Biography
Originally forming as an informal gathering of British folk players during one workshop gathering, the ensemble served as forerunner to the later, more prominent Tiger Moth and its offshoot Orchestre Super Moth. Among its participants were the respected players Ian Anderson, Maggie Holland and Rod Stradling, who soon embraced amplified instruments and recruited John Maxwell, the Albion Dance Band’s drummer, to complete the lineup. Through this configuration the musicians played a key role in bridging longstanding English folk traditions with wider international influences, each contributor enjoying unrestricted scope to explore inventive ideas. Their sole long-player, Stereo Death Breakdown, appeared in 1969 under the billing Ian Anderson’s English Country Blues Band and has since been acknowledged as a minor landmark that helped steer UK folk away from the overly sentimental confines of the conventional folk scene. A 1993 compilation later captured the same spontaneous inventiveness in digital format, while tracks such as “The Wreck Of The Northfleet” and “England’s Power And Glory” prompted reviewers to acknowledge the group’s continuing originality. Given the diverse personnel involved, the Country Blues Band was never destined for extended existence, yet the modest body of recordings they produced has, if anything, benefited from the passage of time.
Albums