Savoy Brown

Savoy Brown biography

Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown never achieved as much success in their homeland as they did in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring.

Career

The band was formed and led by guitarist Kim Simmonds, whose dominating personality led to a myriad of personnel changes.

The original line-up included singer Bryce Portius, keyboardist Trevor Jeavons, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Manning and harmonica player John O'Leary (O'Leary appeared on record with the band on its initial recordings for Mike Vernon's Purdah label). Portius was one of the first black blues musicians to be a part of a British rock band. Jeavons' was replaced by Bob Hall shortly after the band's formation, and this was followed shortly by O'Leary's departure and the arrival of Martin Stone on guitars. This line-up appeared on the band's 1967 debut album, Shake Down, a collection of blues covers.

Further line-up changes ensued, with founding members Portius, Chappell, and Manning departing along with recently-recruited guitarist Stone over a short period of time. Chris Youlden and Dave Peverett would become the band's new vocalist and guitarist respectively. Initially Bob Brunning and Hughie Flint filled the bassist and drummer positions, but they were subsequently replaced by Rivers Jobe and Bill Bruford. Within a fortnight of Bruford's arrival in the band, he had been replaced by Roger Earl. This lineup recorded two albums in 1968, Getting to the Point, and Blue Matter, which demonstrated Youlden's rise as a songwriter alongside Simmonds. It was this lineup that released the single "Train to Nowhere" in 1969. A Step Further was released later that year, and introduced bassist Tony Stevens replacing Jobe. They developed a loyal core following in the United States, due to songs such as "I'm Tired", a driving, melodic song from the album.

Following the release of Raw Sienna (also released in 1969) both Youlden and Hall departed the band. Raw Sienna had marked the first time that a single lineup of the band had recorded subsequent albums without any personnel changes in between. The band recorded their next album, 1970's Looking In, as a four-piece, and following this album Peverett, Stevens, and Earl left to form Foghat with guitarist Rod Price.

Simmonds continued the band with Dave Walker on vocals, Paul Raymond on keyboards and guitars, Andy Silvester on bass, and Dave Bidwell on drums.

They were one of the bands that UK Decca (US London/Parrot) stuck with through the lean times until they started selling records (it took four or five albums until they started to sell in the U.S.) In the late 1960s and 1970s, the band managed to penetrate the Billboard Hot 100. Superstardom perpetually evaded them, perhaps in part because of their frequent line-up changes, but despite that their next album, Hellbound Train (1972) was a Top 40 album for them in the U.S. In January 1974, the British music magazine, NME reported that Stan Webb was joining Savoy Brown, following the break-up of Chicken Shack.

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