Slow-Blues.com — Global Blues Encyclopedia
Back to artists
Savoy Brown
Photo: Jim Summaria, Kim Simmonds, 1975 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
British

Savoy Brown

Also known as: Savoy Brown Blues Band

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: December 5, 1947, Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales (Kim Simmonds) · Died: December 13, 2022 (Kim Simmonds)• United Kingdom• Active: 1965–2022
British Blues BoomElectric BluesBlues Rock

Kim Simmonds's uncompromising Chicago-blues band, founded in 1965 and rebuilt by him through more than sixty lineup changes over fifty-seven years — including the 1970 departure that formed Foghat — until his death in 2022.

Savoy Brown never had a Woodstock moment or a signature radio hit big enough to make them a household name, and that's exactly the point: for fifty-seven years, one man kept a genuinely uncompromising British blues band on the road through more than sixty lineup changes, because he simply never stopped (Kilde: Wikipedia). Kim Simmonds was born on 5 December 1947 in Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales. He formed the group in Battersea, southwest London, in 1965 with harmonica player John O'Leary, after the two met by chance in a Soho record shop; they called themselves the Savoy Brown Blues Band to announce their Chicago-blues allegiance plainly, "Savoy" borrowed from the American blues label for a touch of elegance, "Brown" chosen for its flat, unglamorous honesty. Simmonds remained the band's sole constant member for the rest of his life (Kilde: Wikipedia). Savoy Brown became almost as famous for who left the band as for who stayed. Their 1967 debut lineup — singer Brice Portius, keyboardist Bob Hall, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Manning — was gone within a few years, and by the start of the 1970s the group had cycled through singer Chris Youlden and guitarist Dave Peverett. Then, in December 1970, Peverett left along with bassist Tony Stevens and drummer Roger Earl to form Foghat with guitarist Rod Price — a spin-off band that would go on to considerably outsell the group they'd left, while still trading openly on their Savoy Brown pedigree. Simmonds simply rebuilt the band again, as he would keep doing for another half-century (Kilde: Wikipedia). The records from the late 1960s and early 1970s remain the band's core achievement: "Shake Down" (1967), "Getting to the Point" (1968), "Blue Matter" and "A Step Further" (both 1969), and "Looking In" (1970), which reached No. 39 in America — Savoy Brown, unusually for a British blues band of the era, found considerably more traction in the US than at home. "Hellbound Train" (1972) pushed them into the US Top 40. Critic Robert Christgau later described Savoy Brown, alongside John Mayall, as the purist "mean" of British blues, in deliberate contrast to the louder, heavier bands the same scene also produced (Kilde: Wikipedia). Simmonds kept the band going in various forms across the following decades, releasing albums including "Rock 'N' Roll Warriors" (1981) — whose single "Run to Me," a Smokie cover, became the band's highest Billboard chart entry, No. 68, on 31 October 1981 — "Make Me Sweat" and "Kings of Boogie" (both 1988–89), and later, more purist blues-rock records like "Strange Dreams" (2003) and "Voodoo Moon" (2011). "The Devil to Pay" (2015) reached No. 4 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart, a reminder that Simmonds's guitar playing and songwriting had lost none of its edge deep into his sixties (Kilde: Wikipedia). Kim Simmonds died on 13 December 2022, aged 75, and Savoy Brown's fifty-seven-year run ended with him — there was, in the end, no version of the band without him at the center of it (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Savoy Brown functioned as a genuine talent pipeline for British blues-rock — most visibly through Foghat, formed by three departing members in 1970 — while Kim Simmonds's fifty-seven-year insistence on keeping a purist blues band touring, largely undiminished commercially in America, made him one of the era's quietest but most persistent standard-bearers (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Chicago electric bluesMuddy WatersHowlin' Wolf

Formative experiences

  • •1947: Kim Simmonds born in Newbridge, Caerphilly, Wales. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1965: Forms the band in Battersea, London, with John O'Leary. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •December 1970: Dave Peverett, Tony Stevens and Roger Earl leave to form Foghat. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1970: "Looking In" reaches No. 39 in the US. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1972: "Hellbound Train" reaches the US Top 40. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •13 December 2022: Kim Simmonds dies, aged 75; the band ends with him. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Stories & Anecdotes

"The band's name deliberately paired "Savoy," borrowed from the American blues label for a touch of elegance, with the plain, unglamorous "Brown." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Kim Simmonds and harmonica player John O'Leary formed the band after meeting entirely by chance in a Soho record shop. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"The 1970 departure of three members to form Foghat became, commercially, more successful than Savoy Brown itself — Foghat openly traded on their former band's name in early promotion. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Critic Robert Christgau specifically singled out Savoy Brown, alongside John Mayall, as the "purist" rather than "heavy" wing of British blues. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Savoy Brown's highest-charting single was, unexpectedly, a cover of the pop group Smokie's "Run to Me" (1981), which reached No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"A posthumous autobiography, "Street Corner Talking: The Autobiography of Kim Simmonds," was published by Schiffer Publishing on 28 February 2026, with a foreword by producer Mike Vernon MBE and contributions from Simmonds's wife Debbie, recounting encounters with Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton over his six-decade career. (Source: Library Journal; Schiffer Publishing)"

Collaborators

John O'Leary

Harmonica player, co-founded the band with Simmonds in 1965.

Dave Peverett

Guitarist/vocalist, left in 1970 to found Foghat.

Roger Earl

Drummer, left in 1970 to found Foghat.

Tony Stevens

Bassist, left in 1970 to found Foghat.

Chris Youlden

Lead vocalist in the late 1960s/early 1970s lineup.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Savoy Brown featuring Kim Simmonds — full set, Berlin Blues Fest

David ONeil @ The Blues Plate Special

Street Corner Talking - Kim Simmonds

Street Corner Talking - Kim Simmonds

Thunder, Lightning & Rain (Kim Simmonds) - Savoy Brown LIVE at the ABC

Thunder, Lightning & Rain (Kim Simmonds) - Savoy Brown LIVE at the ABC

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1967Shake DownMike Vernon—Decca——Brice Portius (Vocals), Bob Hall (Keyboards), Ray Chappell (Bass), Leo Manning (Drums)Debut album, credited to the Savoy Brown Blues Band.
1968Getting to the PointMike Vernon—Decca——Chris Youlden (Vocals), Dave Peverett (Guitar)First album with singer Chris Youlden and guitarist Dave Peverett.
1969Blue MatterMike Vernon—Decca/Parrot———Reached US No. 182.
1969A Step FurtherMike Vernon—Decca/Parrot———Reached US No. 71.
1970Looking In——Decca/Parrot——Dave Peverett (Guitar), Tony Stevens (Bass), Roger Earl (Drums)Reached US No. 39; last album before Peverett, Stevens and Earl left to form Foghat.
1972Hellbound Train——London———Reached the US Top 40.
1981"Run to Me" (single, from Rock 'N' Roll Warriors)——Town House———Cover of a Smokie song; the band's highest Billboard Hot 100 entry, No. 68, 31 October 1981.
2015The Devil to PayKim Simmonds—Ruf Records———Reached No. 4 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart.

Famous songs

01Run to Me
02Train to Nowhere
03I'm Tired

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

Keep SlowBlues independent. Official merch — wear the blues.

Shop merch