Alexis Korner (born Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner; 19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984) was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as “a founding father of British blues”. A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in bringing together various English blues musicians. (More from Wikipedia)
Jack Bruce was the original bass guitarist for Blues Incorporated, which was founded by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner as the first amplified R&B band in Britain; other bandmembers in the early line-up include Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, and vocalist Long John Baldry. The band was never intended to have a fixed line-up and included numerous fine musicians over its life, among them the future drummer for Cream, Ginger Baker. Jack Bruce was also briefly a member of Manfred Mann.
(May 2014)
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I always thought that “Jesus is Just Alright” was their first hit song, but it was actually the third single released by the Doobie Brothers (in late 1972), after “Listen to the Music”. Other versions have been recorded by Alexis Korner and the Ventures.
(July 2014)
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With their experience in Norway fresh on their minds, Mal and the Primitives decided to become one of several expatriate British rock bands that began to appear elsewhere in Europe by the mid-1960’s. The Downliners Sect and Alexis Korner followed a similar route. Perhaps the best known is the Sorrows; unable to follow up their 1965 hit “Take a Heart” in their home country (also included on Nuggets II), the group relocated to Italy in 1966 and recorded a highly esteemed Italian album in 1968, Old Songs New Songs. I have the first official reissue of Old Songs New Songs in 2009 on Wooden Hill Records; a second CD includes an early demo of the album plus a concert performance from 1980. A full cover by the Sorrows of the early Bee Gees hit “New York Mining Disaster 1941” is included on this early demo; only a single line from “New York Mining Disaster 1941” made it onto their album.
(May 2015)
