Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/992438
Illustrations by William Stout C B (1930–) is Ground Zero for the British Blues. Barber founded a "Tradition- al" or "Trad" (what we in America call "Dixie- land") jazz orchestra in 1950s England (playing together since 1954, Bar- ber and Pat Halcox share the honor of the longest continuing partnership in the history of jazz). Chris was interested in all forms of African-American mu- sic, especially jazz and blues. He was instrumen- tal in being the rst Brit to bring American blues performers like Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Muddy Waters to perform in England, exposing young Englishmen to live authentic American blues for the very rst time. e dawn of the Brit- ish interest in the blues (at least from the musi- cians' end of it) began as an almost entirely male a air. A major exception, however, was Chris' wife, the so -spoken North- ern Irish white woman O P (1932-2011). She joined the Barber band in 1955 and became the rst singer to record blues LPs in the UK. Ironical- ly, this mimicked a bit of blues history in the United States, where the very rst blues singing stars were all women, i.e., Bessie Smith (Ottilie's rst major singing in uence), Ethel Waters, and M R. In fact, "Crazy Blues" a 1920 hit sung by Mamie Smith, is considered by most blues historians to be the rst blues song ever recorded by an African American. Pat- terson paved the way for future female blues sing- ers from the UK, most notably J A K, C P (later Christine McVie), M B (from Stone the Crows), and Elkie Brooks. Banjo and guitar play- er L D (1931-2002; originally Tony Donegan, he re- named himself "Lonnie" in tribute to American blues guitarist extraor- dinaire Lonnie Johnson) was rst exposed to the blues when he heard American blues musician Josh White on BBC radio. Lonnie was asked by Chris Barber to join his band in the early 1950s. A stripped down version of the Barber band, the Lonnie Donegan Ski e Group, used to perform a ski e (ski e was a combination of Amer- ican blues and folk songs) set in between the orchestra's jazz sets. e ski e music soon be- gan to attract as many audience members as the jazz sets. e Chris Barber Jazz Band's rst LP, New Orleans Joy (1954), was the rst debut LP to go gold in the UK and the rst UK LP to enter the U.S. Top Ten. Lon- nie had a massive hit with a song pulled from the album, "Rock Island Line." at single sold more than three million copies and Lonnie became the rst UK male to score two Top Ten hits in America. e skif- e boom was launched. Lonnie Donegan, " e King of Ski e," scored 24 UK Top 30 hits. A shared love of ski e inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney to form their rst band together. Trumpeter H L (1921-2008), another trad jazz band lead- er, fell in love with the blues while attending Eton College. To the horror of jazz purists Humph began to regularly incorporate blues and more mainstream numbers into his band's jazz sets. Lyttelton's "Bad Penny Blues" (1956), the rst jazz record to reach the UK Top 20, inspired e Beatles' "Lady Madonna." Humph hosted and backed a number of female blues singers, the most prominent of whom was Elkie Brooks. Elkie later sang lead with Robert Palmer in the rowdy band Vine- gar Joe before she launched one of the most successful female solo careers in UK history. In 2002 Brooks recorded Trouble in Mind, an entire blues LP backed by Lyttelton. As soon as guitarist A- K (1928-1984) heard American blues pianist Jimmy Yancey's "Slow and Easy Blues," Alexis became hooked on the blues. Korner and harmonica player and Chicago blues enthu- siast C D (1932-1964) June/July 2018 21