 |
Colin Allen | |
|---|---|
 Allen with Focus in 1974 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 9 May 1938 Bournemouth, Hampshire, England |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Drums, percussion |
| Years active | 1958–2012 |
Colin Eric Allen (born 9 May 1938) is an English blues drummer and songwriter.
Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later started playing drums. He studied drumming with local drummer Jack Horwood for two years and for a short period with Philly Joe Jones.
Allen's first stage performance was in a skiffle contest at a cinema. He went on to play with jazz musicians in Bournemouth. During 1963 he became a member of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, which included Andy Summers (later of The Police). [1] For a few years ago he played occasionally at The Bull's Head, Barnes with the Big Roll Band when visiting London. Allen moved to London on 1 January 1964 with Andy Summers.
Allen has worked with Bob Dylan, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Slim, Solomon Burke, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Mick Taylor, Focus, Donovan, Stone The Crows, Georgie Fame, Brian Joseph Friel, [2] and The British Blues Quintet with keyboardist Zoot Money, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, and vocalist Maggie Bell. In 1973 he joined the Dutch band Focus. He played drums on the album Hamburger Concerto (1974).
Allen started writing lyrics when a member of Stone the Crows. He has also co-written songs which have been recorded by artists including Paul McCartney’s Wings (with music by Jimmy McCulloch), Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor and Mick Ronson. When co-writing he has mostly worked as a lyricist, as in Taylor's "Alabama", from his solo debut Mick Taylor (1979). To date about sixty songs he co-wrote have been recorded.
Allen is married with one daughter. He has lived in Stockholm, Sweden since 1985, where he has played with many Swedish artistes and for several years was a member of one of the best known bands called Totta's Blues Band. He retired from playing in 2012 after a professional career of almost fifty years.
John Mayall is an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.
Charles Robert Watts was an English musician. He was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi " and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish-born English keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He was removed from the lineup in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image. He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades until his death, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989.
Andrew James Summers is an English guitarist who was a founding member of the rock band the Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated with other musicians, composed film scores, written fiction, and exhibited his photography in galleries.
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).
John Steel is an English musician who is the drummer for The Animals. Having served as the band's drummer at its inception in 1963, he is the only original bandmember playing in the current incarnation of The Animals. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
John Henry Rostill was an English musician, bassist and composer, recruited by the Shadows to replace Brian Locking. He wrote many of the songs by the Shadows including "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt" in 1964. He wrote or co-wrote three songs which were massive hits in the United States—"Let Me Be There", "If You Love Me, Let Me Know" and "Please Mr. Please"—but died before seeing them succeed.
Ian Patrick McLagan was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
George Bruno Money is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn to rock and roll music and became a leading light in the vibrant music scene of Bournemouth and Soho during the 1960s. He took his stage name 'Zoot' from Zoot Sims after seeing him in concert.
Juicy Lucy was a British blues rock band officially formed on 1 October 1969. After the demise of The Misunderstood, Juicy Lucy was formed by US-born steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell, and prolific Blackburn saxophonist Chris Mercer. The group later recruited vocalist Ray Owen, guitarist Neil Hubbard, bassist Keith Ellis, and drummer Pete Dobson.
Colin Hodgkinson is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s.
The 1982 Reunion Concert is a live album from a concert by British blues musician John Mayall. His sidemen are Mick Taylor on guitar, John McVie on bass and Colin Allen on drums. The concert took place at the Wax Museum, Washington DC, on 17 June 1982. It was released in 1994 by Repertoire Records as a CD credited to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.
Peter York is a British rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s.
Dantalian's Chariot were a British psychedelic rock band formed in 1967, led by keyboardist and bandleader Zoot Money, and also featuring Andy Summers. They are best remembered for their single "Madman Running Through the Fields", and for their live performances, which featured early psychedelic light shows. The band would all wear white robes and kaftans in concert, with all of their equipment painted white, to heighten the effect of these light shows. The group disbanded in April 1968, with Money going on to join Eric Burdon & The Animals and Summers joining Soft Machine.
Jeffrey Allen is an English rock and blues session drummer. Allen is best known for his work with East of Eden, Snowy White, Bonnie Tyler, Mick Taylor and Van Morrison.
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still performing in 2020.
| Studio albums |
|
|---|---|
| Live albums |
|
| Compilation albums |
|
| Singles |
|
| Related groups | |
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
