- Blues Incorporated
Infobox musical artist |
Name = Blues Incorporated
Landscape =
Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin =London ,England
Genre =R&B , blues, rock
Years_active = 1961 – 1966
Label = Decca
Parlophone
Fontana
Associated_acts = Cyril Davies' All Stars
The Graham Bond Organisation
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =Alexis Korner Cyril Davies Charlie Watts Long John Baldry Jack Bruce Malcolm Cecil Dick Heckstall-Smith Art Wood Ginger Baker Graham Bond
Herbie GoinsDanny Thompson Duffy Power Blues Incorporated were a British
R&B band in the early 1960s, which were led byAlexis Korner and which featured at various times such musicians asJack Bruce ,Charlie Watts ,Terry Cox ,Ginger Baker ,Long John Baldry ,Danny Thompson ,Graham Bond ,Cyril Davies ,Malcolm Cecil andDick Heckstall-Smith . Although never very successful commercially, they was extremely influential on the development of Britishrock music in the 1960s and later.Fact|date=July 2008History
Korner (1928-1984) was a member of
Chris Barber 's Jazz Band in the 1950s, and met up with Cyril Davies (1932-1964) who shared his passion for Americanblues . In 1954 they teamed up as a duo, began playing blues inLondon clubs, and opened their own club, the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club, where they featured visiting bluesmen from America. The club embraced aspiring young musicians, including in its early days Charlie Watts, Long John Baldry, and Jack Bruce.In 1961 Korner and Davies formed Blues Incorporated, the first amplified R&B band in Britain, and brought in singer Baldry (sometimes replaced by
Art Wood ), drummer Watts, bassist Bruce, and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith. They secured a residency at theMarquee Club , which brought them to the attention of record producer and promoter Jack Good. He arranged a recording contract withDecca Records which resulted in the LP "R&B from the Marquee ". The album, released in late 1962, was actually recorded in the Decca studio rather than the club, and featured Baldry as lead singer and songs byMuddy Waters ,Jimmy Witherspoon andLeroy Carr .Also in 1962, Korner and Davies established a regular "Rhythm and Blues Night" at the
Ealing Jazz Club . This brought together many more fans of blues and R&B music, includingMick Jagger ,Keith Richards ,Brian Jones ,Rod Stewart , Paul Jones,John Mayall ,Zoot Money andJimmy Page , some of whom would occasionally sit in on Blues Incorporated performances. Blues Incorporated was conceived as an informal "band"; its membership was intended to be fluid. Watts left the group around this time, and successfully suggested Ginger Baker as his replacement.Early in 1963, Davies disagreed with Korner's intention to add a brass section to the band and turn more towards jazz than blues. Joined by Baldry, he left to form his own group, Cyril Davies' All Stars, and was replaced in Blues Incorporated by Graham Bond. Blues Incorporated found a new residency at the Flamingo club, but shortly afterwards Bond, Bruce and Baker also left to form a new organ-based group, the Graham Bond Organisation.
Blues Incorporated concentrated on their live work rather than making commercial recordings. The group only released two singles on Parlophone, "I Need Your Loving / Please Please Please" (1963) and "Little Baby" / "Roberta" (1964), followed by one on Fontana, "River's Invitation" / "Every Day I Have The Blues".
In 1964, they released the LPs "At The Cavern" and "Red Hot From Alex", with American Herbie Goins as lead singer, and Danny Thompson, later of Pentangle, on bass. By the time of the group's last album "Sky High", credited to Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in 1965, the group included
Duffy Power on vocals. Korner finally dissolved the group in 1966.Discography
*"
R&B from the Marquee " (1962)
*"At The Cavern" (1964)
*"Red Hot From Alex" (1964)
*"Sky High" (1965)External links
* [http://www.alexiskorner.com/ Alexis Korner fan site]
* [http://www.cyrildavies.com/bluesinc.html Blues Incorporated on Cyril Davies fan site]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
