The Horns on “Lady Madonna”

by The CS Team, Culture Sonar:
http://www.culturesonar.com/the-horns-on-lady-madonna/

There are plenty of interesting tidbits associated with “Lady Madonna.” It was the final single on the Parlophone label (future releases were on Apple Records). It was inspired in part by Fats Domino, who did a version of it later that year in 1968 (it’s also been covered by a slew of other artists such as Elvis Presley, Richie Havens, and Barry Gibb). But what might be most interesting about this tune is its brass section. 

While the Fab Four were known to try on different instruments on occasion - Lennon on bass, Harrison on sitar, McCartney on drums - “Lady Madonna” probably marks the only time all four were responsible for the horns … in a manner of speaking. Watch this clip from 
Deconstructing The White Album for further details.

They Got High With a Little Help from Their Friends

by Holden McNeely, Culture Sonar: 
http://www.culturesonar.com/beatles-and-drugs/?mc_cid=678aeb5401&mc_eid=66f62f01ac

One of the most important traits of The Beatles was their ability to embody the zeitgeist. The swinging ‘60s, the hippie movement, the Summer of Love, and recreational drugs all came into play in their music at the pinnacle of their career – the primary mind-altering substances being marijuana and LSD. 

Who turned them on to pot? None other than Bob Dylan! According to Peter Brown’s The Love You Make, Dylan had misinterpreted the lyrics for “I Want To Hold Your Hand” — by mistaking “I can’t hide” for “I get high.” And so he brought a big bag of weed to the band during one of their NYC visits.

In George Case’s Out of Our Heads, Ringo recalls, “That was the first time that I’d really smoked marijuana and I laughed and I laughed and I laughed.” Per The Quotable Stoner, Paul McCartney also reminisced about that encounter: “Bob came round to our hotel, and he said to us, ‘Here, try a bit of this.’ It is very indiscreet to say this, because I don’t know whether Bob is telling people he turned the Beatles on to marijuana. But it was funny.”

For the next stretch of their careers, The Beatles were, well, periodically stoned. Don’t believe us? Here’s a quote from Jacqueline Edmondson’s biography John Lennon about their performances in the hit movie Help!: “The movie was out of our control. With A Hard Day’s Night, we had a lot of input, and it was semi-realistic. But with Help!, [director] Dick Lester didn’t tell us what it was about… partly because we were smoking marijuana for breakfast… Nobody could communicate with us; it was all glazed eyes and giggling all the time.”

The influence of marijuana on their music became pronounced in 1966, via their album Revolver. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In Brian Roylance’s The Beatles, their personal assistant/road manager Neil Aspinall said of pot during the recording sessions, “I guess it made recording a bit slower, but it didn’t affect the quality of the work.” At points, the influence was stronger than others: Lennon attributed the backwards guitar effect in the song “Rain” directly to being high.

“I got home from the studio stoned out of my mind on marijuana and, as I usually do, I listened to what I’d recorded that day. Somehow I got it on backwards and I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on with a big hash joint. I ran in the next day and said, ‘I know what to do with it, I know…Listen to this!’ That one was a gift of God – of Jah, actually, the god of marijuana. Jah gave me that one” (from David Sheff’s All We Are Saying).

Around this time, the “Wicked Dentist” (revealed in Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll to be John Riley) famously introduced George Harrison and Lennon to LSD. It’s a sprawling story, but the long and short of it is that Riley invited the two Beatles and their wives over for dinner one night and dosed their coffee. He had intended to try and spark some kind of orgy but instead the foursome ended up in an elevator at a London nightclub shrieking madly as they hallucinated that their transport was engulfed in flames. Lennon remarked on this moment that, “The lift stops and the door opens and we’re all going ‘Aaahhhh’, and we just see that it’s the club.” As bad trips go, it could’ve been worse.

Yet the after-effects were profound. Quoted in Rock ‘n’ Roll Myths, George Harrison had this to say: “The first time I had acid, a light-bulb went on in my head and I began to have realisations which were not simply, ‘I think I’ll do this, or ‘I think that must be because of that.’ The question and answer disappeared into each other. An illumination goes on inside: in ten minutes I lived a thousand years.” The band mates’ subsequent experiences on acid led to several songs such as “She Said, She Said” — inspired by a trip at an LA house party where a young Peter Fonda whispered in Lennon’s ear, “I know what it’s like to be dead.”

Other trippy examples abound: tracks like “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Strawberry Fields” have hallucinatory qualities; albums like Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour are entire odes to the psychedelic experience. Ironically, The Beatles were largely turned off to further experimentation after a visit to Haight-Ashbury, arguably the countercultural capital of the time. In fact, The Beatles cleaned up for a time after that in a big way. They traveled to India where they gained sober enlightenment with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Drugs aren’t the only way to get high, you know.

–Holden McNeely

PS: We dig into some other concept albums worth another listen. Plus, a look at some more recent projects keeping that ’60s vibe going.

Photo: Jim Gray/Keystone/Hulton Archive, courtesy of Getty Images

The 10 Best John Lennon Songs You May Have Never Heard

by Jim Beviglia, Culture Sonar: http://www.culturesonar.com/john-lennon-songs/

Because his life was cut so short, and also in part due to his long “house-husband” phase in the late ‘70s, John Lennon released only seven post-Beatle studio albums — some in conjunction with wife Yoko Ono. It’s impressive that during that short span and with a relatively small output, so much of Lennon’s solo material made a significant impact. Yet there are still album tracks whose airplay and exposure pale in comparison to the mammoth hits still ingrained in the culture. In that spirit, here are ten John Lennon songs which deserve a little more recognition than they currently enjoy.

1. “Isolation” (1970)
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was the album on which Lennon finally got to say everything he wanted without having to worry about operating under the Beatle banner. He used the opportunity to lay bare his demons in harrowing, haunting songs that were often screamed more than sung. But on this restrained (for the most part) track, he sings almost meekly over somber piano chords about his all-encompassing fear (“We’re afraid of everyone / Afraid of the sun”) and loneliness, his cries for help made clearer without any Beatlesque exuberance to hide them.

2. “Crippled Inside” (1971)
On his second proper solo release, Lennon was canny enough to realize he needed more than just critical appreciation, which is why Imagine is filled with accessible melodies and lush production. In many ways, “Crippled Inside” deals with similar subject matter as the songs on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. But it’s delivered with saloon piano (played by studio ace Nicky Hopkins), a frisky dobro solo (from George Harrison) and cheeky enthusiasm from Lennon. The end result is as catchy a song about inner torment as you’re likely to encounter.

3. “New York City” (1972)
Well-intentioned as it might have been, Some Time in New York City was a misstep, as Lennon proved a surprisingly heavy-handed protest singer. But this playful rocker survives the wreckage with its humor intact. The music is a bit shambolic, but achieves some excellent forward momentum; Lennon’s recounting of his time in the Big Apple, complete with bizarre characters and welcoming landmarks, proves that he could do a Chuck Berry homage as well as anybody.

4. “Tight A$” (1973)
Mick Jagger gets all the credit for songs with salacious intent, but Lennon was no slouch in that department. This funky rocker from Mind Games shows him indulging in some naughty wordplay and barely-couched innuendo. That’s not enough to make a song, which is why the excellent chemistry from the studio band (with the invaluable Jim Keltner providing the backbeat) is so important. The Carl Perkins influence is palpable — even if Carl might have blushed at the lyrics.

5. “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)” (1973)
Lennon’s separation from Yoko Ono (around the time that Mind Games was recorded) seems to be the inspiration for this ballad. It strolls along at a measured pace, giving ample room for Lennon to emote with his lead vocal. There’s nothing too fancy going on here, yet Lennon’s uncanny ability to evoke pain and vulnerability is enough to push this song a long way. This one is largely forgotten, coming as it did on an uneven album, but it has soul to spare.

6. “Steel and Glass” (1974)
Beatle fans might not have been too happy to hear Lennon savaging Allen Klein, since the lawyer took hisside over Paul McCartney during the Fab Four’s breakup wars. But there’s no denying how effectively he takes Klein apart in this song from Walls and Bridges. The fact that he reuses many of the same riffs that he used in “How Do You Sleep?” (his takedown of McCartney from a few years earlier) seems like Lennon’s tacit admission that he may have backed the wrong horse.

7. “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out)” (1974)
Lennon allegedly wrote this song with Frank Sinatra in mind, but he actually provides a telling snapshot of his own emotional health (or lack thereof) in this after-hours ballad from Walls and Bridges. It reflects both the emptiness of fame (“It’s all showbiz,” he drily laments) and his loneliness without Ono. Jesse Ed Davis adds a weeping guitar solo that plays beautifully on the drunken horns. Mid-‘70s Lennon often gets overlooked, but this stunner is evidence that that era should get another glance.

8. “Just Because” (1975)
This 1975 album (Rock ‘n’ Roll), with production by Lennon and Phil Spector, casts a hazy cloud on many early rock chestnuts. However, they get it right on the album’s closing track, largely by getting out of the way of this Lloyd Price classic and letting Lennon (or “Dr. Winston O’Boogie” as he calls himself here), wringing every last bit emotion out of the descending melody. It’s far and away his finest interpretation on the record.

9. “I’m Losing You” (1980)
Many people forget that Double Fantasy was actually an album split right down the middle, between performances by Lennon and Yoko Ono. As a result, most of Lennon’s songs on the project either became huge hits in the aftermath of his death or have become well-known since. “I’m Losing You” sort of slips through the cracks,  perhaps because it bucks the perceived notion of the album as one filled with marital bliss. Instead, it’s a bluesy rocker that includes some of Lennon’s grittiest vocals since the Plastic Ono Band days.

10. “I Don’t Want to Face It” (1984)
Right before his death, Lennon was clearly energized to re-enter the recording world, so much so that he had recorded nearly enough material for a follow-up to Double Fantasy. Those songs were collected on a posthumous release in 1984, entitled Milk and Honey. “Nobody Told Me” became a hit, and “Grow Old With Me” became one for the ages. But this rip-roaring track, complete with Lennon’s faux-German count-in and his falsetto vocals, features him dissecting hypocrisy with all of the old humor and insight intact.

–Jim Beviglia

PS.  Read about some great, underrated solo tracks by Lennon’s Beatle bandmates George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Smithsonian Presents a Gallery of 6,000+ Rare Rock ‘n Roll Photos on a Crowdsourced Web Site, and Now a New Book

Rock photography is an art form in itself, as demonstrated by books and exhibitions of some of its masters like Mick Rock, Jenny Lens, Pennie Smith, and so many others. But two years ago, the Smithsonian turned to the crowd, to the fan, to the amateur photographer, with a call to submit photos from over six decades of rock and roll that weren’t hanging on gallery walls, but sitting in a shoebox somewhere. From fans with instamatic cameras to amateurs covering concerts for their school paper, the Smithsonian wanted another angle on our cultural obsession.

Many of the contributions now live on a crowdsourced website. And a resulting book Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen collects the best of these in a chronological history of the genre, from post-war blues to the late 20th century. It will be officially released on October 24, though you can pre-order now.

Websites Mashable and Dangerous Minds present a selection of photos from the book, such as a shot of Sly Stone at the height of his powers (and belt buckle size), a pic of the Talking Heads on stage in Berkeley, 1977; a dark and mysterious glimpse of Bonnie Raitt, circa 1974; and a shot of Cream playing the Chicago Coliseum taken from the side of the stage, with Ginger Baker’s head a complete blur. Also find Joni Mitchell at Kleinhans Music Hall. And The Ramones in Tempe, Arizona, circa 1978.

Bonnie Raitt at the Harvard Square Theatre, by Barry Schneier/Smithsonian Books

It’s a reminder of how unpretentious these live shows could be, happening in a world with the simplest of lighting rigs and decades from the big screen projections even up-and-coming bands now indulge in. For the most part, this was an intimate contract between the artist and the audience, all crammed into small clubs with smoke, sweat, heat, and, most importantly, electricity in the air.

The new book also features tales from the people who took the photos, along with some more professional photos to “flesh out this overview of rock and roll,” according to the introduction by organizer Bill Bentley. He adds: "The results, spanning six decades, aim for neither encyclopedic authority nor comprehensive finality, but rather an index of supreme influence."

The Ramones in Tempe, Arizona, by Dorian Boese/Smithsonian Books

That supreme influence continues to be felt, for sure. Although the submission window is now closed, the Smithsonian's website allows you to look through the hundreds of submissions to the project.

Live Yardbirds Tracks Coming Home to Roost

No bull: The long-lost Yardbirds live recording of 1968 is making a comeback.

Due Nov. 5, “Yardbirds ’68” contains the Anderson Theatre recordings of late March 1968. That NYC set — complete with bogus audience cheers reputedly taken from bullfights — was released in 1971 as “Live Yardbirds: Featuring Jimmy Page” and later withdrawn after protests from group members.

“Yardbirds ’68” also contains eight “studio sketches” tracks from the period.

The new 18-track album was produced by Jimmy Page. The mastering is credited to John Davis, who worked with Page on the Led Zeppelin remasters of several years back.

The Anderson Theatre songs are highlighted by “Dazed and Confused” — the famed psychedelic Led Zeppelin track developed while Page was a Yardbird — as well as his guitar instrumental showcase “White Summer,” a number also shared by the two bands.

Other live tracks include “Train Kept A Rollin,'” “Over Under Sideways Down” and an expanded “I’m a Man.” (“Dazed and Confused” was mistitled “I’m Confused” on the original live album.)

The lineup remained the quartet from “Little Games,” the last studio album. Attempts to record another album for Columbia fizzled and the hitmaking British band broke up in the summer of 1968.

A statement from Yardbirds survivors Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja and Page reads: “We thought this might be lost forever, but we’ve rediscovered it, remixed it. It’s of great historical importance. We’re delighted to see the release.” (Singer Keith Relf, the fourth member of the 1968 Yardbirds, died eight years later.)

“Yardbirds ’68” debuts on double CD, vinyl at standard pricing — and in a pricey “Signed Deluxe Edition” with signatures of Page, McCarty and Dreja. The signed collector’s version goes for just north of $500. So far, the album is only available for preorder on Page’s British web site

The new album, alas, comes without James Grashow’s beloved woodcut of a bird above New York City (above, right). That cover has been replaced by a psychedelic painting featuring the Yardbirds logo that retains the purple color scheme (top).

The spring of 1968 found the Yardbirds in a strange place. The group’s last attempt at a single, “Goodnight Sweet Josephine,” flopped. Guitarist Page wanted to continue with the psychedelics of late-period Yardbirds tracks such as “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.” Relf sought a classical-folk fusion. And audiences demanded the hits such as “Heart Full of Soul.”

When the Yardbirds played the Anderson, they already had decided to break up. They played their last show a few months later in L.A.

Page, particularly, objected to Epic Records’ two releases of the “Live Yardbirds” album, which was perceived as a cash-in on the success of his Led Zeppelin. After a 1976 revival of the live album by Columbia Special Products, Page reportedly took legal action and had album materials destroyed or returned to the band. Both versions of the live album remained collector’s item for decades and were heavily bootlegged. The post-production shenanigans such as the bullfight cheers are attributed to the poor original recording done at the Anderson. Those adds-on do not appear on the source tapes and will not be heard on the new album.

The “Yardbirds ’68” studio tracks mostly feature drummer McCarty on vocals, as singer Relf was fading from the band at that point. The producer was Manny Kellem (“Love Is Blue”), who apparently recommended the project be abandoned. Some of the studio tracks surfaced in rough mixes on the (since withdrawn) Yardbirds odds-and-sods album “Cumular Limit” of 2000, although the latest versions may differ and almost certainly will benefit from improved sonics.

The studio tracks:

• Avron Knows
• Spanish Blood
• Knowing That I’m Losing You (Tangerine)
• Taking a Hold on Me
• Drinking Muddy Water (version 2)
• My Baby
• Avron’s Eyes
• Spanish Blood

“Knowing That I’m Losing You” was reworked as “Tangerine” on Led Zeppelin’s third album.

McCarty continues to tour with a version of the Yardbirds. Dreja was a member of 21st century Yardbirds lineups but apparently has retired due to health issues. McCarty’s Yardbirds are expected to release a studio album next year.

What Happened To Savoy Brown?

by Jim Farber, Music Aficionado: https://web.musicaficionado.com/main.html?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=WeeklyRecommendations#!/article/what_happened_to_savoy_brown_by_jimfarber

PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

14 Reasons Why Savoy Brown Deserve Another Listen

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

Savoy Brown has never had a song on the pop charts and none of their albums have ever inched above the top thirty anywhere in the world. Yet, for aficionados of British blues, they hold a unique place. Between 1967 and 1974, Savoy Brown released nearly a dozen notable albums that took a holistic approach to the blues, snaking through an ever-evolving mix of boogie, R&B, jazz, and psychedelic rock.

The story of how those albums came to be contains a drama rife with personality clashes, exacerbated by a pitched resistance to the slickness of pop stardom. Over the years, the band switched line-ups as often as Imelda Marcos changed shoes. Yet their music achieved a consistent quality that deserves a rehearing by anybody who appreciates blues with a hard rocking edge.

Simmonds At The Center

Kim Simmonds - Savoy Brown's stalwart leader, and sole consistent member - rates as one of the most emotive and flexible guitar heroes Britain has ever produced. His love of the blues began after he heard the American pioneers featured in his brother's record collection. "It was the honesty of the music that attracted me," the guitarist said. "There was none of the nonsense of pop. It's simple music, yet at the same time there's great art in it."

Shake Down

Savoy Brown

Hear This Album

Simmonds formed his baby step version of Savoy Brown in 1965, when he was just 18. Their initial line-up featured six players, including harmonica player John O'Leary, and singer Bryce Portius, perhaps the first black musician to be part of a British rock band. The latter hire reflected Simmonds' upbringing in a racially mixed area of South London. In their early gigs, Savoy played the same clubs as Fleetwood Mac, opened for Cream at some of that group's earliest shows and even served as John Lee Hooker's band on a full U.K. tour. Their growing reputation as a live act got them a deal with Decca Records. But by the time they cut their first album, Shake Down, they had already replaced two of their initial players and added a second guitarist: Martin Stone. The band's debut, 'Shake Down', released in September of '67, featured production from Mike Vernon, blues-rock's ultimate go-to guy for his work with John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, and later, Ten Years After.

Shake 'Em On Down

Savoy Brown

Play Track

Cover versions of classic blues songs ate up their debut, with the exception of one cut written by Stone. From the album's first song, the focus fell on Simmonds' shivering tone and limber leads. Yet only one track gave him room to stretch out, a final 6 minute take on the traditional blues Shake 'Em On Down.

Going On A Firing Spree

Getting to the Point

Savoy Brown

Play Album

The band's tentative first-steps necessitated a strong rethink before Simmonds cut album No. 2. Four of the band's six members got pink slipped, leaving only their leader and pianist Bob Hall. (For a blink-and-you-missed-it moment, Savoy had at its drummer Bill Bruford, who went on to great success with Yes). The band's more defining hires turned out to be second guitarist "Lonesome" Dave Peverette, a friend of Simmonds' from childhood, and frontman Chris Youlden. Though he owns one of rock's burliest, and most emotive voices, Youlden lacked the look of a showman. So the band's manager (Simmonds' brother Harry) created an image for him, outfitting the frontman with a distinct bowler hat and a monocle. The unit's debut, Getting To The Point, released in July of '68, bold-faced their reboot with eight original pieces. The slow blues, Flood In Houston, offered a nice showcase for Youlden's inventive vocals, as well as Simmond's intuitive guitar. But a cover track - Willie Dixon's You Need Love -

You Need Love

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

has intrigued historians most. Youlden's cry of "deep down inside, woman, you need love," later struck some listeners as a precursor to Robert Plant's famous use of those lines in Whole Lotta Love, released one year later. Simmonds believes some of his licks also had an influence on that track. "We did dates with The Yardbirds when Jimmy Page was in the band," Simmonds said. "I wouldn't doubt that he heard some of that material."

Expanding The Blues

Blue Matter

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

Savoy greatly widened their melodic reach on 1969's Blue Matter. The key track, Train To Nowhere, threaded four muted trombones behind Simmons' valiant solo, while the vocal from Youlden nailed the existential pull of the lyric. The band devoted half of the album to live tracks, cut the previous December at a gig which Youlden missed due to a bad case of tonsillitis. His loss gave the band two gains: Guitarist Peverette got to show off his own skills as a vocalist, and the musicians got to stretch out on tracks that lasted up to nine minutes. The concert format re-emphasized Savoy's forte as a live band. Subsequently, the group began to concentrate on touring, particularly in the U.S., where they headlined the Fillmore East and West several times.

A Step Further

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

Youlden more than compensated for his absence on the live part of 'Blue Matter' by dominating the writing on the first side one of the band's next album, A Step Further, released in late '69. He proved a striking songwriter, even on the instrumental track Waiting In the Bamboo Groove, which was fired by a charging horn section. Again, the second side of the album went the live route, devoting 22 minutes to Savoy Brown Boogie, a fast-paced medley of songs like Chuck Berry's Little Queenie, Hendrix's Purple Haze and even Hernando's Hideaway. It introduced fast and loose boogie to Savoy's usual repertoire of hard and steady blues.

Enter Jazz

Raw Sienna

Savoy Brown

Hear This Album

The band made an even greater leap on their fifth album, Raw Sienna, resulting in what some see as their studio masterpiece. Released in March of 1970, 'Raw Sienna' seemed to provide a U.K. answer to the jazz-rock trend exploding out of America in bands like Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago. In fact, Simmonds took his inspiration from Ray Charles, Little Milton and the classic recordings of Blue Note. The full-bodied horn section, used throughout, added muscle to the best compositions of Youlden and Simmonds' careers. Youlden wrote six songs, including the heartfelt I'm Crying and the sexy Stay While The Night Is Young while Simmonds contributed the emotive That Same Feelin', along with the album's most animated track, Master Hare. A jazz-rock instrumental, "Hare" suggested a caffeinated version of a Dave Brubeck classic. Regardless, the album underperformed on the charts, inching up to just No. 121 in the U.S.

Master Hare

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

For another blow, Youlden announced right after finishing recording that he was finished with the group as well. "He wanted to go in a more singer-songwriter direction, and I wanted to go more towards the guitar," Simmonds said. Personal problems also contributed to the split. "We didn't get along too well," the band leader said.

Lose One Singer To Discover Another

Looking In

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

Luckily, the band had Peverette in their back pocket as a vocalist. More, Simmonds had already written material he knew was among his strongest for a potential follow-up work. Released just seven months after 'Raw Sienna', in October of 1970, the Looking In album not only revealed a new lead singer but a whole new sound. With its tighter, four man line-up, Savoy Brown set its sights on hard rock, giving the music more punch and weight. After opening with a gorgeous solo guitar piece from Simmonds, the band launched into Poor Girl, a titanic rocker that honed the new tone. Peverette, a formerly shy singer, presented a newly assertive vocal style, while Simmonds kept the songwriting level high with the slinky Money Can't Save Your Soul and the jazz-tinged title track. The latter boasted dueling guitars from Simmonds and Peverette that wouldn't be out of place in the Allman Brothers. Together, it gave the band the highest chart score of its career, cracking the American Top 40 for the first, and only time.

Poor Girl

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

You'd think that success would encourage Simmonds to stick with the formula. But, in an exceptionally gutsy move, he challenged the other players to explore something dramatically different for their follow-up. "I wanted to go for a tighter, R&B sound." he said.

When the rest of the band proved ill equipped, or unwilling, to make that change, he fired all of them. The three - Peverette, bassist Tone Stevens and drummer Earle - took some ideas Simmonds had blueprinted and used them to form a new group, Foghat. By buffing up the sound, and simplifying their approach, Foghat became a huge act in the U.S. Their willingness to standardize Savoy's style, offers a key explanation for why they, rather than Simmonds' group, achieved sustained stardom.

Simmonds insists he "was very happy for them. And we remained great friends. I still get a thrill when I hear Slow Rideon a Nike commercial," he said.

The Move To R&B

Street Corner Talking

Savoy Brown

Hear This Album

A shake-up in a fellow blues band helped the resourceful Simmonds rebound from the three man loss. As it happened, Stan Webb, czar of the Brit blues at Chicken Shack, had just jettisoned three members of his band. Recognizing an opportunity, Simmonds hired every one of them. The new line-up jelled remarkably well, especially with the addition of singer Dave Walker, whose deep voice had some of the throaty command of Youlden. The unit's debut, Street Corner Talking, released in September of '71, made good on Simmonds' goal to bring steely R&B to the blues, evident in a convincing cover of The Temptations' Can't Get Next To You. 

The song received wide play on FM rock stations as did a catchy original, Tell Mama. Both cuts showcased a slicker, more streamlined production sound.

Hellbound Train

Savoy Brown

Listen Now

The groove on 'Street Corner' proved deep enough to inspire a strong restatement on its follow-up, Hellbound Train, released just five months later. The album found a highlight in the nine minute title cut, which remains a part of Savoy Brown's set to this day. The mix of R&B, boogie and blues hit a trifecta with 'Lion's Share', released late in '72. But, like all shades of Savoy Brown, this incarnation wasn't built to last.

By the end of that year, frontman Walker bolted to join the equally peripatetic Fleetwood Mac. His replacement, Jackie Lynton, proved a pale substitute, something the group tried to camouflage by surrounding him with scores of female backup singers on his sole album with them, 'Jack The Toad'. After Lynton left, Simmonds made another ballsy move by hooking up with peer Stan Webb for a double-guitar assault of an album, 'Boogie Brothers' in 1974. After that, Simmonds himself took over the singing, though he never considered himself a top vocalist. Savoy Brown's audience began to taper at that point, a trend which didn't dissuade Simmonds from continuing to lead some version of his brand through all the decades since. Along the way, he has released scores of albums and toured regularly.

Best of British Blues

The Yardbirds, John Mayall and 16 others

Listen Now

In the 50 years since Savoy Brown released their debut, they've run through over 60 (!) musicians, with Simmonds serving as their sole through line. "I can be a difficult person," the band leader admitted. "And I don't want to stand still. Once I've climbed a mountain, I want to climb another. If a band weren't willing to do that, I would get another band."

The subsequent roller-coaster ride hasn't deterred Simmonds. For the band's fiftieth anniversary this fall, Simmonds will release yet another new Savoy Brown album and tour to back it. "I have a strong motivation to continue,' he said. "A famous poet once said "the deed can never be done without need.' There's something in me that's gotta come out. Through all of it - the band's changes, the music, and the fifty years - the one tie-in is my guitar playing. That's what keeps it all going."