The Blues Band
are:
PAUL
JONES,
DAVE KELLY, TOM McGUINNESS, GARY FLETCHER,
ROB TOWNSEND
A pocket history:
In 1979 Paul Jones, ex
front man of chart-topping ‘60s UK band Manfred Mann, was
working mainly as an actor in London’s West End .… squeezing in a few
harmonica sessions in the day time. He missed playing his favourite music,
the Blues, and decided to contact his old Manfred Mann colleague, Tom
McGuinness, to discuss the idea of forming a band …. “just to play some
blues .…” It was intended to be simply a part-time occupation around
London’s pubs and they expected just “beer money” and to have some fun. Jones and McGuinness recruited ex John Mayall
drummer Hughie Flint (Tom & Hughie had
enjoyed chart success in the 70s as McGuinness Flint). Tom heard on the grapevine that Blues bottleneck guitarist Dave Kelly
(from The John Dummer Blues Band – and brother of Jo
Ann Kelly .… also a very successful blues singer) was currently
available and invited him along for a rehearsal .… Dave took along his
bass player friend, Gary Fletcher.
Within weeks
these masters of R&B were packing the pubs in and around London. At one
of these – The Bridge House in Canning Town – the band arrived on the
night to discover all the streets around the pub crammed with parked
vehicles. Bemoaning their lot they parked what felt like miles away but on
walking into the venue they realised the cars belonged to the sell-out
crowd waiting for them! Suddenly the pub circuit was too
small …. A band formed by guys itching to get back to and play their
musical roots …. for that beer money .… had much more to offer than anyone
imagined.
However, record
companies had no interest in a group of ex-Sixties stars .… no matter how
good they were. This was no deterrent – the band recorded the first album,
The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album, and sold it directly
to their fans by mail order. Suddenly
management companies became interested in this little money spinner. The
album sleeve was blank white – the band hand-stamped their Blues Band logo
on to it – and spent hours signing the first 3000. Radio One DJ Simon
Bates raved about it – then surprise surprise – the sales rate of this
cottage industry record opened the eyes of several major record labels,
and a record deal was signed with Arista Ariola (later to become BMG
Records).
The following years were filled with success. A high
profile appearance on Germany’s premier TV show “Rockpalast” launched the
band in Europe and the demand for tours, festival appearances & TV work
was astounding. In Britain the band left behind the pub circuit, toured
concert venues & Blues and Rock Festivals, and were one of the headlining
acts at Glastonbury in 1982,
by which time Rob Townsend
had replaced Hughie Flint on drums.
Their EP Maggie’s
Farm entered the UK singles charts and
their albums Bootleg, Ready, Itchy Feet and Brand Loyalty
all charted. Former Family drummer
Rob Townsend joined the band in early 1982 when Hughie decided he'd had
enough of life on the road and quit the band. Many successful albums have since
followed
expressing a host of styles and influences ….. acoustic
records, big band brass sections .… but always ….. The Blues …… pure and
simple – from the band with the pure & simple name, THE BLUES BAND.
2004 saw the band's 25th
anniversay. Seventeen albums have been
recorded …. countless tours completed .… and the demand continues to grow
for their very special, very personal interpretation of the music they all
love. Thousands of excellent reviews have appeared in a variety of
publications, from local papers to dedicated blues magazines to national
broadsheets (The
Times referred to them as a
"top flight group of seasoned
professionals").
Fashions come and go ….
musical genre too … but not only is the Blues always there, The Blues Band
are too. The individual members were already held in admiration by
generations of rhythm & blues fans when they formed back in 1979. Almost
two & a half decades and 16 albums later they continue to add to their growing army of followers,
and it’s not unheard of to find three generations from the same family at
a gig.
The band are today
acknowledged throughout Europe and beyond as the best purveyors of rhythm
& blues. They have inspired numerous other blues bands, many of which have
come and gone, whereas The Blues Band have remained a constant,
increasingly popular fixture, and all with only a modicum of help from the
record business – as the band sometimes joke, "The music industry doesn’t
bother us and we don’t bother them."
This independent streak goes
right back to those early days when the band "bootlegged" their own first
album – certain copies of which are now collector’s items. It’s a credit
to both their inordinate talent and to their many thousands of fans’
loyalty and support that they have sustained such a long career, and
brings into question the oft-spoken phrase by parents despairing of their
aspiring musical offspring, "When are you going to get yourself a proper
job?"
Such successful musical
mavericks are fairly rare and are borne more from word-of-mouth than
promotional hype. Either way they still have to cut the mustard. These
boys have real feel – for their music, for their audience and for each
other. Playing with maturity and passion is second nature to all of them
.... Paul Jones has devoted much of a creative career spanning almost 40
years to this eternal, inspiring form - the very base and roots of rock &
roll ..... Dave Kelly, with his late, great sister, Jo-Ann, introduced a
whole generation to the works of Memphis Minnie, Son House, Robert Johnson
and Mississippi Fred McDowell ...... the blues bit Tom McGuinness in the
late '50s and has never let go - the same sharp, tight grip which still
holds Rob Townsend and Gary Fletcher within its spell.
As enthusiastic as ever, The
Blues Band continue to be Britain's finest, most skilled practitioners in
the art of the blues.
