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35-566: Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band ) were a British blues rock band formed in Battersea , southwest London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. Founder, guitarist and primary songwriter Kim Simmonds was the sole constant member of the band from its formation in 1965 until his death in 2022. The band

70-525: A form of heavy rock. Jimmy Page , who replaced Beck in the Yardbirds, followed suit with Led Zeppelin and became a major force in the 1970s heavy metal scene. Other blues rock musicians in the 1970s include Dr. Feelgood , Rory Gallagher and Robin Trower . Beginning in the early 1970s, American bands such as Aerosmith fused blues with a hard rock edge. Blues rock grew to include Southern rock bands, like

105-419: A solo section where "the rhythm shifts effortlessly into an uptempo 6/8-time jazz feel". The key is usually major , but can also be minor , such as in " Black Magic Woman ". One notable difference is the frequent use of a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead of triplets usually found in blues. An example is Cream 's " Crossroads ". Although it was adapted from Robert Johnson 's " Cross Road Blues ",

140-424: A songwriter alongside Simmonds. It was this lineup that released the single "Train to Nowhere" in 1969. A Step Further was released later that year, and introduced bassist Tony Stevens replacing Jobe. They developed a loyal core following in the United States, due to songs such as "I'm Tired," a driving, melodic song from the album. Following the release of Raw Sienna (also released in 1969) Youlden departed

175-472: Is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues. Blues rock songs often follow typical blues structures, such as twelve-bar blues , sixteen-bar blues , etc. They also use the I - IV - V progression, though there are exceptions, some pieces having a "B" section, while others remain on the I. The Allman Brothers Band 's version of " Stormy Monday ", which uses chord substitutions based on Bobby "Blue" Bland 's 1961 rendition, adds

210-456: Is currently active with that group. Singer Ralph Morman disappeared from the scene in the mid-1980s until emerging in 2011 with plans for a solo project. Guitarist Barry Paul became a successful studio owner in Los Angeles. Singer Jimmy Kunes, who fronted the band during the mid-1980s, is currently the singer for the reformed supergroup Cactus . Savoy Brown contributed the song "A Man Alone" for

245-688: The Chicago blues musicians Elmore James , Albert King , and Freddie King , who began incorporating rock and roll elements into their blues music during the late 1950s to early 1960s. 1963 marked the appearance of American rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack , whose idiosyncratic, fast-paced electric blues guitar style came to be identified with the advent of blues rock as a distinct genre. His instrumentals from that period were recognizable as blues or rhythm and blues tunes, but he relied heavily upon fast-picking techniques derived from traditional American country and bluegrass genres. The best-known of these are

280-551: The 1963 Billboard hit singles " Memphis " and "Wham!". Around the same time, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was formed. Fronted by blues harp player and singer Paul Butterfield , it included two members from Howlin' Wolf 's touring band, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay , and later two electric guitarists, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop . In 1965, its debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

315-530: The 1990s, which saw guitarists Gary Moore , Jeff Healey , and Kenny Wayne Shepherd become popular concert attractions. Female blues singers such as Bonnie Raitt , Susan Tedeschi , Sue Foley , Joanne Shaw Taylor and Shannon Curfman recorded blues rock albums. Groups such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the White Stripes brought an edgier, more diverse style into the 2000s, while

350-644: The Allman Brothers Band , ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd , while the British scene, except for the advent of groups such as Status Quo and Foghat , became focused on heavy metal innovation. While blues rock and hard rock shared many similarities in the early 1970s, more traditional blues styles influenced blues rock in the 1980s, when the Fabulous Thunderbirds , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Georgia Satellites and Robert Cray recorded their best-known works, and

385-557: The Black Keys returned to basics. Gary Clark Jr. , known for his fusing of blues, rock and soul, has been classified as a blues rock artist, with Rolling Stone ' s Jonathan Bernstein referring to Clark's albums Blak and Blu (2012) and The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (2015) as "steeped in a sleek, modern blues-rock production style". Formed in 2017, Bulls of Prey is a successful Hungarian band in this genre. British blues Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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420-814: The British blues circuit with his band Sugarkane. After leaving Savoy Brown for the first time in the 1970s singer Dave Walker joined Fleetwood Mac for one album, and in early 1978 became the temporary lead singer for Black Sabbath . Bassists have included: Andy Pyle , who played with Mick Abrahams from Jethro Tull in Blodwyn Pig , then later with The Kinks ; John Humphrey , who would go on to work with many major artists, including Carole King ; Gary Moore ; and Andy Silvester , who played with Wha-Koo after Chicken Shack. Savoy Brown also provided an outlet for keyboardist and guitarist Paul Raymond , who later went on to join UFO . Drummer Keith Boyce reformed Heavy Metal Kids and

455-648: The Doors and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , also adapted songs by blues artists to include elements of rock. Butterfield, Canned Heat, and Joplin performed at the Monterey (1967) and Woodstock (1969) festivals. In the UK, several musicians honed their skills in a handful of British blues bands, primarily those of Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner . While the early British rhythm and blues groups, such as

490-526: The Rolling Stones , the Yardbirds , and the Animals , incorporated American R&B , rock and roll , and pop , John Mayall took a more distinctly electric blues approach. In 1966, he released Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton , the first of several influential blues rock albums. When Eric Clapton left Mayall to form Cream , they created a hybrid style with blues, rock, and jazz improvisation , which

525-449: The Rolling Stones , the Yardbirds , and the Animals , who put several blues songs into the pop charts. In the US, Lonnie Mack , the Paul Butterfield Blues Band , and Canned Heat were among the earliest exponents. Some of these bands also played long, involved improvisations as were then commonplace on jazz records. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the style became more hard rock-oriented. In

560-559: The US Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. Blues rock Blues rock started with rock musicians in the United Kingdom and the United States performing American blues songs. They typically recreated electric Chicago blues songs, such as those by Willie Dixon , Muddy Waters , and Jimmy Reed , at faster tempos and with a more aggressive sound common to rock. In the UK, the style was popularized by groups such as

595-431: The US, Johnny Winter , the early Allman Brothers Band , and ZZ Top represented a hard rock trend, along with Led Zeppelin , Ten Years After , Savoy Brown , and Foghat in the UK. In the 1980s, more traditional blues styles influenced blues rock, which continues into the 2000s, with more of a return to basics. Along with hard rock, blues rock songs became the core of the music played on album-oriented rock radio in

630-475: The US. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the band managed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 . The 1971 release Street Corner Talking included the songs "Tell Mama" and "Street Corner Talking". Superstardom perpetually evaded them, though. Despite that their next album, Hellbound Train (1972) was a Top 40 album for them in the US. In January 1974, the British music magazine, NME reported that Stan Webb

665-444: The United States, and later the classic rock format established there during the 1980s. Blues rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation , extended boogie jams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier, riff -oriented sound and feel to the songs than found in typical Chicago-style blues . Blues rock bands "borrow[ed] the idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll". It

700-474: The band on its initial recordings for Mike Vernon's Purdah label). Portius was one of the first black blues musicians to be a part of a British rock band. Jeavons was replaced by Bob Hall shortly after the band's formation and the arrival of Martin Stone on guitars. Not long after Stone's arrival, O'Leary left the band as a consequence of a dispute with manager Harry Simmonds. This lineup, sans O'Leary, appeared on

735-468: The band's 1967 debut album, Shake Down , a collection of blues covers . Further lineup changes ensued, with founding members Portius, Chappell and Manning departing along with recently recruited guitarist Stone over a short period of time. Chris Youlden and "Lonesome" Dave Peverett would become the band's new vocalist and 2nd guitarist respectively. Initially Bob Brunning and Hughie Flint (from John Mayall 's Clapton-version Bluesbreakers ) filled

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770-459: The band. Raw Sienna marked the first time the band had recorded successive albums without any changes in personnel. The band recorded their next album, 1970's Looking In , as a four-piece, and following this album Peverett, Stevens, and Earl left to form Foghat with guitarist Rod Price . Simmonds continued the band with Dave Walker on vocals, Paul Raymond on keyboards and guitars, Andy Silvester on bass, and Dave Bidwell on drums – almost

805-676: The bass "combines with drums to create and continually emphasize continuity in the regular metric drive". Rock music uses driving rhythms and electric guitar techniques such as distortion and power chords already used by 1950s electric blues guitarists, particularly Memphis bluesmen such as Joe Hill Louis , Willie Johnson and Pat Hare . Characteristics that blues rock adopted from electric blues include its dense texture, basic blues band instrumentation, rough declamatory vocal style, heavy guitar riffs , string-bending blues-scale guitar solos, strong beat, thick riff-laden texture, and posturing performances. Precursors to blues rock included

840-477: The bassist and drummer positions on the single "Taste and Try (Before You Buy)," but they were subsequently replaced by Rivers Jobe and Bill Bruford . Within a fortnight of Bruford's arrival in the band, he had been replaced by Roger Earl (Bruford went on to huge success later as Yes 's drummer). This lineup recorded two albums in 1968, Getting to the Point , and Blue Matter , which demonstrated Youlden's rise as

875-577: The complete Chicken Shack line up. "More even than John Mayall , this band was the great mean—that is, the mean—of the purist (as opposed to heavy) wing of what we in America once called British blues ." — Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981) They were one of the bands that UK Decca (US London/Parrot) stuck with through the lean times until they started selling records; it took four or five albums until they started to sell in

910-523: The early-mid-1960s) and his power trios , the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys , had a broad and lasting influence on the development of blues rock, especially for guitarists. Clapton continued to explore several musical styles and contributed to bringing blues rock into the mainstream. In the late 1960s, Jeff Beck , with his band the Jeff Beck Group , developed blues rock into

945-407: The group for a second time in 1991. During the 1990s Simmonds continued working with various lineups of the band, including a brief stint with future Molly Hatchet lead singer Phil McCormack. During the band's active years, they toured the world and recorded regularly, with only Simmonds having been in the band since its beginning. Original member and harmonica player John O'Leary is still active on

980-590: The mid-1970s. The single " Run to Me ", a cover of a song originally recorded by Smokie , became Savoy's highest-charting single in the United States, peaking at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of 31 October 1981. That year found the band performing several major arena shows in the US alongside Judas Priest , and recording a live album at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver. Greatest Hits – Live in Concert

1015-590: The soundtrack to the movie Kickboxer 2 . In 2008, "Train to Nowhere" was used, and figured as a clue, in the TV series CSI: NY , in Season 4, Episode 10 – "The Thing About Heroes". Their first album for Blind Pig Records , Strange Days, was released in 2003. The band released another record, Steel , in 2007. Their album, Voodoo Moon, was released by Ruf Records in 2011. In 2015, billed as Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown, their album, The Devil to Pay , reached number four on

1050-487: The word "Savoy" sounded elegant. They added "Brown" because they thought it was an extremely plain word. Overall, the group called itself the Savoy Brown Blues Band to tell listeners that they played Chicago Blues -sounding music. The original lineup included singer Brice Portius, keyboardist Trevor Jeavons, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Manning and harmonica player John O'Leary (O'Leary appeared on record with

1085-456: Was formed by guitarist Kim Simmonds and harmonica player John O'Leary, following a chance meeting at Transat Imports record shop in Lisle Street, Soho , in 1965. In naming themselves, the group put together two words that conveyed an interesting balance of opposite sentiments and approaches. The word "Savoy" came from an American blues label, Savoy Records , as the members of the band thought

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1120-468: Was joining Savoy Brown, following the break-up of Chicken Shack . In the late 1970s, Simmonds organised the band with singer Ralph Morman, formerly of the Joe Perry Project , drummer Keith Boyce and guitarist Barry Paul of Heavy Metal Kids fame, and bassist John Humphrey . This lineup recorded the 1981 Rock 'N' Roll Warriors album, which gave Savoy Brown more success than the group had seen since

1155-510: Was released at the end of the year, featuring "Run to Me" as the sole studio track, as the single had appeared previously only on the German version of Rock 'N' Roll Warriors . Despite the success of this lineup, Simmonds was once again on his own by the Spring of 1982. Singer Dave Walker returned to the group in the late 1980s and recorded two studio albums and one live album as lead vocalist, but left

1190-733: Was released. AllMusic 's Michael Erlewine commented, "Used to hearing blues covered by groups like the Rolling Stones, that first album had an enormous impact on young (and primarily White) rock players." The second album East West (1966) introduced extended soloing – the 13 minute instrumental title track included jazz and Indian raga influences – that served as a model for psychedelic and acid rock . In 1965, avid blues collectors Bob Hite and Alan Wilson formed Canned Heat . Their early recordings focused heavily on electric versions of Delta blues songs, but soon began exploring long musical improvisations (" jams ") built around John Lee Hooker songs. Other popular mid-1960s groups, such as

1225-479: Was the most innovative to date. British band Fleetwood Mac initially played traditionally-oriented electric blues, but soon evolved. Their guitarist Peter Green , who was Clapton's replacement with Mayall, brought many innovations to their music. Chicken Shack , early Jethro Tull , Keef Hartley Band and Climax Blues Band recorded blues rock songs. The electric guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix (a veteran of many American rhythm and blues and soul groups from

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