Группа Spencer Davis: История британского блюз-рока

British band

The Spencer Davis Group were a British blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK No. 1 hits "Keep on Running" and "Somebody Help Me" and the UK and US Top 10 hits "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man". Steve Winwood left in 1967 to form rock band Traffic. After releasing a few more singles, the band ceased to be active in 1969. Davis revived the group on two more occasions, without the involvement of the Winwood brothers, first in 1973–1974 for two more albums, and again from 2006, since when they had primarily been a touring act. Davis died on 19 October 2020, effectively ending the band.

The Spencer Davis Group was formed in 1963 in Birmingham after the Welsh guitarist Spencer Davis encountered vocalist and organist Steve Winwood (then aged 14 and still at school), and his bass playing brother Muff Winwood performing at a pub, the Golden Eagle, as the Muff Woody Jazz Band. He recruited them and Pete York on drums to form the Rhythm and Blues Quartette, which performed regularly in the city. In 1964, they signed their first recording contract after Chris Blackwell of Island Records saw them at an appearance in a local club; Blackwell also became their producer. (Island was then a small independent label with UK Fontana contracted for distribution.) Muff Winwood came up with the band's name, reasoning, "Spencer was the only one who enjoyed doing interviews, so I pointed out that if we called it the Spencer Davis Group, the rest of us could stay in bed and let him do them."

The group's first professional recording was a cover version of "Dimples", released as a single in 1964. In late 1965, they gained their first No. 1 single with "Keep On Running", written by reggae musician Jackie Edwards. In 1966, they followed this with another Jackie Edwards written No. 1 hit "Somebody Help Me" and the Top 20 hit "When I Come Home", this song a collaboration between Edwards and Steve Winwood. These tracks proved to be their breakthrough in the US, where they were now signed to United Artists Records, both going Top 10 there. In 1966, the group starred in The Ghost Goes Gear, It was not well received and Winwood later considered it a career mistake.

Steve Winwood left the group in April 1967 to form Traffic; his brother, Muff, moved into the music industry working in artists and repertoire (A&R) at Island Records.

The group reunited in 1973 with Davis, Fenwick, Hardin and York, and newcomer Charlie McCracken on bass. The group released the albums Gluggo (1973) and Living in a Back Street (1974) before once again disbanding. Hardin remained with the UK version of the band until his death in 2015. Davis died in California on 19 October 2020, at the age of 81, while being treated for pneumonia.

The Spencer Davis Group – particularly its incarnation with Steve Winwood – proved to be influential, with many of the band's songs being recorded by other artists over the years. Among these are Chicago's cover of "I'm a Man"; The Allman Brothers Band's version of Davis and Hardin's "Don't Want You No More" (both 1969); Three Dog Night's recording of "Can't Get Enough of It" (1970); and The Blues Brothers' "Gimme Some Lovin'" (1980). The Grateful Dead also covered Spencer Davis Group material in live performance on occasion, and Spencer Davis himself performed "I'm a Man" with the Grateful Dead in a 1989 performance at Los Angeles' Great Western Forum.