RIP: Chris Barber, Champion of the Blues

It is with great regret that we learn of the passing of Chris Barber, chart-topping Jazz bandleader and a key Champion of the Blues, without whose impact music would have taken a different course.

Chris was and in a sense remains one of the headline supporters of the British Blues Exhibition, alongside John Mayall, Huey Morgan, Mud Morganfield, Connie Lush, and Pete Brown. He donated a trombone to the exhibition and it has become one of our uppermost objectives to celebrate his contribution to British and world Blues music and his ongoing legacy.

Darren Weale, Founder of the British Blues Exhibition, said, “Chris in person was a gentleman and a man with a multitude of memories and opinions. Among those memories were a remarkable collection of stories about how he interacted with and directly or indirectly helped many, many people and their music, including Lonnie Donegan, Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and ultimately the biggest hitters of the British Blues scene including The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, The Animals, Van Morrison, and The Blues Band. I was lucky to have known him.”

More to follow.

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

 

Still Hard and Blue – fifty or more years on

For admirers of British Blues, it is possible to see many of the performers who were part of the British Blues Explosion in the 1960’s still performing with as much passion as ever today.

Look out for:

– The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts remain from the original line up. Several other members of The Rolling Stones come and go from the line up and have separate bands, such as Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

– John Mayall. The Bluesbreaker himself who advanced the careers of guitarists including Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton continues to tour, and is a supporter of the British Blues Exhibition.

– The Pretty Things – with two original members, this band continues to tour.

– The John O’Leary/Alan Glen Allstars – a band with a varying membership, and in their last Monday of each month shows at the Bull’s Head in Barnes, London, both the core band and guests have members who were some of the dynamite in the British Blues Explosion. John O’Leary also performs with his own band, Sugarkane.

– The Downliners Sect – Don Craine has been wearing his deerstalker hat on stage with this outfit for over fifty years.

More to follow….

 

 

Audio interview with Mud Morganfield

As he begins his latest UK and European tour, we spoke with British Blues Exhibition supporter Mud Morganfield in a hotel location with some background noise, in the morning following his appearance at The Jazz Cafe. Tour dates can be viewed via the websites below and the latest known list beneath them. Mud talks about his father, his mother and her basement, performing on TV’s Later with Jools Holland, joining Hugh Laurie on stage in Chicago, Jukin’ Jenn and her broadcast the Bucket of Blues, his stage dress code, his band, and what he will give the British Blues Exhibition to show off, his recent album, For Pops, with Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and more. It is one thing reading an interview with a top performer like Mud, but listening to him speak is special. Enjoy the interview here. Browse and enjoy all our specially recorded audio interviews here. Websites: http://www.mudmorganfieldsite.com/ http://www.mudmorganfieldblues.com/ Dates known at time of writing: Thursday, 30/04/2015, Arlington Arts Centre, Mary Hare, Newbury  http://www.arlingtonarts.co.uk/ May Friday, 01/05/2015, North Sea Jazz Club, Amsterdam, Holland.   http://www.northseajazzclub.com/ Saturday 02/05/2015 Rhythm & Blues Night, De Oosterpoort, Groningen, Holland /www.rhythmbluesnight.nl Sunday, 03/05/2015, Isle of Arts Festival, Ventnor, Isle of Wight.   http://www.artsisle.org/ Monday, 04/05/2015, Selby Town Hall, York St, Selby, North Yorkshire. http://www.selbytownhall.co.uk/ Wednesday, 06/05/2015, The Castle, Castle Way, Wellingborough NN8 1XA 01933 229 022.    http://www.thecastle.org.uk/ Thursday, 07/05/2015, Vonnies Blues Club, Cheltenham, Glos 01452 862332 or 07545385518. http://charltonkingsclub.co.uk/index.php/events/vonnies-blues-club Friday, 08/05/2015, The Met, Bury, Greater Manchester 0161 761 2216.   http://themet.biz/ Saturday, 09/05/2015, 1865 Club, Brunswick Square, Southampton 023 80 222 605  www.the1865.com Friday, 22/05/2015, Blues on the Bay Festival, Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland http://bluesonthebay.co.uk Saturday, 23/05/2015, Ashburton Blues Festival, Seale Hayne Nr Newton Abbot, Devon  http://www.ashburtonbluesfestival.co.uk/ Sunday, 24/05/2015, Iron Road Rock Bar, 140 High St, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 4EJ 07831 338277 https://www.facebook.com/theironroad Monday, 25/05/2015, Ribs and Blues Festival, Raalte, Holland http://ribsenblues.nl/ June Thursday, 18/06/2015, Boisdale Canary Wharf, London, http://tickets.boisdale.co.uk/pages/events/a-blues-spectacular-with-the-incredible-mud-morganfield/18-06-2015/

Audio interview with Ali MacKenzie and Derek Griffiths

Ali MacKenzie

The Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, hosted a live album launch for Birdwood, a band made up of some of the people in British Blues with serious history – and a serious hunger to play the Blues and have fun doing it. The British Blues Exhibition interviewed vocalist Ali MacKenzie and Derek Griffiths and captured a hint of the music and the introduction to the members of the band. Prominent in the history of the two interviewed are people including Ronnie Wood, Art Wood, Chuck Berry, Chubby Checker. Advice offered by Sister Rosetta Tharpe was especially notable. Listen here.

Listen and hear about how Ali’s and Derek’s careers have ben impacted by:

Jon Lord, the Artwoods, Mike Cotton Sound, Ronnie Wood, Colin Blunstone, Keef Hartley, Dog Soldier, Theatre, Art Wood, Art Wood Combo, West Drayton Community Centre, The Who, The Birds, The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, Denmark Street, Eel Pie Club, Derek Griffiths, Ali MacKenzie, Chris Parren, Rocky Horror Show, The Strawbs, Jim Diamond, Keith Grant Evans, Downliners Sect, Mark Freeman, Chubby Checker, Dave Berry, Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry London Sessions, 100 Club, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Radio Caroline, BBC Radio One, The Move, Tony Blackburn, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Motown, and The Everley Brothers.