The Blues Band is a British

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 ...

band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player with

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 ...

, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band’s first line-up also included bassist Gary Fletcher, slide-guitarist Dave Kelly who had previously played with The John Dummer Band, Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker and drummer

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 Ba ...

, of John Mayall's Blues Breakers and McGuinness Flint, the band he formed with Tom McGuinness. In 1982 Flint left and was replaced by former

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

drummer

Rob Townsend Rob Townsend (born 7 July 1947) is an English rock and blues drummer. He was the drummer for progressive rock band Family and later The Blues Band. Biography Townsend was born in Frog Island, Leicester, England, where he spent his teenage y ...

History

Their first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album'', a mixture of

standards and original

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

s featured the Jones and McGuinness

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

"Come On In" and their long-standing stage favourite "Flatfoot Sam". This album initially attracted no interest from major

record companies 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 produc ...

, so the band pressed a limited run of 3,000, hand-stamped their

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

on the cardboard sleeve and signed them all. After unqualified endorsement from

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...

and others, media interest resulted in a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, who re-released the album under the same title. After that they released ''Ready'', ''Itchy Feet'' and ''Brand Loyalty'' albums and regularly toured through Europe. They briefly disbanded after recording a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''Bye Bye Blues'' (1983), but reformed three years later. In 1995, they unveiled their version of the 'Unplugged' craze, but rather than a

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

event, ''Wire Less'' was recorded at the

Snape Maltings Snape Maltings is an arts complex on the banks of the River Alde at Snape, Suffolk, England. It is best known for its concert hall, which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival. The original purpose of the Maltings was the m ...

in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. They later recorded albums such as ''Stepping Out'' (2002) and ''Thank You Brother Ray'' (2004), which paid tribute to

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

. In 2022, the Blues Band marked their final live performances with the release of their last studio album "So Long".

Discography

Albums

* ''The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album'' (1980). Number 40 UK * ''Ready'' (1980). Number 36 UK * ''Itchy Feet'' (1981). Number 60 UK * ''Brand Loyalty'' (1982) * ''Bye-Bye Blues'' (1983) * ''These Kind of Blues'' (1986) * ''Back for More'' (1989) * ''Fat City'' (1991) * ''Homage'' (1993) * ''Wire Less'' (1995) * ''Live at the BBC'' (1996) * ''18 Years Old and Alive'' (1996) * ''The Best of The Blues Band'' (1999) US only * ''Brassed Up'' (1999) * ''Scratching on my Screen'' (2001) * ''Green Stuff'' (2001) * ''Stepping Out'' (2002) * ''Be My Guest'' (2003) (Best of guest appearances) * ''Thank You Brother Ray'' (2005) * ''Few Short Lines'' (2011) * ''The Rooster Crowed'' (2018) * ''Bye Bye Blues Band'' (2021) * ''So Long'' (2022)

Compilation albums

*''Live At Kent Custom Bike Show'' (1988) Cassette only

Chart EP

* "

Maggie's Farm "Maggie's Farm" is a song written by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 15, 1965, and released on the album '' Bringing It All Back Home'' on March 22 of that year. Like many other Dylan songs of the 1965–66 period, "Maggie's Farm" is based on elect ...

"/"Ain't It Tuff"/"Diddy Wah Diddy"/"

Back Door Man "Back Door Man" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960. The lyrics draw on a Southern U.S. cultural term for an extramarital affair. The song is one of several Dixon-Wolf songs that became popular among roc ...

" (1980) Number 68 - UK

Singles

* "Come On In" / "The Blues Band Song" (1980) * "Find Yourself Another Fool" / "SUS Blues" (1980) * "Nadine" / "

That's All Right "That's All Right" is a song written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup and recorded in 1946. The song was rereleased in early March 1949 under the title "That's All Right, Mama", which was issued as RCA's first rhythm and bl ...

" (1980) (Two live tracks issued free with early copies of ''Ready'') * "Who's Right, Who's Wrong?" / "Itchy Feet" (1981) * "Come On" / "Green Stuff" (1981) * "Take Me Home" / "So Bad" (1982) * "Hey Hey Little Girl" / "SUS Blues" (1982) (Limited edition live single) * "Seemed Like a Good Idea" / "Rolling Log" (1982) * "Blue Collar" / "Duisburg Blues" (1989) (Promo for ''Back for More'')

DVDs

* ''Across Borders - Live'' (2004) * ''The Blues Band in Concert : Steppin' Out On Main'' (2004) * ''The Blues Band:Bungay Jumpin' Live'' (2009) * ''The Blues Band:Official Blues Band Bootleg DVD-DeLIVEred'' (2009) * ''Rock Goes To College: The Blues Band, 22 May 1980, Keele University '' (2015) (DVD/CD)

References

External links

The Blues Band official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blues Band, The English blues rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 English blues musical groups