Biography
One of the architects behind British blues, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Kim Simmonds launched the ever-changing blues-rock outfit Savoy Brown in 1965. The ensemble shared bills with John Lee Hooker, Cream, and Faces before reaching its highest Billboard 200 placement at number 34 with the 1972 eighth album Hellbound Train. Despite constant personnel shifts that sent musicians into Foghat, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, and Black Sabbath, Simmonds stayed at the helm and kept the band touring and recording for decades. On his debut solo effort, the 1997 acoustic album Solitaire, he glided between guitar, 12-string, and dobro. Throughout the 2000s he continued acoustic blues explorations on solo albums before blending acoustic and electric approaches on the 2015 instrumental release Jazzin' on the Blues. Marking more than five decades of activity, Savoy Brown reached the summit of the Billboard blues chart with Witchy Feelin' in 2017.
Born Kim Maiden Simmonds in Newbridge, Wales, in 1947, he absorbed sounds from the Beatles to James Brown via an older sibling. While still a teenager he assembled the Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 alongside harmonica player John O'Leary, singer Bruce Portius, keyboardist Trevor Jeavons, bassist Ray Chappell, and drummer Leo Manning. Early shows took place in modest London pubs, and the group cut its first album, the 1967 blues-covers collection Shake Down. By the time that record appeared, Simmonds' forceful presence had already triggered several lineup alterations.
Looking for a fresh direction, Simmonds disbanded the original unit and recruited guitarist Dave Peverett, keyboardist Bob Hall, bassist Rivers Jobe, drummer Roger Earl, and singer Chris Youlden, whose vocal talent, bowler hat, and monocle supplied a striking frontman image. The refreshed lineup quickly gained attention with 1968's Getting to the Point and 1969's Blue Matter, both issued on Decca. The fan favorite “Train to Nowhere” lifted Blue Matter onto the Billboard 200, where it climbed to number 182. Savoy Brown advanced to number 71 with 1969's A Step Further and returned to the chart with 1970's Raw Sienna and Looking In. Cut by Simmonds, Peverett, Earl, and bassist Tone Stevens, Looking In displayed the band's polished bluesy boogie-rock approach that would define subsequent releases; the album became a modest British success at number 50 while reaching number 39 stateside. After the 1971 album Street Corner Talking, the group scored its second Top 40 U.S. album with 1972's Hellbound Train, which peaked at number 34.
Savoy Brown maintained Billboard 200 visibility through the 1970s with 1973's Jack the Toad, 1974's Boogie Brothers, and 1975's Wire Fire. Their strongest Hot 100 single arrived in 1981 with the cover of Smokie's “Run to Me,” which reached number 68; that same year the album Rock 'n' Roll Warriors also charted on the Billboard 200, marking the band's final appearance there. In May the group performed a month-long series of North American arena dates opening for Judas Priest.
After several archival live collections, Savoy Brown delivered the acoustic album Slow Train in 1986. Largely a Simmonds project, the partly live, partly studio set featured bassist Chris Romanelli and harmonica player Speedo Jones on the concert tracks. The full-band Make Me Sweat followed in 1988 and Kings of Boogie in 1989. A track from the latter, “A Man Alone,” appeared on the 1991 soundtrack to Kickboxer 2, and the band returned with Let It Ride the next year. Credited to Savoy Brown/Kim Simmonds, Bring It Home surfaced in 1994.
Simmonds released his first solo album, Solitaire, in 1997. The acoustic record highlighted his playing across several guitar-family instruments plus piano and harmonica. Savoy Brown issued The Blues Keep Me Holding On in 1999, after which Simmonds issued another acoustic solo album, Blues Like Midnight, in 2001. Alternating between band and solo projects for the remainder of the decade, he delivered Savoy Brown's Strange Dreams in 2003, his own Struck by Lightning in 2006, and the band's Steel in 2007. A fourth solo acoustic album, Out of the Blue, appeared in 2008.
Reconvening Savoy Brown, the lineup of Simmonds, singer/saxophonist Joe Whiting, keyboardist Andy Rudy, bassist Pat DeSalvo, and drummer Garnet Grimm released Voodoo Moon in 2011. The live recording Songs from the Road arrived in both audio and video formats in 2013. Billed as Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown, the group followed with Goin' to the Delta the next year, which reached the Top Five of the Billboard Blues Albums chart. Marking the band's fiftieth anniversary, Simmonds issued three projects in 2015: his fifth solo album Jazzin' on the Blues; Savoy Brown's The Devil to Pay; and Still Live After 50 Years, Vol. 1, drawn from a 2014 Syracuse, New York, concert. In 2017 Witchy Feelin' topped Billboard's blues chart, and the momentum carried Savoy Brown and Simmonds to City Night in 2019, which also saw the release of Still Live After 50 Years, Vol. 2. Kim Simmonds died on December 13, 2022, at age 75 while undergoing treatment for colon cancer.
Born Kim Maiden Simmonds in Newbridge, Wales, in 1947, he absorbed sounds from the Beatles to James Brown via an older sibling. While still a teenager he assembled the Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 alongside harmonica player John O'Leary, singer Bruce Portius, keyboardist Trevor Jeavons, bassist Ray Chappell, and drummer Leo Manning. Early shows took place in modest London pubs, and the group cut its first album, the 1967 blues-covers collection Shake Down. By the time that record appeared, Simmonds' forceful presence had already triggered several lineup alterations.
Looking for a fresh direction, Simmonds disbanded the original unit and recruited guitarist Dave Peverett, keyboardist Bob Hall, bassist Rivers Jobe, drummer Roger Earl, and singer Chris Youlden, whose vocal talent, bowler hat, and monocle supplied a striking frontman image. The refreshed lineup quickly gained attention with 1968's Getting to the Point and 1969's Blue Matter, both issued on Decca. The fan favorite “Train to Nowhere” lifted Blue Matter onto the Billboard 200, where it climbed to number 182. Savoy Brown advanced to number 71 with 1969's A Step Further and returned to the chart with 1970's Raw Sienna and Looking In. Cut by Simmonds, Peverett, Earl, and bassist Tone Stevens, Looking In displayed the band's polished bluesy boogie-rock approach that would define subsequent releases; the album became a modest British success at number 50 while reaching number 39 stateside. After the 1971 album Street Corner Talking, the group scored its second Top 40 U.S. album with 1972's Hellbound Train, which peaked at number 34.
Savoy Brown maintained Billboard 200 visibility through the 1970s with 1973's Jack the Toad, 1974's Boogie Brothers, and 1975's Wire Fire. Their strongest Hot 100 single arrived in 1981 with the cover of Smokie's “Run to Me,” which reached number 68; that same year the album Rock 'n' Roll Warriors also charted on the Billboard 200, marking the band's final appearance there. In May the group performed a month-long series of North American arena dates opening for Judas Priest.
After several archival live collections, Savoy Brown delivered the acoustic album Slow Train in 1986. Largely a Simmonds project, the partly live, partly studio set featured bassist Chris Romanelli and harmonica player Speedo Jones on the concert tracks. The full-band Make Me Sweat followed in 1988 and Kings of Boogie in 1989. A track from the latter, “A Man Alone,” appeared on the 1991 soundtrack to Kickboxer 2, and the band returned with Let It Ride the next year. Credited to Savoy Brown/Kim Simmonds, Bring It Home surfaced in 1994.
Simmonds released his first solo album, Solitaire, in 1997. The acoustic record highlighted his playing across several guitar-family instruments plus piano and harmonica. Savoy Brown issued The Blues Keep Me Holding On in 1999, after which Simmonds issued another acoustic solo album, Blues Like Midnight, in 2001. Alternating between band and solo projects for the remainder of the decade, he delivered Savoy Brown's Strange Dreams in 2003, his own Struck by Lightning in 2006, and the band's Steel in 2007. A fourth solo acoustic album, Out of the Blue, appeared in 2008.
Reconvening Savoy Brown, the lineup of Simmonds, singer/saxophonist Joe Whiting, keyboardist Andy Rudy, bassist Pat DeSalvo, and drummer Garnet Grimm released Voodoo Moon in 2011. The live recording Songs from the Road arrived in both audio and video formats in 2013. Billed as Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown, the group followed with Goin' to the Delta the next year, which reached the Top Five of the Billboard Blues Albums chart. Marking the band's fiftieth anniversary, Simmonds issued three projects in 2015: his fifth solo album Jazzin' on the Blues; Savoy Brown's The Devil to Pay; and Still Live After 50 Years, Vol. 1, drawn from a 2014 Syracuse, New York, concert. In 2017 Witchy Feelin' topped Billboard's blues chart, and the momentum carried Savoy Brown and Simmonds to City Night in 2019, which also saw the release of Still Live After 50 Years, Vol. 2. Kim Simmonds died on December 13, 2022, at age 75 while undergoing treatment for colon cancer.
Albums
