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Savoy Brown

MRL_Audio

MRL_Audio

RIP 2022
I just finished listening to 4 Savoy Brown LP's. Not the first time. Today however I found myself asking why this band was never a bigger deal here in the US. I can't recall them getting any FM airplay when I younger, late 60's early 70's. Is that the reason? Sure wasn't because of the quality of the music. First rate, bluesy rock-n-roll like a lot of other bands of the time. Either way, good stuff. Like the early stuff with Lonesome Dave before he left to form Foghat. Just curious...
 
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I'm with you. I've seen Savoy Brown twice in the last year and Kim Simmonds is incredible. He's great to watch doing acoustic or electric and he even did a great job on blues harp on "Hellbound Train". I'm partial to the LPs with Chris Youlden doing the vocals.

If they come out by you, you should really try and catch them. I have all their LPs and a few of Kim's solo blues CDs. I managed to get his autograph on a album at the last concert. Both shows were small venues and tickets were around $30.00.
 
MRL_Audio said:
I just finished listening to 4 Savoy Brown LP's. Not the first time. Today however I found myself asking why this band was never a bigger deal here in the US. I can't recall them getting any FM airplay when I younger, late 60's early 70's. Is that the reason? Sure wasn't because of the quality of the music. First rate, bluesy rock-n-roll like a lot of other bands of the time. Either way, good stuff. Like the early stuff with Lonesome Dave before he left to form Foghat. Just curious...
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They were an above average boogie band for sure. I have two of their albums that I play regularly, especially Hellbound Train. But there's quite a few seventies band that just didn't make it that big - Babe Ruth for instance. Their first album is a masterpiece - The Mexican, Black Dog, Wells Fargo... wow.
Even Atomic Rooster never made it huge over here and their Death Walks Behind You is incredible.
 
I must have heard them on the radio here on the west coast, because that was my way of finding music I wanted.

The Boogie ( Live ) is still one of my favorites:banana:

I found the album I had. "A Step Further" "The Boogie" track is 22 minutes long.!!
 
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I've been a fan since high school as a couple of buddies who played guitar loved them and turned me on to them. Raw Sienna got worn out by us.
I saw them back in the day touring in support of "Looking In", the last LP before Lonesome Dave, Tone, and Roger left to form Foghat. Stan Webb's Chicken Shack opened for them, which is interesting as that rhythm section hooked up with Kim to record "Street Corner Talking".

I've seen them twice here in the Detroit area in the last decade. The last time was in a small club in Ferndale called The Magic Bag. I was walking in through the alley from the back parking lot when this old Chevy van stops by the back door and 3 guys, 2 with guitar cases, get out and walk in. I wasn't close enough to run up before they got inside, but it was kinda cool..:D
 
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Yes i love Savoy Brown and have since the 70s. saw them live a couple times in the 70s and Raw Sienna is in my top 2 favorite albums ever. i think Led Zeppelin is the only band i liked better. ive always felt Kim Simmonds was right up there with Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Jimmy Page he really makes the guitar sing. They did get some radio play in my area Minneapolis back in the 70s but it wasnt much. most of my friends didnt care one way or the other about them.
 
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Chrisxo55441 said:
Yes i love Savoy Brown and have since the 70s. saw them live a couple times in the 70s and Raw Sienna is in my top 2 favorite albums ever. i think Led Zeppelin is the only band i liked better. ive always felt Kim Simmons was right up there with Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Jimmy Page he really makes the guitar sing. They did get some radio play in my area Minneapolis back in the 70s but it wasnt much. most of my friends didnt care one way or the other about them.
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I grew up north of you, at the end of Highway 61. My dad was a big fan of them back in the day. Not sure where he heard them first, though? Might have been the radio. Might have been word of mouth.

I didn't get to the show, but Simmonds came through here a few years ago. I listened to an interview with him by Holger Peterson(either CBC or CKUA), and he seemed like a real cool, honest guy.
 
I remember seeing "Looking In" along with others advertised on the inner sleeves of records I had back in the day. I always thought is was a cool looking cover, but I have never run across it in the flesh, and as far as I know never heard any of their songs.
 
They weren't promoted well here in the States. The albums didn't sell well, they had no hits in U.S. and they couldn't keep a consistent lineup. With that said, they put out some great music.
 
Karmices said:
They weren't promoted well here in the States. The albums didn't sell well, they had no hits in U.S. and they couldn't keep a consistent lineup. With that said, they put out some great music.
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Meh, they were pretty much the same for Blue Matter, A Step Further, Raw Sienna, and even Looking In w/o Youlden. Those happen to be my favorite LPs.

Oddly enough, their biggest LP probably was "Street Corner Talking" after Simmonds totally rebuilt the band with Chicken Shack after the rest left to form Foghat. At that point they basically became the Kim Simmonds Band, which isn't a bad thing, as he had musicians come and go basically every LP...
 
Haven't seen anyone mention Getting To The Point. I think they were more popular in some circles than some of you seem to think.
 
Andyman said:
Meh, they were pretty much the same for Blue Matter, A Step Further, Raw Sienna, and even Looking In w/o Youlden. Those happen to be my favorite LPs.
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Pretty much the same is still lineup changes. They probably had 3-4 different lineups in a 2 year period (1968-1970).
 
I think "Train to Nowhere" and "I'm Tired" were minor hits on FM radio, but their big hit was "Tell Mama". Interesting trivia: There was an instrumental version of Savoy Brown's "A Hard Way To Go" playing in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" movie. It's the party scene where Jeff Goldblum is on the phone with his guru because he forgot his mantra.
 
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