British Blues on film – and crowdfundraiser for Ealing

John Mayall, the late Jack Bruce, Paul Jones, Pete Townshend, Ginger Baker, Eric Burdon and Dick Taylor feature in Suburban Steps To Rockland, a feature film documentary about the Ealing Club, Britain’s first Rhythm & Blues venue. The film is heading for Sky release, but could use some income via its current crowdfunding campaign that runs to the end of August – see https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/suburban-steps-to-rockland#/. There are some tasty rewards for contributing to this commemoration of musical heritage.

Film is an important medium for celebrating the history of Blues music, with The Blues film series in the US being produced by no less a figure than Martin Scorsese.

Other British productions include Out of Time on singer Chris Farlowe and another on Alexis Korner, himself pivotal in the story of the Ealing Club.

Samples of our exhibits being shared online

Cream 8-track cartridge

John O’Leary custom Hohner harmonica

Otis Grand lyrics amended by Curtis Salgado

Using our various social media channels, we’ve been sharing a proportion of the images of the British Blues Exhibition collection. Over time, we will probably share one out of five of our exhibits online. Here are a few of the exhibit images shared recently. The images above show (from left to right, starting with the top row) an original 45rpm single by The Rolling Stones, Get Off My Cloud; a copy flyer for The Bromel Club with acts such as The Who and Chris Farlowe appearing in the 1960’s; a 2014 edition of Blues In Britain magazine with King King; an 8-track cartridge of Cream Live; a copy of Sounds magazine with Paul Kossoff and Back Street Crawler; a John O’Leary (Savoy Brown, Sugarkane, The Downliner Sect) Hohner Marine Band harmonica; a lyric sheet by Otis Grand amended by Curtis Salgado; and (some of) Chris Barber’s trombone donated to the exhibition. A lot more will follow in due course. That social media we mentioned?

Blog – http://blogoftheblues.blogspot.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com/BritishBluesEx

Instagram – www.instagram.com/britishbluesexhibition

Tumblr – http://britishbluesexhibition.tumblr.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/BritishBluesEx

You Tube – www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqnhOMpz-aC-HBlwyA7jfw/featured

 

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Document Records – British company wins Blues Foundation award

Document Records is an independent roots music label based in the United Kingdom. They have been newly awarded one of the annual ‘Keeping the Blues Alive’ Awards by the Blues Foundation in the US. The British Blues Exhibition would like to congratulate the label on this significant achievement and what they have done to earn it.

Document Records are famous for specializing in the issue and reissue of a vast catalogue of early recordings of American blues, gospel, spirituals, jazz, and roots music, covering the complete recorded works of numerous artists who have influenced subsequent generations. They also have extensive tracks and albums from the early careers of many of the most famous Blues artists. Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters, Blind Willie McTell, ‘Ma’ Rainey… the list is enormous and the company is celebrated by such famous artists as Jack White.

The Document Records website is here.