Long John Baldry (born John William Baldry; 12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where “Let the Heartaches Begin” reached No. 1 in 1967 and in Australia where his duet with Kathi McDonald, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” reached number two in 1980. Baldry lived in Canada from the late 1970s until his death; there he continued to make records and do voiceover work. One of his best known roles in voice acting was as Dr. Robotnik in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. (More from Wikipedia)
Additionally, Pete Sears of the Sons of Fred has been a prominent session bass guitarist and keyboard player for more than four decades. He played on four early Rod Stewart solo albums, including the classic Every Picture Tells a Story (the album that includes Rod’s mega-hit “Maggie May”), plus Gasoline Alley, Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler. Pete Sears has also worked with Steamhammer, Stoneground, Long John Baldry, Los Lobos, and three of the founding members of the Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh.
(March 2014/2)
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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.
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After Don Shinn contracted tuberculosis in July 1965, Rod Stewart left the Soul Agents and joined a “supergroup” called Steampacket that was formed by Long John Baldry with organist Brian Auger and vocalist Julie Driscoll, who had previously recorded together as part of Brian Auger and the Trinity.
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In 1969, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Quaye (vocals, guitar, keyboards) formed a band called Hookfoot with former Soul Agents Ian Duck (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Dave Glover (bass guitar) and Roger Pope (drums). Quaye had previously been in one of the final incarnations of Long John Baldry’s band Bluesology (whose previous members included Elton John when he was still known as Reg Dwight – in fact, the “John” in his stage name is in tribute to Long John Baldry).
(May 2014)
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By September 1963, the Rolling Stones had outgrown the local club scene and had begun to tour; their replacement at the Crawdaddy Club was another of the major British Invasion bands, the Yardbirds, whose line-up at that time included Eric Clapton. Other major bands and artists who performed at this club include Led Zeppelin, Long John Baldry, Elton John, and Rod Stewart.
(January 2015/2)
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Reggie Dwight was based in London and was then in a band called Bluesology that was backing British blues artist Long John Baldry; within six months, he started using the name Elton John as an homage to Baldry and to Elton Dean, a saxophone player in Bluesology.
(April 2015/1)
