1960s Blues Boom(1)

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1960s Blues Boom Page 1
 
  
The  1960s Blues Boom By John Power
 
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THE 1960s BLUES BOOM *Alexis Korner, Cyril Daviesand Blues Incorporated Jazz and Soul Based Bands:
* Artwoods * Graham Bond Organisation * Georgie Fame and theBlue Flames * * Herbie Goins and the Night-timers * Zoot Moneyand the Big Roll Band * * Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds *Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band * * Steampacket *Shotgun Express * Small Faces
Guitar Based Bands
* The Rolling Stones * The Pretty Things * The Yardbirds * JohnMayall's Bluesbreakers * * Cream/Blind Faith * Spencer DavisGroup * Cheynes/Fleetwood Mac * * Chicken Shack * SavoyBrown Blues Band * The Bo Street Runners * The Birds * *Creation * The Paramounts * The Fairies * The Action * Gary Farrand the Tee Bones * * The Clique * Climax Chicago Blues Band *Free * The Groundhogs
Pop Success, and Northern Bands
 
Manfred Mann * The Who * The Kinks * The Ani
mals * * Joe Cocker and the Grease Band * Victor Brox BluesTrain * Them/ Van Morrison * Thin Lizzy * Taste/ Rory Gallager *Eire Apparent * Horslips * * Lulu and the Luvvers * Frankie MillerBand * Nazereth * Alex Harvey Soul Band * * Stone the Crows *Ten Years After * Moody Blues 
*Also Rans...
The 1960s British R&B and Blues Boom
When tracing the evolution of '50's rock 'n' roll in the U.K. it canbe seen how Chris Barber had invited over from the U.S. blackr&b and blues artists and supported them on tours, while AlexisKorner and Cyril Davies at the Blues and Barrelhouse sessions atWardour Street's Roundhouse pub had been a pivotal venue forthe emerging blues fan base to see and perform the music oftheir American cousins. Both Chris Barber's Jazz Band andAlexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, formed in '62, were pivotal inthe '60s boom, and Alexis' Band in particular became the firstbreeding ground for musicians that emerged to lead the way.Their first gig was in Ealing, then the National Jazz Foundationoffered them a regular slot at the Marquee Club, then still inOxford Street. 'R&B at the Marquee' was their firstgroundbreaking album, and featured Cyril Davies on vocals andharmonica, Korner on vocals and guitar, with Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax. These three regulars were joined on that occasionby Chris Burbage, from the Chris Barber Band, on drums [whohad eared his stripes playing with Muddy Waters in the States];Spike Heatly on bass, from Johnny Dankworth's Big Band; andKeith Scott on piano. Long John Baldry sang vocals on threetracks. It can be seen how old jazzers were looking for alternativefields of work as big bands were being overshadowed by rockgroups and also proved more expensive to run. This led to a two-pronged style of blues and r&b. Although guitar groupseventually came to dominate, equally there were r&b groups withbrass sections that also took inspiration from American Soul andTamla Motown artists too. Dick Heckstall-Smith moved to join

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another Alexis Korner protoge, Graham Bond, in the GrahamBond Organisation, then later Colosseum, and soon in WardourStreet's Flamingo Club groups like Georgie Fame's Blue Flames,Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, Geno Washington and the Ram JamBand , Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds, and Herbie Goinsand the Night-Timers: had bands with brass sections to boast,that formed the first wave of Mod music.
 
It was certainly the Rolling Stones who brought blues music tothe public's attention, but Jagger, Brian Jones, and other would-be Stones had all sat in with Alexis. Jagger even learnedharmonica from Cyril Davies. But soon other groups grew up inthe wake of the Stones. The Pretty Things shared an Art Schooleducation with Keith Richard, and their guitarist, Dick Taylor hadbeen in an early line-up of the Stones. The Yardbirds, playing thesame kind of Eel Pie Island circuit, soon spawned Eric Claptonand then Jeff Beck before session musician Jimmy Page joinedand changed the New Yardbirds into Led Zeppelin. ChickenShack gave us guitarist Stan Webb and pianist Christine McVie[ne. Perfect] who later joined Fleetwood Mac. Peter Green, whofounded the group had learned his licks in the Cheynes; thenShotgun Express with Liverpudlian veteran Beryl Marsden andRod Stewart after Rod had left Long John Baldrey's Steampacketthat had replaced the Hoochie Coochie Men; and by replacingEric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
Northerners like John Mayall, with his Bluesbreakers and theSpencer Davis Group, with child prodigy Stevie Winwood soonjoined the fray. The Bluesbreakers proved good training groundsfor Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. TheAnimals, from Newcastle brought their heavy Ray Charlesinspired r&b, and many like them on the fringe of pop successdrew inspiration from those already mentioned: groups like theKinks, Small Faces and in their own power chord manner, thefull-on Who trading on Mod fashion of the era.
Many bands were to evolve from these innovater's example, likethe Savoy Brown Blues Band, Bo Street Runners, Free,Artwoods, Birds and Creation that spawned Ronnie Wood, in away that fills many pages of Rock Family Trees, inspired not onlyby each other but by the American black artists whose musicthey admired. Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, John LeeHooker, Bo Diddley and many more were soon touring the U.K,often supported by their admirers. In the States too white bluesmusicians began to appear. First and foremost of these being thePaul Butterfield Blues Band, who legendarily teamed up with BobDylan when he went electric at Newport Folk Festival andmanaged to draw the emnity of white folkies who had only beendipping into Delta blues, not the electric Chicago Big City blues.Mike Bloomfield, the Butterfield guitarist's spin-off band andCanned Heat were other early examples to appear as musicalcategory boundries began to soften.
We can now begin to look closer at these key groups and someof the others that evolved out of, or beside, them. The pivotalposition of Alexis Korner''s Blues Incorporated, will naturally takeus through the jazz fringed r&b that brought Soul and TamlaMotown into the scene as well.
Alexis Korner and Blues Incorporated. '61-'66
A list of who played with Blues Incorported in the five years thatit lasted includes most of the notable characters that created theblues boom of the '60s: Alexis, Cyril Davies, Long John Baldry,Dick Heckstall Smith, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, followed byGinger Baker, on Drums when Charlie became a Rolling Stone,Graham Bond, Art Wood [Ronnie's Brother], Herbie Goins [blackU.S. serviceman], Danny Thompson [double bass player, later forDonovan, and Pentangle, and Master of Ceremonies for FairportUnion re-unions, amongst other jobs], Duffy Power ['50s rocker],Johnny Parker and Malcolm Cecil.
Those also known to have played with them for ad hoc sessionsat Ealing Jazz Club were Mick Jagger, Keith Richard, Brian Jones,Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Paul Jones [from Manfred Mann],John Mayall, Zoot Money, and Jimmy Page. Their residency atEaling got them a second regular slot at the Marquee club whererock genius producer Jack Good organised the recording of theirfirst groundbreaking amplified blues album, mentioned above, forDecca Records in 1961.
Alexis and Cyril's Blues and Barrelhouse Club had previouslyfeatured Charlie Watt, Jack Bruce, and John Baldrey as regulars.

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After the Live at the Marquee album the founding trio of BluesInc: Alex on guitar, Cyril on Harmonca and Dick Heckstall-Smithon sax, was more permanently augmented by John Baldrey,followed Art Woods, Ronnie's brother, as vocalist, Charlie Wattson drums and Jack Bruce on bass in initial line-ups. In '62 CyrilDavies decided he didn't like the brass section sound and formedthe Cyril Davies All Stars to return to more rootsy blues.Unfortunately he died in a car crash in '64, aged only 32, butsongs by Muddy Waters, like 'Mojo Working' and 'HoochieCoochie Man' and from other heroes, like Leadbelly's 'SweetMary' became standards in the repertoire of most other emerginggroups. Korner, Davies and Baldry also penned their own songsin blues style too. Graham Bond took Davies place in Blues Inc.before forming the Graham Bond Organisation with Jack Bruce,Ginger Baker and then Dick Heckstall-Smith when Blues Inc.disbanded in '66. Blues Inc also played Wardour StreetsFlamingo Club, which had been a jazz club, so opening the wayfor the r&b of Georgie Fame, Zoot Money and Geno Washingtonas the original Mod music.
Blues Inc. did a couple of singles for Parlaphone: 'I Need YourLoving'' 'Please, Please, Please, Please' ['64] and 'LittleBaby'/'Roberta' ['65]. There were a couple of other albums too in'64: 'At the Cavern' and 'Red Hot from Alex'. At that time thegroup featured Herbie Goins on vocals, and Danny Thompson onbass. In '65 the album 'Sky High' had '50s rocker, Duffy Power, onvocals.
The Artwoods
Formed by Art Woods, Ronnie Woods brother, in '63 after havingbeen one of the many members of Korner's Blues Inc. during '62.At the same time he had been running the Art Woods Combo,then, when keyboardist Jon Lord, later or Deep Purple and WhiteSnake, and guitarist Derek Griffiths joined they changed thename. Further additions of Keef Hartley on drums[straddling apast with Merseybeat band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, anda future with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Chicken Shack,and then running his own band] and Malcolm Pool from theRoadrunners on bass, they got a contract from Decca Records.Colin Martin, later of Blossom Toes, was also a member beforebecoming a Radio 2 producer.
Leadbelly's 'Sweet Mary' was their debut single and lead to a spoton ATV's trendy music programme, Ready, Steady Go and muchlive work. The follow up, 'Oh My Love', failed to chart, but them 'ITake What I Want' reached no.28 in '66'. 'What Shall I Do?' onParlaphone in'67 didn't chart. A final single on Fontana attributedto The St. Valentines Day Massacre, after they had split, wasn'tpromoted. Art went went back to college to study commercialart..
There are three compilations:'100 Oxford St', '63, 'Singles, 'a'sand 'b's', 2000, and 'Steady Getting It', Recordings '64-67'. 'ArtGallery' album of '66 and 'Live at Klooks Kleek' re-released '95and '16.
The Graham Bond Organisation '64 -'67
The Graham Bond Organisation '64 -'67 The band consisted ofBond on vocals keybords and alto sax, Jack Bruce on bass,Ginger Baker on drums, Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor andsoprano saxes, and John MacLauglin on guitar for a large part oftheir existence. All except John had served their musicalapprenticeship with Alexis Korner's Blues Inc, and all came fromjazz backgrounds. Graham had grown up in a children's home inRomford and shown an early aptitude for music. He got early jazzexperience in Goudic Charles Quartet in 1960, then in the DonRendell Quartet, playing alto sax.
The hub of the group that formed from Blue's Inc. backedWinston G and then a Chuck Berry tour for rock impresarioRobert Stigwood, before assuming their own identity and theGraham Bond Organisation name when they got a DeccaRecords contract in '64 for two singles: 'Long Tall Shorty'/'LongLegged Lady' and 'Tammy'/'Wade in the Water', other versions ofwhich also appeared on their first album, 'Sound of '65' releasedby EMI. At that Stage they firted with commercialism, encouragedby the record company. 'Tammy' was a ballad for a film themeand not representative of their usual sound but did enter thecharts. They also appeared in a a dreadful rock movie of the time,'Gonks Go Beat'. Gonks were a cuddly toy craze at the time!
The real music that they became well known for in clubs wasdriven by the heavy pounding of Bond's Hammond organ. But hedid also pioneer the use af a new keyboard instrument called the

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Melotron, which incorporated taped sounds and could create thesound of a whole orchestra, for instance. Bond was seendemonstrating it of Ready Steady Go, the cool teen music showof the Mod era. It was put to use on a single 'Lease of Love'/ 'MyHeart's in Little Pieces' and the bands second album 'There's aBond Between Us'. Other groups to feature the Melotron werelater the Beatles, Manfred Mann and Moody Blues. In '64, but butreleased in '66 the real sound of the band came out as the album'Live at Klooks Kleek.
Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker had longstanding disagreements,often over Baker's heroin addiction, and Bruce left to joinManfred Mann and then John Mayall's Bluesbreakers until hepatched things up with Ginger and Jack and Ginger joined EricClapton to form blues/jazz/psychedelia band Cream in '67. Threesingles, were released in the U.S. without Bruce to little effect.The Organisation had a short-lived reformation in '67 with JohnHiseman taking over on drums from Ginger and with HeckstallSmith as a trio, and they released a single written by Bond:'You've Got to Have Love Baby'/'I Love You', for Page OneRecords. John MacLaughlin formed jazz/mystic bandMahaVishnu Orchestra. As the psychedelic era began Bondfound himself out of fashion and went to America where he didsession work with the likes of Dr. John [Mack Rebenack] andbrought out a couple of magick albums himself: 'Love is the Law'['67]and 'The Mighty Grahame Bond'['68]. They were not releasedin Europe until 2004, posthumously, as CDs. Hiseman andHeckstall-Smith joined John Mayall for long enough to appear onthe Bluesbreaker's album 'Bare Wires' before forming Coluseum,with Chis Farlowe on vocals Tony Reeves on bass and DaveGreenslade on keyboards in a very jazz orientated band.
On his return from the States in 1970 Bond joined Ginger Baker'sAirforce and released two more albums for Vertigo recordshimself, again on the themes of esoteric Magic: 'Holy Magic' and'We Put Our Magic on You', as well as 'Solid Bond' a doublealbum of unreleased studio recordings by the classicOrganisation line-ups of himself, Bruce, Baker, Heckstall-Smith,MacLaughlin and John Hiseman. He also worked in partnershipwith poet Pete Brown, who had written songs with Jack Bruce forCream, in Bond and Brown. He fell under a tube train at FinsburyPark tube station in 1974. He was very overweight, leading tomobility difficulties, and like Ginger Baker had problems withheroin, so no one knows for sure if he fell or if it was suicide.
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames '61-'66
Georgie had a rock history before he became an early Mod heroin London clubs: he had been in the Larry Parnes stable of artistswhen he picked up the 'Fame' name in exchange for his givenname of Clive Powell, and played piano in Billy Fury's backingband, the Blue Flames. Fury thought they were too jazzy andhired the Tornados instead. So Georgie took over vocals. Withguitarist Colin Green, and Red Reece on bass he had also backedGene Vincent and Eddie Cochran on tour, as Colin Green's BeatBoys. Still as Blue Flames the enlarged band got a three yearresidency at Wardour Street's Flamingo Club in Soho. WhenGeorgie heard Booker T. and the MGs instrumental 'GreenOnions' he changed from piano to Hammond Organ. Fromhanging out with Jamaicans from Ladbroke Grove he heard Ska/Bluebeat music and trumpeter Eddie Thornton helped himintroduce aspects of it into their music. Speedy Acquaye oncongas added to the sound, and when the Mod revival occcuredin the Two Tone era of the late '70s it was this influence that theyounger generation particularly picked up on, more than thebrass and Hammond r&b sound. By '61 Alan Watson had joinedon sax and vocals too, but Colin Green left to be replaced by JoeMoretta, then John MacLaughlin, until '63 when he went to theGraham Bond Organisation. Rod Slade took over on bass. MickEve became the second sax player in '62 and finally JohnnyMarshall brought the band up to full strength in the rhythmsection.
'63 also saw Rick Gunnell from the Flamingo become theirmanager and in September of that year Ian Samwell and GlynJohns recorded 'Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo' for ColumbiaRecords. That proved to be the seminal Mod record well beforethe Who bought their amphetamine fuelled brand of electric r&band Pop Art icons into the arena. A period of successful releasesput the band into pop charts. Although a single, 'Do the Dog' firstfailed to chart, 'Do Re Me' and 'Bend a Little' from the album did.Georgie's smooth vocals in the style of Mose Alison, rather thansoulful shouting also appealed to the pop audience.
In '64 Peter Coe replaced Marshall and Glenn Hughes added abaritone sax to the line up, while Eddie Thornton, who had beenonly an occasional member before, on trumpet, joined full time,

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while Colin Green rejoined on guitar. Jimmy Nicol, famous as afifth Beatle when Ringo was ill, replaced Reece,the then drummerrather than bassist, for a while until Bill Eden became full timedrummer. Also in '64 'the album 'Fame at Last' reached no.15 inthe album charts, and the single 'Yeh Yeh' reached no 1, followedby 'In the Meantime' into the Top 20. Two flpos followed but then'Getaway' reached no.1 again in '66. This success causedGeorgie to sign a new contract with CBS Records for the album'Sweet Thing', but as a solo artist. The Blue Flames kept going fora while but disbanded later in the year, as psychedelia began toappear on the scene.
Georgie continues to perform, usually in a quartet, to this day atthe time of writing. The group had several residencies at otherclubs like the Whiskey a Go Go, Klooks Kleek, and the RoaringTwenties in Carnaby St. They were the only English group to beinvited onto the Motown Review in the mid '60s.
Herbie Goins and the Nightimers:
Herbie was born in Florida, and like many coloured singerslearned to sing in church choirs. Then it was in a group called theTeen Kings, before moving to New York, where he supportedB.B.King, Bobby Bland, and Sam Cooke amongst others, beforehe was drafted in the late '50s and sent to Germany as part of theG.I. Medical Core. After his de-mob he joined the Eric DelaneyBand and travelled back to England with them. Moving away fromjazz, and looking more for his blues roots he sang with the ChrisBarber Jazz Band in '63 and then Alexis Korner's BluesIncorporated. He appears on 'Live at the Cavern' and 'Red Hotfrom Alex'.
In '65 he left Alexis to front the Nightimers in place of RonnieJones. At that time the rest of the band was Mick Eve on tenorsax, Mike Carr on keyboards, Harry Beckett on trumpet, DavidPrice on bass, Bill Stephens on drums, and Speedy Acquaye oncongas. A cover of Motown group, the Monitors, 'Number One inYour Heart' was a trendy hit with Mods. By '66 John MacLaughlanwas on guitar and they supported Otis Redding on tour. They didregular slots at the Flamingo Club in Wardour St. and Marquee inOxford St. with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, and John Lee Hookerwho they travelled in Europe with. An album, 'Soul,Soul,Soul'was released in Europe, later in the '60s there was a fusion albumwith Wynder K.Frogg. After a trip to Italy in '71 Herbie decided tostay, but the band returned to England. Herbie worked as asongwriter and record producer and for a T.V. Company. Hereleased his own funk records in the '80s, with the Herbie GoinsSoul Band in Europe and the U.S. In 2009 he toured with ChrisFarlowe, Cliff Bennett and the Norman Beaker Band in an r&brevival. He died in Italy in 2015, aged 76.
Zoot Money and the Big Roll Band
Zoot [George Bruno Mooney] and Andy Sommers moved up fromlocal gigs around the South Coast to take London by storm. 1961saw the first line up of the Big Roll Band, with himself on vocals,Roger Collis on guitar, Al Kirtley on piano, Mike Montgomery onbass and Johnny Hammond on on drums. Their first gig was atBournmouth's Downstairs Club. In '62 Pete Brooks took over ondrums, Johnny King took over on bass and Kevin Drake joinedon sax. When Kirtley left Zoot took over on keyboards with aHammond organ.
Late '63 saw more changes when old mate Andy Sommers, whohad been playing in the Don Robb Band, joined, starting a longmusical career with Zoot not only in the Big Roll Band, but inDantalion's Chariot in the psychedelic era, and after a couple ofsimilar groups again in Eric Burden's New Animals before thepost-punk band Police made him an international star. PaulWilliams, on bass and on some featured vocals, joined aroundthe same time, and later became vocalist for Juicy Lucy. NickNewall joined on sax, and played in versions of the Big Roll Banduntil he died in 2017, and Clive Burrows joined on additionalsaxes, before joining Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band, whileJohnny Almond took his place. Colin Allen was on drums. Thatwas then the classic line-up that that drew in the crowds at theFlamingo and around the country from '64. Zoot was a greatshowman as well as a fine musician and they rode the wave untilthe dawn of psychedelia. They were signed by Decca and did thesingle 'The Uncle Willie'/'Zoot Suit' before switching to Columbiain '65 for four more singles and their first album 'It Shoulda BeenMe'. Singles included a cover of Sam Cooke's 'Bring it On Hometo Me', 'Gin House', with Paul Williams singing, and 'Big TimeOperator' which made no.25 in the charts, even though they weremore of a cult than a chart band. 'Live at Klooks Kleek, theirsecond album reached no.23 in the album charts in October'66.

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Zoot was also asked if he would like to join the original,Newcastle, Animals on keyboards in place of Alan Price, butwanted to carry on singing too. Zoot and Eric Burden were greatdrinking pals.
In '67 as psychedelia started to spread from the U.S. The bandwere on the cusp of eras and played at the first ever rock musicfestival in Spalding in Lincolnshire where they found themselveswith Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band on the same billas Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and some newcomers called Pink Floyd.Realising that they could become ' has beens' to fashion, after ashort stint with Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. Zoot took some LSDand formed his own psychedelic group, Dantalions Chariot in '67:a four piece band without saxes, but with Andy Sommers onexperimental guitar, which later saw him joining Soft Machine.The light show was the best I ever saw with group andinstruments in white with a white background over all of which abubble light show was projected. The group couldn't face theaudience for fear of being blinded by the light projector. By '69the novelty was wearing thin and Zoot did join the Animals: butthe New Animals, Stateside with old mate Eric Burden. AndySommers joined later after more psychedelic experiments. Longinstumental versions of Eric's hits were what were the flavour ofthe day.
Zoot diverged into an acting career for a while, and has a lengthycatalogue of albums, alone or with various bands, and a versionof the Big Roll Band was still touring at the time of writing in2018.
Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds
Another favourite act at the Flamingo Club and around the musiccircuit was fronted by a lad from Islington with amazing voice forsoul and blues singing called Chris Farlowe. In '57 he had begunsinging in the John Henry Skiffle group. By '58 he was in theJohnny Burns R&B Quartet. The Thunderbirds weren't formed asa backing group for Chris, but a pre existing outfit that BobTaylor introduced him to, and did five songs for them onColombia Records. A later song 'Stormy Monday Blues' by himunder the alias of Little Joe Cook on Island record had himmistaken for a black singer because of the strength of his voice.
When Mick Jagger heard him he got him onto the Stone's thenmanager Andrew Loog Oldham's label, Immediate, for who he dideleven songs which included 'Think', 'Ride On Baby', 'Paint itBlack' and 'Satisfaction', old Stones songs,'What Becomes of theBrokenhearted', a cover of Tamla Motown star Jimmy Ruffin'ssong, 'Out of Time', which reached no.1 in the singles charts,'Mike D'Abo's 'Handbags and Gladrags, before anyone else hadcovered it, 'All Part of My Way of Giving', a Small Faces,Marriot/Lane, song of another Immediate group, and a superbalbum 'The Art of Chris Farlowe'.
In 1970 he was featured singer for jazz-blues crossover bandColosseum on a live album and two studio albums. In '72 hejoined prog group Atomic Rooster for the 'Made in England'album of that year and the 'Nice and Greasy' album of '73.Alongside his music Chris also ran a war memorabilia shop inLondon. His voice has seen him guesting with other musicianslike Jimmy Page and Van Morrison, and he toured Germany withthe Hamburg Blues Band. In 1994 Colosseum reformed for awhile. In 2009 he was part of the Maximum R&B Tour with MaggieBell. He continues to tour with the Norman Beaker Band and alsoon the bill of '60s Experience tours with multi artist line-ups, atthe time of writing.
Foremost in members of the Thunderbirds to make a name forhimself is Albert Lee, who went down the Country and Westernroute to back Emmylou Harris in her Hot Band, amongst others,and to have is own American Band, as well as having featured inthe all star line-up of Bill Wyman 'Rhythm Kings', live and onalbums.
Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band.
Many black American G.I.s stationed in England in the early '60sfound their way to Soho and its Wardour Street Flamingo Cluband loved its lively well packed all nighters, and Geno wasnotable among them. Stationed at U.S.A.F. Bentwaters in Suffolkhe would use his leave to visit, and soon perform on Soul andTamla Motown songs at the club. The Ram Jam band had beenformed in'64 by Pete Gage and Geoff Pullam with a JamaicanBluebeat singer, Errol Dixon, as vocalist. The name Ram Jam wastaken from an pub on the old A1 road. Gage saw Geno jammingand offered to pay his de-mob dues back in the States if he

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returned to front the band to give it an authentic U.S. sound,which he did, and Errol Brown left the line-up in '65.
Their first single with Geno, 'Shake, Shake, Senora'/'Akinla' failedto have any chart success, but albums were taking over fromsingles with more affluent teenagers of the era. With Geno's hard-hitting live act it seemed best to try to capture that on record toliven up party-goers sounds, and 'Hand Clappin, Foot Stompin,Funky Butt Live' was the first of three of these. It reached the top5 in the album charts in '66, to stay there for 38 weeks at theheight of the Mod fashion era. 'Hipsters, Flipsters and Finger-Poppin Daddies' followed in '67 and reached no.8. Capitalising onthe band's success Pye Records also released four singles:'Water', 'Hi Hi Hazel', 'Que Sera, Sera' and Michael' but they madelittle impact compared to the albums of Soul covers. JimmyJames and the Vagabonds were also on Pye and similarly frontedby a black singer, Jimmy, and equally popular with Mods as a liveact.
By '68 the third Live album 'Running Wild' reflected a change inthe mode of the music as psychedelia made soul music soundold-fashioned and the brass section of the band was dropped.The sales were not as good and in '69 Geno continued solo for awhile before returning to the States. He returned in '71 as part ofa four piece band of Dave Watts on organ, Mike Jopp on guitar,and Grant Surpall on drums. As the post Mod revival took hold inthe late '70s Dexies Midnight Runners listened to his old albumsand came up with a tribute song that hit the charts, but when theyheard him live wondered what had happened to the old maestro'ssound.
However there were to be other Mod revivals for nostalgia for twogenerations of fans and after 2005 a Ram Jam Band reformedwith Stuart Dixon on guitar, Steve Bingham on bass, GeoffHensley on drums and Alan Weton and Allesandro Carnevali onsaxes. Similar line-ups continue to the time of writing and Genois still in great demand on the live gig circuits. Past membershave also included Pete Gage, Lional Kingham, Buddy Beadle,Jeff Wright, John Roberts and Herb Prestidge.
 
Steampacket
We have previously seem how Long John Baldrey worked withAlexis Korner's Blues Inc. and Cyril Davis' All Stars beforefounding his own Hoochie Coochie Men. When this in turn brokeup in '65 he formed a new kind of group: a musical revue tofeature different members of the band. He had found abedraggled beatnik on a railway station singing and strumming aguitar on his way home from a C.N.D. 'Ban the Bomb' march,who's singing he liked, and who was to become well knownthrough John's patronage, as singer Rod Stewart. His soulfulvoice, which also got a hearing in Jimmy Powell's FiveDimensions was only one of the talents on display inSteampacket. Besides John and Rod, Julie Driscoll shared vocalhonours. They were ably backed by what had previously beenknown as the Brian Auger Trinity and Oblivian Express,consisting of Brian on Hammond organ, Vic Briggs on guitar,Ricky Fenton on bass and and Micky Waller on drums. They hadplayed a highly instrumental repertoire especially based on thework of jazz organists like Jimmy Smith. Giorgio Gomelsky, whowas an early manager for the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds alsobecame their manager. They supported the Stones on their '65tour.
Steam Packet proved a very popular act with the Mod era crowdsbut proved difficult to get recordings published for, due toprevious contracts of members. A later C.D. of nine demos andrehearsals ' Repertoire Records 1991, was created long after theband split and four of the songs also appear on a doublecompilation called 'Rod Stewart 1964-69' put out in 1999. Anyonewho only caught up with Rod's later pop career may be surprisedto see on those albums the names of Peter Green, Beryl Marsden,P.P.Arnold, Keith Emerson, John Paul Jones, Keith Richard, RonWood and Art Woods, and Mick Jagger for producing a track,named in the credits, as well as all the Steampacket members.
In '66 Rod left to form a similar revue style team with BerylMarsden, a Merseybeat blues belter, Peter Green, and Themorganist Peter Bardens, called the Shotgun Express. JohnBaldrey left soon after to join Bluesology with an unknown EltonJohn on piano. After that John moved out of character whentempted to record ballads like 'Let the Heartaches Begin' whichprovided chart hits but alienated his former fan base.
Julie, who had by then become a fashion icon too, Brian, and VicBriggs regrouped the Brian Auger Trinity before Briggs joined

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Eric Burden's New Animals. In '68 they scored a top 5 hit withBob Dylan's 'Wheels on Fire'', later revived as the theme tune of'Abs Fab', the Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley comedyseries. After Shotgun Express Rod joined old mate Ronnie Woodin the Jeff Beck group in '67 and then the Faces when SteveMarriott left, prompting a name change from Small Faces, as Rodand Ronnie were too tall to fit the job description for the originalband name, before Rod went solo.
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