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1960s Blues Boom (page 4)
 
  
  
The 1960s Blues Boom By John Power
 
Free.
Another group of late starters, Free were formed in '68, butenjoyed a good pedigree, as old blues stalwart, Alexis Korner,gave them their name, at a time when they were all stillteenagers: singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke were18, lead guitarist, Paul Kossoff was 17, and bassist, Andy Frazeronly 15. Within eight months they had recorded their first album,'Tons of Sobs' on Island Records, in1969 and were on their wayto a successful career. The fact that this was two years after thebeginning of psychedelia is testimony to the quality of theirmusic, which put them above fashion fads. Kossoff and Kirkehad already played in Black Cat Bones, an earlier blues outfit,and Rodgers had sung with Brown Sugar, but when Kossoff sawthem he asked Rodgers if he would like to team up with him andKirke. Alexis Korner recommended Andy Frazer as bass player.He had already played with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers at histender age.
Their second album was simply called 'Free', but it was their thirdalbum 'Fire and Water' that contained the track 'All Right Now',which when released as a single reached no.2 in the U.K. singlescharts and no.4 in the U.S. Billboard charts. The album itself thenreached no.2 in the album charts, and 17 in the Billboard charts,as well as selling extremely well worldwide. However the fourthalbum, 'Highway' only reached no.41 in the U.K and 190 onBillboard.
In '71 the hard drug problems of Paul Kossoff caused the band tosplit, but a live album, 'Free Live' was released to fill the gap untilthey reformed and tried to come to terms with Kossoff'sunreliability, and recorded 'Free at Last' in '72. With Kossoff stilloften unable to play at or even turn up for gigs Frazer left laterthat year and was replaced by Tetsu Yamauchi, who had been inthe Faces after Ronnie Lane left, and keyboardist John Bendrickalso helped finish 'Free at Last'. Wendle Richardson from Osibisareplaced Kossoff on tour to promote the album in the U.S. in '73before the group finally disbanded. Rodgers and Kirke went on toform the highly successful Bad Company with Led Zeppelin 'smanager and their record label for several albums. Frazer formedSharks, and even Kossoff managed to function with Back Streetin '73 before he died in '76, aged only 25. Andy Frazer died in2015.
Rodgers and Kirke toured again as Bad Company from 2012 to2016, and in 2017 Rodgers did a Free Spirit tour to celebrate themusic of Free.
The Groundhogs
Formed in '63 in London, the Groundhogs deserve a longevityaward, being still active in 2017, but that's having had 29members during those years, with inevitable breakups and re-forms, and have made 13 albums. They were at their height in the'70s, and backed the Stones on tour. Tony McPhee, the guitaristand singer has been the only constant member of all the line-ups.

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Pop Success; Celtic and Northern Blues/Soul.
We have seen that many of those that rode in on the Blues Boomoften achieved fair degrees of success commercially, although itbecame an era when the young record buying public could affordalbums instead of scraping together pocket money for singles,and so it was a time when singles became less important. Yetthere were several artists who achieved considerable commercialsuccess and do need a mention for their musical contribution:
Manfred Mann.
Probably got their best form of promotion when their single5.4.3.2.1 was chosen as the opening theme for trendy Mod musicprogramme Ready Steady Go, that started the weekend on aFriday evening in the early sixties. There was certainly a blueselement to their sound, and singer Paul Jones had learnedharmonica in the same clubs and groups as Stones andYardbirds. He maintained his enthusiasm for the blues after hispop success with a B.B.C. Radio 4 programme, up to 2018. Andat least one of the other group members played afterwards inJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakers, while Manfred went Prog with hisEarth Band.

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The Who.
Also benefitted from Mod fashion and are thought of as theultimate Mod icons with their 'Swinging London' Union Jack andbullseye Pop Art motifs, despite earlier Mod favourites likeGeorgie Fame. In retrospect they referred to their early music asthe High Numbers as Maximum R&B, even though there wereelements of Surf music back then, long before rock operasdiverted Pete Townsend's energies.
The kinks
first two singles when Dave Davies fronted the band, and earlyalbum tracks certainly fitted into hard thrusting r&b, but oncebrother Ray Davies took over writing about Village Greens andWaterloo Sunsets their whole sound became watered down.
Up in Newcastle we have already mentioned the Animals: theoriginal five members famed for their soulful delivery of RayCharles and other classic r&b numbers. And although EricBurden went psychedelic in '67 and morphed his route into anAmerican New Animals various line ups have kept the originalsound going to 2018 [so far, as I write] with an array of talentedmusicians and even the original drummer still with them.
Joe Cocker and the Grease Band did the same for Northern Soulin Sheffield, providing useful musicians to feed into other bands,as well as Joe's gravelly ballads.
Its Manchester we have to thank for Victor Brox, as well as JohnMayall. Victor's main band was The Victor Brox Blues Train,which he kept going alongside various projects including singingfor Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation and working with a host of othertop line musicians.
In Ireland a sax player in a '50's style showband was the firstinkling of how much the Celtic Bardic tradition would add to thespread of rhythm and blues when Van Morrison formed Them.Van's success is so overwhelming worldwide, with him havinghad most of his old blues and soul heroes guest with his bandover the years that little needs to be said. Taste gave us RoryGallager too, a fine blues guitarist. Eire Apparent, another fineband. Later Thin Lizzy, steeped in the blues, moved intopsychedelia in their own and often cross-cultural way likeHorslips, in a country still broad of its own folk traditions.
In Scotland too, much talent emerged from the era. Not least ofall Lulu and the Luvvers, before the wee soul shouter took tofamily entertainment, but also the Frankie Miller Band, Nazareth,the Alex Harvey Soul Band and Stone the Crows, a name given tothe group by Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant, when he heardMaggie Bell belt out her songs. Successful groups less easy topigeon hole that certainly had blues roots, like Ten Years After,with Alvin Lee's high speed jazz crossover innovations being agood case in point. But also the Moody Blues at the time of theirfirst album with Denny Lane on vocals were steeped in blues,before the Justin Hayward line -up transformed into a spaceykind of psychedelic prog rock were another. And many more whomoved on into psychedelic influence we know. Even Pink Floydbegan as a blues band!
At the other end of the scale, in a study which can barely hope tobe exhaustive, many other regional and lesser known 'also rans'deserve a mention, Like Davy Jones and the King Bees, whenDavy Jones was to become David Bowie, but also played sax inthis blues band. Fellow glam rocker Marc Bolan had his roots tooin a Mod band called John's Children. Blues by 5, Cops andRobbers, the Fays, the Chasers, the Eyes, the Exotics, theEmeralds, the Plebs, the Redcaps, Pauls Disciples, The HipsterImage, The Beazers, the Eyes of Blue, Nix Nomads, the MarkLeeman Five, Black Cat Bones, and Downliners Sect were all of

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the era, although the Sect could not be wholly described as bluesbased. All of these and many more I'm sure deserve a mention.