Blue Matter (Savoy Brown album)

Last updated

Blue Matter
Blue Matter (album).jpeg
Studio album (part live)by
ReleasedMay 1969 (UK) [1]
RecordedMarch 19, 1968–January 1969; December 6, 1968 (tracks 7–9)
VenueCity of Leicester College of Education, Scraptoft, Leicestershire (tracks 7–9)
Genre Blues rock [2]
Length49:27
Label Decca Records (UK) / Parrot Records (US/Canada) (original LP)
Deram (CD release)
Producer Mike Vernon
Savoy Brown chronology
Getting to the Point
(1968)
Blue Matter
(1969)
A Step Further
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

Blue Matter is the third album by the band Savoy Brown. Teaming up once again with producer Mike Vernon, it finds them experimenting even more within the blues framework. Several tracks feature piano (played by Bob Hall, guitarist Kim Simmonds, and vocalist Chris Youlden, who plays guitar here) as well as trombone.

Contents

This album featured a mix of live and studio recordings. The live tracks were recorded on December 6, 1968, at the now defunct City of Leicester College of Education, because the band was scheduled to tour the US and needed additional tracks to complete the album in time for the tour. The booking at the college represented their only chance to record the extra tracks in a live venue, before embarking on the tour. An offer to perform the concert free of charge was accepted by Chris Green, the college Social Secretary, who had made the original booking, and the concert was duly recorded, a number of the live tracks being added to the album. Because Chris Youlden was suffering from tonsillitis, Dave Peverett stood in as lead vocalist on the live tracks.

The album track "Vicksburg Blues" had first appeared as the B-side of Decca single F 12797 (released June 1968), fronted by "Walking by Myself".

Both Zigzag magazine and Rolling Stone magazine considered "Train to Nowhere" as the quintessential Savoy Brown song.

Track listing

  1. "Train to Nowhere" (Kim Simmonds, Chris Youlden) – 4:12
  2. "Tolling Bells" (Simmonds, Youlden) – 6:33
  3. "She's Got a Ring in His Nose and a Ring on Her Hand" (Youlden) – 3:07
  4. "Vicksburg Blues" (Bob Hall, Youlden) – 4:00
  5. "Don't Turn Me from Your Door" (John Lee Hooker) – 5:04
  6. "Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around the World)" (Titus Turner) – 2:42 (CD bonus track)
  7. "May Be Wrong" (live) (Dave Peverett) – 7:50
  8. "Louisiana Blues" (live) (McKinley Morganfield [4] ) – 9:06
  9. "It Hurts Me Too" (live) (Mel London) – 6:53

Personnel

Savoy Brown

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (1969)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [5] 182

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Walker</span> English rock singer (born 1945)

David Walker is an English singer and guitarist who has been front-man for a number of bands; most notably The Idle Race, Savoy Brown and Humble Pie, he also served briefly with Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foghat</span> English rock band

Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. Their best known song is the 1975 hit "Slow Ride". The band has released eight gold albums, one platinum and one double platinum album, and despite several line-up changes, continue to record and perform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savoy Brown</span> English blues rock band

Savoy Brown were a British blues rock band formed in Battersea, southwest London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. Founder, guitarist and primary songwriter Kim Simmonds was the sole constant member of the band from its formation in 1965 until his death in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Simmonds</span> British musician (1947–2022)

Kim Maiden Simmonds was a Welsh musician. He was the founder, guitarist, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the blues rock band Savoy Brown, which he formed in 1965. Simmonds had led Savoy Brown since its inception, appearing on every Savoy Brown release.

<i>Diamond Dave</i> (album) 2003 studio album by David Lee Roth

Diamond Dave is the sixth studio album by David Lee Roth, former lead vocalist of Van Halen. It was released in 2003 on Magna Carta Records.

Christopher Thomas Youlden is an English blues singer. He worked with the British blues band Savoy Brown from 1967 until 1970. He has since released several solo albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicken Shack</span> English blues band

Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb, Andy Silvester, and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1967. Chicken Shack has performed with various line-ups, Stan Webb being the only constant member.

<i>Raw Sienna</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Savoy Brown

Raw Sienna is the fifth album by the band Savoy Brown. It was recorded and released by Decca in the United Kingdom in 1970 in both mono and stereo. For release in United States and Canada, masters were leased to Parrot Records —PAS 71036.

<i>Sanctuary</i> (Charlie Musselwhite album) 2004 studio album by Charlie Musselwhite

Sanctuary is the twenty third studio album by American singer and harpist Charlie Musselwhite. It was released in 2004 on Peter Gabriel's Real World label, Musselwhite's debut release on this label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Vernon (record producer)</span> Musical artist

Michael William Hugh Vernon is an English music executive studio owner, and record producer from Harrow, Middlesex. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups in the 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Climax Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and Ten Years After amongst others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Peverett</span> Musical artist

David Jack Peverett, also known as Lonesome Dave, was an English singer and guitarist, best known as the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Foghat, which he co-founded following his tenure in Savoy Brown.

<i>A Step Further</i> 1969 studio album (part live) by Savoy Brown

A Step Further is the fourth album by the band Savoy Brown. It was released by Decca in the United Kingdom and by Parrot in the United States in the fall of 1969. It is the last of the band's albums on which their long-time pianist Bob Hall played. The album track "Made Up My Mind" had first appeared as the B-side of the U.S. single release on Parrot Records 45-40039, fronted by "Train to Nowhere", from their album Blue Matter. The track "Waiting in the Bamboo Grove" would later be released as the B-side of the U.K. single release on Decca F 13019, of "A Hard Way To Go" from their album Raw Sienna.

<i>Looking In</i> 1970 studio album by Savoy Brown

Looking In is the sixth album by the British blues band Savoy Brown. The album featured "Lonesome" Dave Peverett on vocals, after Chris Youlden left the band the previous spring. Leader/guitarist Kim Simmonds would be the only band member to continue with the band after this album, as all other band members left to form Foghat the following year.

<i>Getting to the Point</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Savoy Brown

Getting to the Point is the second studio album by the British blues rock band Savoy Brown. It marks the debut of a vastly different lineup, still led by Kim Simmonds but fronted by new vocalist Chris Youlden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Stevens</span> Musical artist

Tony Stevens is an English musician, best known as the bassist with the bands Foghat, Savoy Brown, and Nobody's Business.

<i>Street Corner Talking</i> 1971 studio album by Savoy Brown

Street Corner Talking is the seventh studio album by the English blues rock band Savoy Brown. Released by Parrot Records in 1971, it was the first album released after the departure of guitarist Lonesome Dave, drummer Roger Earl, and bassist Tone Stevens, who all went on to form the more successful rock band Foghat. This left Kim Simmonds as the only remaining member. Simmonds recruited a new line-up of members, predominantly members of the previous line-up of the blues band Chicken Shack, which had undergone a seismic change in membership similar to that which had affected Savoy Brown, which, in turn, ushered in a new sound for the band.

<i>Shake Down</i> (album) 1967 studio album by Savoy Brown

Shake Down is the debut studio album by the British blues rock band Savoy Brown. It was released in 1967 under the name of Savoy Brown Blues Band and is mainly an album of covers, featuring three songs penned by blues singer Willie Dixon. In addition to Dixon, the band covers John Lee Hooker and B.B. King. The album was not originally issued in the US, but was available as an import, until released on CD in 1990.

<i>Nowhere Road</i> 1973 studio album by Chris Youlden

Nowhere Road is the first solo album by ex-Savoy Brown vocalist Chris Youlden, released in 1973. The album featured a number of well-known session musicians including Chris Spedding, Ray Fenwick, Roy Babbington and ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan.

Rivers Jobe, born Rivers Maitland Alexander Job, was a British bass player known for being a member of Anon, one of the two bands which merged to form the progressive rock band Genesis; and for playing on the Savoy Brown album, Getting to the Point (1968), as well as on the tracks "Vicksburg Blues", "Train to Nowhere", and "Tolling Bells" on the following Blue Matter album. Jobe was replaced in Savoy Brown by Tone Stevens in November 1968, and performed as a session musician and busker until his death.

References

  1. "Album Reviews" (PDF). New Musical Express. 7 June 1969. p. 11. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums Of All Time". Classic Rock . Future plc. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  3. Kurtz, Peter. Blue Matter at AllMusic
  4. BGO — Blue Matter / A Step Further, 2CD Album
  5. "Savoy Brown Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2024.