' and released the psychedelia-sounding "Time Seller" single in July 1967;
the
b-side, "Don't Want You No More", also received radio
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
.
This was followed by "Mr. Second-Class" in late 1967,
which received heavy airplay on
Radio Caroline (a
pirate radio
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
ship off the British coast), and the album ''With Their New Face On'' in 1968. At that time
Ray Fenwick had replaced Phil Sawyer. The group's last minor hit, "After Tea", was released at the same time by the German band
The Rattles, providing competition that led finally to a temporary stop to all activities of the band. The song was originally recorded by the Dutch group
After Tea, which included guitarist/singer Fenwick among its members.
After one further single ("Short Change"), Eddie Hardin and Pete York left to form the duo Hardin & York. They were replaced by future
Elton John band member
Dee Murray
Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates; 3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992) was an English bass guitarist. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band.
Biography
Murray was born in Gillingham ...
on bass and Dave Hynes on drums.
Nigel Olsson
Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...
, another future Elton John band member, replaced Hynes, and this line-up produced the album ''Funky'' in 1969 (only released in the USA on Date Records, a subsidiary of CBS, in 1970) before splintering.
Fenwick wrote all the songs and his 1971 solo album ''Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut'' also featured Murray and Olsson.
The group broke up on 19 July 1969.
Solo work and reunions
The group reunited in 1973 with Davis, Fenwick, Hardin and York, and newcomer Charlie McCracken on bass. The group released the albums ''
Gluggo'' (1973) and ''
Living in a Back Street'' (1974) before once again disbanding.
Davis continued working, however, producing some
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
-oriented albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The band re-formed in 2006, although only Davis and Hardin remained from the 1960s group line-ups.
The Spencer Davis Group continued to tour the US and Europe, but with two differing line-ups; only Spencer Davis himself was present in both formations of the band.
Hardin remained with the UK version of the band until his death in 2015.
Davis died in California on 19 October 2020, at the age of 81, while being treated for pneumonia.
Cover versions of songs
The Spencer Davis Group – particularly its incarnation with Steve Winwood – proved to be influential, with many of the band's songs being recorded by other artists over the years. Among these are
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
's cover of "I'm a Man";
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...
's version of Davis and Hardin's "Don't Want You No More" (both 1969);
Three Dog Night
Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...
's recording of "Can't Get Enough of It" (1970); and
The Blues Brothers' "Gimme Some Lovin'" (1980).
The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
also covered Spencer Davis Group material in live performance on occasion, and Spencer Davis himself performed "I'm a Man" with the Grateful Dead in a 1989 performance at Los Angeles'
Great Western Forum
Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and ...
.
Band members
Final members
Europe
* Miller Anderson
* Colin Hodgkinson
* Steff Porzel
US
* Ed Tree
* Taras Prodaniuk
* Jim Blazer
* Tom Fillman
Former members
*
Spencer Davis
Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...
*
Steve Winwood
*
Muff Winwood
Mervyn "Muff" Winwood (born 15 June 1943, Erdington, Birmingham, England) is a British songwriter and record producer, and the older brother of Steve Winwood. Both were members of the Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, in which Muff Winwood pla ...
*
Pete York
Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Redcar, Yorkshire, England) is a British rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s.
Biography
Born in Redcar, he attended the Nottingham High School and learnt to play the trumpet and snare drum ...
*
Eddie Hardin
*
Phil Sawyer
*
Ray Fenwick
*
Dee Murray
Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates; 3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992) was an English bass guitarist. He was best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band.
Biography
Murray was born in Gillingham ...
* Dave Hynes
*
Nigel Olsson
Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...
* John Hitchcock
* Charlie McCracken
Timeline
Discography
*''
Their First LP'' (1965)
*''
The Second Album'' (1966)
*''
Autumn '66'' (1966)
*''
With Their New Face On'' (1968)
*''Funky'' (recorded 1969, released 1997)
*''
Gluggo'' (1973)
*''Living in a Back Street'' (1974)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer Davis Group, The
1963 establishments in England
2020 disestablishments in England
Atco Records artists
Beat groups
British Invasion artists
British rhythm and blues boom musicians
English rock music groups
Island Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 1969
Musical groups disestablished in 1974
Musical groups disestablished in 2020
Musical groups established in 1963
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Musical groups reestablished in 1973
Musical groups reestablished in 2006