Alexis
Korner was born in Paris the 19th of April 1928 and died in London
of lung cancer the 1st of January 1984.
He came
to London in 1940, joined in 1949 Chris Barber’s Jazz Band where he met blues
harmonica player Cyriel Davies. They started playing as a duo, formed the
London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955, and made their first record in 1957.
Korner
brought many American blues artists, before unknown in England, to play in
London.
In 1961
Korner and Davies formed “Blues incorporated”, a group of musicians who loved
“electric blues” and R&B.The group included at various times musicians like:
Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, Danny
Thompson and Dick Heckstall-Smith and attracted most of the time younger fans
like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, John Mayall, Rod Stewart and
jimmy Page, some of whom occasionally performed with the group.
Although
Davies left the group in 1963, Blues Incorporated continued to record till
1966.However by that time many musicians and followers had left the group to
start their own bands. He himself was a blues purist, who during the blues boom
of the late 60’s, criticized many famous British blues player for their blind
adherence of the Chicago blues, as if the music came in no other form.
In the
60’s korner also began a media career as a show business interviewer and also
wrote about blues for music papers.
In 1967
he interviewed the Jimi Hendrix experience for the BBC radio. Some of these
tracks appear on the Hendrix double CD,”BBC Sessions”, including korner playing
slide guitar on “Hoochie Cootchie Man”
He began
a band called “New Church” with Peter Thorup,and played with that band on the
Rolling Stones Hyde park concert in 1969.
Jimmy
page found out about a new singer, Robert Plant, who had been jamming with
Korner.Plant and Korner were in the
process of recording an album with Plant on vocals, till page invited Plant to join “the New
Yardbirds” aka Led Zeppelin”. From Plant’s recordings with Korner are only two
songs in circulation: “Steal Away” and “Operator”.
In 1970
Korner and Thorup formed a band, C.C.S., short for “The Collective
Consciousness Society”.
Their
biggest hit was “Brother”, which was used as the theme for the BBC radio 1 top
20/40.
In 1973
Korner formed another band,”Snape” with Bozz Burrell, Mel Collins and Ian Wallace,
who played before in “King Crimson”
The band
was: Alexis korner: guitar, vocals
Peter Thorup: Guitar
Zoot Money: piano
Bozz Burrell: bass
Ian Wallace: drum
Korner also played on BB King’s “In London” album.
He made
his own supersession album, “Get off my cloud” with Keith Richards, Peter Frampton,
Nicky Hopkins, Steve Marriott and members of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band.
Later in
the 70’s he toured with Steve Marriott, who played with the Small Faces and
humble pie, after mick jagger stopped him from replacing Mick Taylor in the
Rolling stones.
In 1978,
for Korner’s 50th birthday, an all-stars concert was held featuring
many of his friends-musicians mentioned earlier, as well as Eric Clapton, Paul
Jones and Chris Farlowe..These sessions were later released under the name:
“The Party Album”
In 1981 Korner joined another super group, “Rocket 88”, a project led by Ian Stewart, based on boogie Woogie keyboard players, with as rhythm section which featured Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts.
Keith
Richards was an admirer of Alexis Kornes, the grandfather of British blues.
In 1983,
at the 25th jubilee of The Marquee, Alexis played with some members
of the Stones, Ian Stewart, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, with at the vocals
Ruby turner.
8 months
after this gig, the lights of Alexis’s concert went out, forever this time.
May he
rest in peace!
