Biography
Tony McPhee belonged to the initial wave of young British blues followers shaped by Cyril Davies and Blues Incorporated. Sharing that moment with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones as fellow blues devotees, he never matched the commercial peaks later reached by the Rolling Stones, yet he assembled a substantial body of blues-rock across assorted projects, above all through the enduring Groundhogs.
A skiffle fan at the outset, he obtained his first guitar as a Christmas gift and soon assembled his earliest group while still a student. During the early 1960s he turned toward blues, encountering Cyril Davies in the process. Several visits to the Marquee Club in London to hear Davies perform with Blues Incorporated in 1962 left him captivated by blues and R&B, prompting a commitment to pursue a career as a blues singer and guitarist.
His initial ensemble, the Dollarbills, was a pop outfit that included John Cruickshank on vocals, Pete Cruickshank on bass, and Dave Boorman on drums. He soon steered the music toward blues, particularly the style of John Lee Hooker, and after Bob Hall joined on piano the band adopted the name the Groundhogs to honor Hooker’s “Ground Hog Blues.”
The Groundhogs operated as a capable blues and R&B unit, delivering soulful American R&B and raw American blues at spots such as Newcastle’s Club A-Go-Go; they later served as backing musicians for Champion Jack Dupree during a run of shows at the 100 Club. Their high point arrived in July 1964, when they were selected to support John Lee Hooker on his British tour. Hooker subsequently chose them again for his following tour and forwarded an acetate of the band to executives at Vee-Jay Records. That acetate, featuring the hard-rocking, piano-and-harmonica-driven original “Shake It” backed by a forceful reading of Little Son Jackson’s “Rock Me Baby,” appeared on the Interphon label, a Vee-Jay subsidiary. Although it failed to chart, the single represented the group’s and McPhee’s first American release.
In England the band also recorded a studio album with Hooker, issued under the somewhat misleading title Live at the A-Go-Go Club, New York. Prospects brightened in 1965 when producer Mike Vernon captured three tracks—“Big Train Blues,” “Can’t Sit Down,” and “Blue Guitar”—yet none achieved significant release or commercial success, and only “Blue Guitar” gained notable U.S. exposure when it surfaced on the 1970s Sire Records anthology Anthology of British Blues.
By late 1965 the British blues surge had faded as soul music gained favor. McPhee had already displayed an affinity for soul in his songwriting, notably with “Hallelujah,” which the band recorded in 1965 after adding a brass section. The Groundhogs reinvented themselves as a soul outfit and were encouraged to cut “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” Despite a rhythm too close to Otis Redding’s “Can’t Turn You Loose,” the dissonant guitar break offered a fresh contrast that would never have passed at Stax Records; as a debut soul effort it held promise. The single received little airplay and no chart placement, while its B-side, the upbeat and haunting McPhee original “Over You Baby,” likewise vanished.
The Groundhogs disbanded shortly afterward, after which McPhee undertook session work and, under producer Jimmy Page, recorded several blues sides that later appeared on various British blues anthologies issued by Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records label, supported by Jo-Ann Kelly and fellow Groundhog Bob Hall. Unlike many early-1960s blues enthusiasts, McPhee stayed faithful to his roots and proved sufficiently skilled to earn a place as a session musician on Champion Jack Dupree’s 1966 Decca album From New Orleans to Chicago.
In August 1966 McPhee and bassist Pete Cruickshank joined drummer Mike Meekham to create Herbal Mixture, a Yardbirds-styled group that blended psychedelic and blues elements at high volume. They ranked among the more soulful and forceful psychedelic acts, their R&B rather than pop origins evident even in their most expansive material, which retained a blues feel. “A Love That’s Died” leaned on fuzztone guitar and could have rivaled anything by the Yardbirds had it reached listeners. Their version of “Over You Baby” surpasses the Groundhogs’ original and merited wider attention. Herbal Mixture enjoyed success at London’s Marquee and Middle Earth clubs and secured an opening slot for the newly formed Jeff Beck Group at the London Roundhouse. Their records nevertheless sold poorly, and following Meekham’s exit at the close of 1967 the band dissolved.
McPhee continued playing blues privately and passed through the John Dummer Blues Band in early 1968. His work had impressed at least one label figure: in 1968 Andrew Lauder of United Artists’ British division invited McPhee to record a full album provided he assembled a band. He assembled a new Groundhogs that retained bassist Pete Cruickshank, and the album Scratching the Surface was recorded and released that year. Ironically, this lineup, convened for a single session, persisted far longer than anticipated—five further albums, among them the widely recognized Me and the Devil, appeared through 1972, and the group remained active, touring England and the European continent, where British blues bands have long found steady work, with McPhee at the helm. McPhee continued with successive versions of the Groundhogs well into the twenty-first century, though a 2009 stroke impaired his singing and additional health issues prompted his retirement from touring in 2015. Tony McPhee died quietly at his home on June 6, 2023, at the age of 79.
A skiffle fan at the outset, he obtained his first guitar as a Christmas gift and soon assembled his earliest group while still a student. During the early 1960s he turned toward blues, encountering Cyril Davies in the process. Several visits to the Marquee Club in London to hear Davies perform with Blues Incorporated in 1962 left him captivated by blues and R&B, prompting a commitment to pursue a career as a blues singer and guitarist.
His initial ensemble, the Dollarbills, was a pop outfit that included John Cruickshank on vocals, Pete Cruickshank on bass, and Dave Boorman on drums. He soon steered the music toward blues, particularly the style of John Lee Hooker, and after Bob Hall joined on piano the band adopted the name the Groundhogs to honor Hooker’s “Ground Hog Blues.”
The Groundhogs operated as a capable blues and R&B unit, delivering soulful American R&B and raw American blues at spots such as Newcastle’s Club A-Go-Go; they later served as backing musicians for Champion Jack Dupree during a run of shows at the 100 Club. Their high point arrived in July 1964, when they were selected to support John Lee Hooker on his British tour. Hooker subsequently chose them again for his following tour and forwarded an acetate of the band to executives at Vee-Jay Records. That acetate, featuring the hard-rocking, piano-and-harmonica-driven original “Shake It” backed by a forceful reading of Little Son Jackson’s “Rock Me Baby,” appeared on the Interphon label, a Vee-Jay subsidiary. Although it failed to chart, the single represented the group’s and McPhee’s first American release.
In England the band also recorded a studio album with Hooker, issued under the somewhat misleading title Live at the A-Go-Go Club, New York. Prospects brightened in 1965 when producer Mike Vernon captured three tracks—“Big Train Blues,” “Can’t Sit Down,” and “Blue Guitar”—yet none achieved significant release or commercial success, and only “Blue Guitar” gained notable U.S. exposure when it surfaced on the 1970s Sire Records anthology Anthology of British Blues.
By late 1965 the British blues surge had faded as soul music gained favor. McPhee had already displayed an affinity for soul in his songwriting, notably with “Hallelujah,” which the band recorded in 1965 after adding a brass section. The Groundhogs reinvented themselves as a soul outfit and were encouraged to cut “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” Despite a rhythm too close to Otis Redding’s “Can’t Turn You Loose,” the dissonant guitar break offered a fresh contrast that would never have passed at Stax Records; as a debut soul effort it held promise. The single received little airplay and no chart placement, while its B-side, the upbeat and haunting McPhee original “Over You Baby,” likewise vanished.
The Groundhogs disbanded shortly afterward, after which McPhee undertook session work and, under producer Jimmy Page, recorded several blues sides that later appeared on various British blues anthologies issued by Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records label, supported by Jo-Ann Kelly and fellow Groundhog Bob Hall. Unlike many early-1960s blues enthusiasts, McPhee stayed faithful to his roots and proved sufficiently skilled to earn a place as a session musician on Champion Jack Dupree’s 1966 Decca album From New Orleans to Chicago.
In August 1966 McPhee and bassist Pete Cruickshank joined drummer Mike Meekham to create Herbal Mixture, a Yardbirds-styled group that blended psychedelic and blues elements at high volume. They ranked among the more soulful and forceful psychedelic acts, their R&B rather than pop origins evident even in their most expansive material, which retained a blues feel. “A Love That’s Died” leaned on fuzztone guitar and could have rivaled anything by the Yardbirds had it reached listeners. Their version of “Over You Baby” surpasses the Groundhogs’ original and merited wider attention. Herbal Mixture enjoyed success at London’s Marquee and Middle Earth clubs and secured an opening slot for the newly formed Jeff Beck Group at the London Roundhouse. Their records nevertheless sold poorly, and following Meekham’s exit at the close of 1967 the band dissolved.
McPhee continued playing blues privately and passed through the John Dummer Blues Band in early 1968. His work had impressed at least one label figure: in 1968 Andrew Lauder of United Artists’ British division invited McPhee to record a full album provided he assembled a band. He assembled a new Groundhogs that retained bassist Pete Cruickshank, and the album Scratching the Surface was recorded and released that year. Ironically, this lineup, convened for a single session, persisted far longer than anticipated—five further albums, among them the widely recognized Me and the Devil, appeared through 1972, and the group remained active, touring England and the European continent, where British blues bands have long found steady work, with McPhee at the helm. McPhee continued with successive versions of the Groundhogs well into the twenty-first century, though a 2009 stroke impaired his singing and additional health issues prompted his retirement from touring in 2015. Tony McPhee died quietly at his home on June 6, 2023, at the age of 79.
Albums
