My Favourites

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The track playing is "Jumping at Shadows".

 

 

  People are constantly asking me who my favourite musicians/singers/bands are, or who I am "influenced" by. There is no straightforward, simple answer to this. To understand where I am coming from, musically, we have to go back to the fifties and the birth of Rock'n'Roll. The first piece of music that really blew my mind was Chuck Berry's "Johnie B.Goode". Chuck still heads the list of my all time favourites. After that it was Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochrane, Gene Vincent, Little Richard etc. Then in '63 came the great "Merseybeat" boom, of which I was a (very small) part. Obviously most musicians of that time loved The Beatles, Stones, Animals, Kinks, etc. It was around this time that I got intersted in the music of Muddy Waters, B.B.King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, etc. For me it was the "birth of the blues"! As most musical historians would tell you the careers of these great bluesmen were, at that time, very much on the wane. However, in the U.K. this music was new and vibrant. There was a booming blues scene in Britain, headed by Eric Clapton, Alexis Korner, John Mayall, The Rolling Stones,  Fleetwood Mac, etc. I have listened to interviews given by B.B. and Buddy in which they admit that their careers would have ended had it not been for the "Brits".
    At that stage of my career I was playing all types of stuff, from music for ballroom dancing to rock and, of course, blues. That is the background to my music.
    Now I will answer THE question.....
My favourite blues musicians are: B.B.King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddy Clearwater, Ray Charles and Peter Green. Of course I still love the "founders" of the dynasty that is blues, too numerous to mention, but I'm sure you'll all know the great names I refer to. I am never presumptious enough to say that these are the best blues musicians, although I could put forward a very good argument to support that case, just that these are my favourites.
Over the last couple of years, having seen the band perform on numerous occasions, I have to come to the conclusion that, in my opinion, Peter Green's Splinter Group are the best blues band in the world!
    Away from the blues field? Easy - Chuck Berry, Status Quo, Rod Stewart followed by ZZ Top. It may suprise many of you to know that I also appreciate Orchestral Music, Military Music, Brass Bands and I greatly admire, and love, the music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington and, most of all......ol' Blue Eyes!
I have also become, over the last few years, a big fan of Robbie Williams.

 


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This site was last updated 08/08/07