- Art Wood
Arthur "Art" Wood (7 July 1937 - 3 November 2006) was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led
The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother ofRonnie Wood ofThe Rolling Stones .Life
Born in 1937, Wood grew up in
West Drayton ,London , and enrolled atEaling School of Art in 1950. There he developed his musical interests, as well as taking a keen interest in graphic design and fine art. In 1955 he started two years ofNational Service ; he was posted in Devizes, Wiltshire, where he formed a skiffle group. When he returned to London, he formed his ownR&B group, the Art Wood Combo, playing versions of songs byChuck Berry ,Fats Domino and others.By 1962, he was one of several singers regularly featured with
Alexis Korner 'sBlues Incorporated , which also includedCharlie Watts andCyril Davies . However, as that group firmed up its line-up withLong John Baldry as the main lead singer, Art Wood re-formed his own group, which he now calledThe Artwoods . The group included organistJon Lord (who would go on to joinDeep Purple ) and drummerKeef Hartley .:"See main article :
The Artwoods The Artwoods failed to make a major commercial breakthrough, and split up in 1967. In 1969 Wood formed the short-lived group Quiet Melon, with his brother Ronnie,
Rod Stewart ,Ronnie Lane ,Kenny Jones ,Ian McLagan andKim Gardner .cite web |last =Zentgraf |first=Nico |title=Woodworks 1957-1975 |url=http://www.nzentgraf.de/books/tcw/works1.htm|accessdate=2008-02-23 | ] cite web |last =Perrone |first=Pierre |title=Obituary: Art Wood: Frontman of the Artwoods |publisher=The Independent |date=2006-11-06 |url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/art-wood-423177.html |accessdate=2008-02-27 | ] They recorded four songs and delivered the tapes toFontana Records , who turned them down and cancelled Wood's contract. He then semi-retired from the music business; Gardner went on to another band; and the other members of the group carried on to becomeThe Faces .Wood joined his other brother Ted in setting up a graphic design business and continued to perform on a semi-professional basis with the
Downliners Sect and reunited versions of the Artwoods, with occasional guest appearances by his brother Ronnie.Art Wood died in London from
prostate cancer , aged 69.References
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