Steampacket | |
---|---|
Origin | London |
Genres | |
Years active | 1965–1966 |
Labels | Charly Records |
Members | Long John Baldry Rod Stewart Julie Driscoll Brian Auger Vic Briggs Ricky Fenson Micky Waller |
Steampacket (sometimes shown as Steam Packet) [1] was a British blues band [2] formed in 1965 by Long John Baldry with Rod Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and organist Brian Auger.
A musical revue rather than a single group, [3] [4] Steampacket was formed in 1965 by Long John Baldry after the break-up of his previous group the Hoochie Coochie Men. [5] It included Rod Stewart who had been with Baldry in the Hoochie Coochie Men, vocalist Julie Driscoll, organist Brian Auger, guitarist Vic Briggs, Richard Brown aka Ricky Fenson on bass guitar and Micky Waller on drums. They were managed by Giorgio Gomelsky, [6] who had previously been involved with the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.
Steampacket played at various clubs, theatres and student unions around the country, including supporting the Rolling Stones on their 1965 British tour. [7] [8] Because of contractual difficulties, however, they never formally recorded a studio or live album. Tracks from some demo tapes they recorded at a rehearsal in the Marquee Club were released in 1970 on the French label BYG as Rock Generation: Volume 6 - The Steampacket (Or the First Supergroup). [9] The same material was later re-released under other titles, including First of the Supergroups: Early Days and The First Supergroup: Steampacket Featuring Rod Stewart, to cash in on Stewart's success. [10] [11]
Stewart left in early 1966, followed by Long John Baldry a few months later, and the group disbanded soon after. Long John Baldry then joined Bluesology which included a then unknown Elton John on keyboards, [12] [13] before pursuing a solo career, having a number 1 hit record in the UK Singles Chart in 1967 with "Let the Heartaches Begin". Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and Vic Briggs formed Trinity, with Briggs departing later in 1966 to join Eric Burdon and The Animals. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity had a UK hit in 1968 with "This Wheel's on Fire". Rod Stewart later sang with the Jeff Beck Group, the Faces and as a solo artist. There is an urban legend that Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood, later of Fleetwood Mac, played with Steampacket. In fact Steampacket, with the exception of Rod Stewart's departure, had the same personnel from its inception to its disintegration. The group that Green and Fleetwood played in alongside Rod Stewart was Shotgun Express. [14]
Sir Roderick David Stewart is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 120 million records worldwide. He has had 10 number-one albums and 31 top-ten singles in the UK, six of which reached number one. Stewart has had 16 top-ten singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.
Brian Albert Gordon Auger is an English jazz rock and rock music keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ.
John William "Long John" Baldry was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Before achieving stardom, Rod Stewart and Elton John were members of bands led by Baldry. He enjoyed pop success in 1967 when "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in the UK, and in Australia where his duet with Kathi McDonald "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" reached No. 2 in 1980.
Gasoline Alley is the second solo studio album by the British singer-songwriter Rod Stewart. It was released on 12 June 1970 by Vertigo Records. It is a collection of covers combined with Stewart's own compositions. Like many of Stewart's solo albums from the period, it featured significant musical contributions from the other members of his band Faces.
Julie Driscoll Tippett is an English singer and actress, known for her work with Brian Auger and her husband, Keith Tippett.
It Ain't Easy is a 1971 album by Long John Baldry. It marked his return to the edgier blues sound that he performed in the mid-60s. It was Baldry's fifth solo album.
The National Jazz and Blues Festival was the precursor to the Reading Rock Festival and was the brainchild of Harold Pendleton, the founder of the prestigious Marquee Club in Soho.
Victor Harvey Briggs III was a British blues and rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist with Eric Burdon and The Animals during the 1966–1968 period. Briggs, a convert to Sikhism, later played classical Indian and Hawaiian music, and adopted the name Antion Vikram Singh Meredith.
Everything Stops for Tea is an album by John Baldry released in May 1972. It was produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart. Elton provides vocal accompaniment on tracks 1, 3-5. Stewart provides vocal accompaniment and plays banjo on track 8.
Michael Waller was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometimes briefly, of some of the seminal bands of the 1960s, Waller played as a session musician with a host of UK and US artists.
Bluesology was a 1960s British blues group, best remembered as being the first professional band of Elton John.
Sixties Power Ballads - The Greatest Driving Anthems in the World... Ever! is an edition in The Greatest Driving Anthems in the World... Ever! series, which is a part of The Best... Album in the World...Ever! brand. This album was released October 22, 2007 and includes some of the biggest power ballads the 1960s had to offer.
Brian Auger and the Trinity was a British band led by keyboardist Brian Auger. His duet with Julie Driscoll, the Bob Dylan–penned "This Wheel's on Fire", was a number 5 hit on the 1968 UK Singles Chart.
British rhythm and blues was a musical movement that developed in the United Kingdom between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and reached a peak in the mid-1960s. It overlapped with, but was distinct from, the broader British beat and more purist British blues scenes, attempting to emulate the music of American blues and rock and roll pioneers, such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. It often placed greater emphasis on guitars and was often played with greater energy.
Long John's Blues was the début solo album by British blues singer Long John Baldry and his band, the Hoochie Coochie Men, featuring musicians who had previously played alongside Baldry in the Cyril Davies All-Stars. The album featured a track list that he would continue to play at live shows throughout his career.
The All-Stars were a short-lived English blues combo active in the early-mid 1960s. Originally known as the Cyril Davies (R&B) All-Stars, their later recordings are often credited to the Immediate All-Stars due to their releases on Immediate Records. In 1999, the group reformed as the Carlo Little All-Stars.
Geoffrey Frank Bradford was an English guitarist who played alongside British blues musicians in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Long John Baldry and Alexis Korner.
The Hoochie Coochie Men was a renowned Australian blues group composed of former Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne bass player Bob Daisley, guitarist and singer Tim Gaze and drummer Rob Grosser. The recurring member of the band was former Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord who first performed with The Hoochie Coochie Men in February 2003 after an injury which prevented him from performing his usual concert setlist on piano. The band was also joined on stage by various harmonica players. The Hoochie Coochie Men's second studio album, Danger. White Men Dancing features guest performances from vocalists Ian Gillan, Jimmy Barnes and Jeff Duff.
The Fishmongers Arms is a former public house in Wood Green in the London Borough of Haringey. Built in 1855 on the site of the former Wood Green Farm, Its name derived from the adjacent Fishmongers' and Poulterers' Almshouses, which were demolished in 1956 for the construction of the Haringey Civic Centre.