Bluesology was a 1960s

British blues British blues is a form of music derived from American blues 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 gui ...

group, best remembered as being the first professional band of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

(then known by his birth name Reginald Dwight).

History

From about 1960, organist Reginald Dwight – then aged 13 – and his neighbour, singer and guitarist Stewart "Stu" Brown, performed with a local group, the Corvettes, in Pinner,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, a suburb of London. After that group separated, the pair formed a new group, Bluesology, with Rex Bishop (bass), and Mick Inkpen (drums). Bluesology at Allmusic.com – article by Bruce Eder Accessed 8 January 2010 According to Dwight, the band's name was in homage to the Django Reinhardt album ''

Djangology ''Djangology'' is a compilation album by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, released in 1961. In 1949, Reinhardt and Grappelli reunited for a brief tour of Italy. While they were there, they recorded about 50 tunes with an Italian rhythm s ...

''. There had also been a 1956 piece named "Bluesology" by John Lewis of the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...

. By 1962 they had begun playing local

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, and in 1963, they won a regular weekly slot at the

Establishment Club The Establishment was a London nightclub that opened in October 1961, at 18 Greek Street, Soho, and which became known in retrospect for satire although at the time was a venue more commonly booking jazz acts and used for other events. It was fo ...

in London, playing tunes by

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 ...

, Jimmy Witherspoon and

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

, among others.Claude Bernardin and Tom Stanton, ''Elton John From A-Z'', 1996
pp. 10–11. Accessed 8 January 2010 In 1965, they turned professional, and signed a contract with an agency which began hiring them out as a backing band for visiting American performers, including The Isley Brothers, Doris Troy,

Billy Stewart William Larry Stewart II (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970) was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist who was popular during the 1960s. Biography Stewart was 12 years old when he began singing with his younger brothers Johnny, James ...

and

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

. After recording a demo they were signed by

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

. On their audition, the label preferred the singing voice of Dwight instead of the original singer of the band, Brown, and Dwight therefore sang on their first single. The single, written by Dwight, was "Come Back Baby", which was released in July 1965. In November 1965, they released a second single, "Mr. Frantic", again written and sung by Dwight, and again unsuccessful. After a tour of Germany, the band returned to England to work as the backing band for Major Lance with an expanded line-up of Dwight, Brown, Pat Higgs (trumpet), Dave Murphy (saxophone), Fred Gandy (bass) and Paul Gale (drums). In September 1966, the band was invited by vocalist

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 ...

to become his regular band. Only Dwight and Brown agreed, thus forming with Baldry a new version of Bluesology, along with Fred Gandy (bass), Pete Gavin (drums), Neil Hubbard (guitar),

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among oth ...

(saxophone), Marc Charig (cornet and flugelhorn), and Alan Walker (vocals), and, for a brief spell, singer Marsha Hunt. As Stu Brown and Bluesology, they recorded the single "Since I Found You Baby" for

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, produced by Kenny Lynch. On 11 December 1966, there was a recording session at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

with

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

; four songs were recorded, two were released. As Baldry's music drifted more towards the cabaret market, Dwight became disenchanted with the band, and so simultaneously began to develop songwriting skills in collaboration with

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

whilst working as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

. Dwight, Brown and Dean all quit Bluesology in late 1967, Brown's replacement being Caleb Quaye, only for the band to separate the following year.

Later activities

Dwight used the names of fellow band members Elton Dean and John Baldry to create his new solo stage name of

. Brown went on to form

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

band Cochise, playing and singing on their first two albums, '' Cochise'' and ''

Swallow Tales ''Swallow Tales'' is a 1971 album by British country rock band Cochise. Cochise was most well known for guitarist Mick Grabham, who joined British rock band Procol Harum after Cochise dissolved in 1972. The album was released in 1971,Liner ...

'', in 1970–71, before moving to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. Dean, Hubbard and Charig all had lengthy careers as jazz and session musicians. Gavin became a member of

Heads Hands & Feet Heads Hands & Feet was a British rock and country rock band. It was formed in 1969 after the breakup of Poet and the One Man Band, which included some of the same members (see ''Members'' below). Music and performances Heads Hands & Feet recor ...

and later Vinegar Joe, Pete Gavin at Allmusic.com/ref> and Gandy joined Caleb Quaye's band

Hookfoot Hookfoot was a British rock band, active from 1969 to 1974. The band was formed by Caleb Quaye (guitars, piano and vocals) and three fellow DJM Records session musicians, Ian Duck (vocals, guitars and harmonica), Roger Pope (drums) and David G ...

. Two Bluesology songs were featured on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Rare Tracks'', which was issued by Polydor in 1975.. Accessed 8 January 2010

References

External links

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Bluesology fan site
(in Italian) {{Elton John British rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 1968 British rhythm and blues boom musicians

History

Later activities

See also

References

External links