Alexis Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984) British blues musician

Alexis Korner

Alexis Korner, all'anagrafe Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerne (Parigi, 19 aprile 1928 – Londra, 1º gennaio 1984), è stato un musicista inglese.
Costituisce una figura centrale per la nascita e sviluppo di quel genere musicale in Inghilterra conosciuto come British Blues. Fu anche produttore e conduttore di programmi radiofonici e televisivi.

Inizi

Nato a Parigi da genitori austriaci, nel 1940 si trasferisce a Londra per cercare di scampare dalla Guerra. A Londra impara la musica sia dai dischi che i soldati americani portano con loro, sia nei piccoli club ove si suona jazz, dixieland e blues. Impara a suonare piano e chitarra. Nel 1949 ascolta un altro pioniere della musica americana in Inghilterra, Chris Barber, che con la sua Jazz Band suona la musica dei neri afro-americani, un misto tra jazz e blues con uso di strumenti acustici che prende il nome di skiffle. Questa formazione comprende anche Cyril Davies, voce e armonica. Alexis e Cyril cominciano a suonare in duo, sullo stile di Sonny Terry e Brownie McGhee, riuscendo anche ad incidere alcuni brani.

Anni sessanta - Blues Incorporated e New Church

Negli anni sessanta Alexis alterna la sua attività di conduttore televisivo e radiofonico a concerti nei pub, nei piccoli club e nei festival. Nel 1961 Korner and Davies formano la loro band, denominata Blues Incorporated, con musica influenzata dal blues e dal R&B. La Blues Incorporated fu una scuola e una fucina dove si formano (o anche solo suonano), in tempi e modi diversi, quasi tutti i musicisti inglesi che in origine si richiamano al blues: da Charlie Watts a Jack Bruce e Ginger Baker dei Cream, da Long John Baldry a Graham Bond, Ronnie Jones, da Danny Thompson a Dick Heckstall-Smith . Anche altri giovanissimi musicisti partecipano alle sue incisioni, tra gli altri Mick Jagger, Keith Richards e Brian Jones dei futuri Rolling Stones, Robert Plant e Jimmy Page dei futuri Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, John Mayall. Nonostante l'abbandono di Cyril Davies nel 1963, la Blues Incorporated continua a suonare e ad incidere dischi, spaziando da una rilettura in chiave elettrica della musica blues fino a proporre anche musica jazz, inserendo nella formazione dei fiatisti, come Dick Heckstall-Smith, Dick Morrissey, John Surman e Mike Zwerin. Parallelamente, Korner si esibisce in duo con il cantante e chitarrista danese Peter Thorup, a nome New Church, incidendo anche dischi.

Anni settanta - C.C.S. e Snape

Nel 1970, Alexis Korner con Peter Thorup decide di ampliare il gruppo, formando una Big Band definita C. C. S., acronimo del "Collective Consciousness Society". Incide quattro dischi e si esibisce in apparizioni televisive. Ha una rubrica di musica fissa alla radio BBC che tiene dal 1976 in poi. Questo è il periodo di maggior successo commerciale per Alexis Korner. Whole Lotta Love e Brother sono le sigle di trasmissioni di successo della BBC. Nel 1973, Korner forma un nuovo gruppo, Snape, con alcuni ex componenti dei King Crimson: Boz Burrell al basso, Mel Collins al sax e Ian Wallace alla batteria. Partecipa a In London di B. B. King e incide Get Off My Cloud con Keith Richards e Nicky Hopkins dei Rolling Stones e con Peter Frampton. Il bassista Colin Hodgkinson collabora con Korner alla registrazione di alcuni brani in Germania. Nel 1978, per i suoi 50 anni, riunisce tanti dei suoi ex-musicisti - amici, per una grande reunion che viene documentata nel doppio LP Birthday Party. Vi partecipano Eric Clapton, Paul Jones, Chris Farlowe, Zoot Money.

Anni ottanta

Nel 1980 fa alcune tournée in Europa e giunge anche in Italia, suonando a Milano, Roma, Venezia e Udine. A supporto di Alexis è la Guido Toffoletti's Blues Society e Paul Jones.
Nel 1981 crea con Ian Stewart, Jack Bruce e Charlie Watts un 'supergruppo' chiamato Rocket 88, con un LP al loro attivo.

Fine

Alexis Korner muore a Londra di tumore il 1º gennaio 1984, all'età di 55 anni. Sappho Gillett Korner, sua figlia, è musicista, come pure i figli Nicholas Korner e Damian Korner.

Korner e Thorup

Pottz - Opera propria

Alexis Korner and Peter Thorup at Bremen in 1968.

Alexis Korner Documentary - YouTube

▶ 49:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuE_LJbTta8

Mar 22, 2013 - Uploaded by Tom Robinson

***If this video is blocked in your country, you can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/62745824*** BBC Radio 2 ...

Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984) was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, Korner was instrumental in bringing together various British blues musicians.

Early career

Koerner was born in Paris, to an Austrian Jewish father and a Greek mother. He spent his childhood in France, Switzerland and North Africa and arrived in London in 1940 at the start of World War II. One memory of his youth was listening to a record by black pianist Jimmy Yancey during a German air raid. Korner said, "From then on all I wanted to do was play the blues."
After the war, Korner played piano and guitar (his first guitar was built by friend and author Sydney Hopkins, who wrote Mister God, This Is Anna) and in 1949 joined Chris Barber's Jazz Band where he met blues harmonica player Cyril Davies. They started playing together as a duo, started the influential London Blues and Barrelhouse Club in 1955 and made their first record together in 1957. Korner made his first official record on Decca Records DFE 6286 in the company of Ken Colyer's Skiffle Group. His talent extended to playing mandolin on one of the tracks of this rare British EP, recorded in London on 28 July 1955. Korner brought many American blues artists, previously virtually unknown in Britain, to perform.

The 1960s

In 1961, Korner and Davies formed Blues Incorporated, initially a loose-knit group of musicians with a shared love of electric blues and R&B music. The group included, at various times, Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, Danny Thompson and Dick Heckstall-Smith. It also attracted a wider crowd of mostly younger fans, some of whom occasionally performed with the group, including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Geoff Bradford, Rod Stewart, John Mayall and Jimmy Page.
Although Cyril Davies left the group in late 1962, Blues Incorporated continued to record, with Korner at the helm, until 1966. However, by that time its originally stellar line-up (and crowd of followers) had mostly left to start their own bands. "While his one-time acolytes the Rolling Stones and Cream made the front pages of music magazines all over the world, Korner was relegated to the role of 'elder statesman'."
Although he himself was a blues purist, Korner criticised better-known British blues musicians during the blues boom of the late 1960s for their blind adherence to Chicago blues, as if the music came in no other form. He liked to surround himself with jazz musicians and often performed with a horn section drawn from a pool that included, among others, saxophone players Art Themen, Mel Collins, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Lol Coxhill, Dick Morrissey, John Surman and trombonist Mike Zwerin.

Broadcasting

In the 1960s Korner began a media career, working initially as a show business interviewer and then on ITV's Five O'Clock Club, a children's TV show. Korner also wrote about blues for the music papers, and continued to maintain his own career as a blues artist, especially in Europe.
On 17 October 1967, Korner interviewed The Jimi Hendrix Experience for the BBC radio show Top Gear. Some of these tracks, including audio of Korner himself, appear on the Hendrix double-CD BBC Sessions, including Korner playing slide guitar on "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man".
While touring Scandinavia he formed the band New Church with guitarist and singer Peter Thorup. They subsequently were one of the support bands at the Rolling Stones Free Concert in Hyde Park, London, on 5 July 1969. Jimmy Page reportedly found out about a new singer, Robert Plant, who had been jamming with Korner, who wondered why Plant had not yet been discovered. Plant and Korner were recording an album with Plant on vocals until Page had asked him to join "the New Yardbirds", a.k.a. Led Zeppelin. Only two songs are in circulation from these recordings: "Steal Away" and "Operator". Korner gave one of his last radio interviews to BBC Midlands on the Record Collectors Show with Mike Adams and Chris Savory.

1970s

In 1970 Korner and Thorup formed a big-band ensemble, CCS – short for "The Collective Consciousness Society" – which had several hit singles produced by Mickie Most, including a version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", which was used as the theme for BBC's Top of the Pops between 1971 and 1981. Another instrumental called "Brother" was used as the theme to the BBC Radio 1 Top 20/40 when Tom Browne/Simon Bates presented the programme in the 1970s. It was also used in the 1990s on Radio Luxembourg for the Top 20 Singles chart. This was the period of Korner's greatest commercial success in the UK. In 1973 he provided a voice part for the Hot Chocolate single release Brother Louie.

1970s to 1984

In 1973, he and Peter Thorup formed another group, Snape, with Boz Burrell, Mel Collins, and Ian Wallace, who were previously together in King Crimson. Korner also played on B.B. King's In London album, and cut his own, similar "supersession" album; Get Off My Cloud, with Keith Richards, Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Nicky Hopkins and members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band. In the mid-1970s, while touring Germany, Korner established an intensive working relationship with bassist Colin Hodgkinson who played for the support act Back Door. They would continue to collaborate right up until Korner's death.
In the 1970s Korner's main career was in broadcasting. In 1973 he presented a unique 6-part documentary on BBC Radio 1, The Rolling Stones Story, and in 1977 he established a Sunday-night blues and soul show on Radio 1, Alexis Korner's Blues and Soul Show, which ran until 1981. He also used his gravelly voice to great effect as an advertising voice-over artist. In 1978, for Korner's 50th birthday, an all-star concert was held featuring many of his above-mentioned friends, as well as Eric Clapton, Paul Jones, Chris Farlowe, Zoot Money and others, which was later released as The Party Album, and as a video.
In 1981, Korner joined another "supergroup", Rocket 88, a project led by Ian Stewart based on boogie-woogie keyboard players, which featured a rhythm section comprising Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts, among others, as well as a horn section. They toured Europe and released an album on Atlantic Records. He played in Italy with Paul Jones and the Blues Society of Italian bluesman Guido Toffoletti.

Family life and death

In 1950, Korner married Roberta Melville, daughter of art critic Robert Melville. Korner died of lung cancer aged 55 years, on 1 January 1984. He was survived by a daughter, singer Sappho Gillett Korner (died 2006) and two sons, guitarist Nicholas 'Nico' Korner (died 1988) and sound engineer Damian Korner (died 2010).

Album discography (selected UK and other releases)

• Blues from the Roundhouse 10" (1957) – Alexis Korner's Breakdown Group
• R&B from the Marquee (1962) – Blues Incorporated
• Alexis Korner and Friends (1963) – Blues Incorporated
• At the Cavern (1964) – Blues Incorporated
• Red Hot from Alex (1964) – Blues Incorporated
• Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated (1965) – Blues Incorporated
• Sky High (1966) – Blues Incorporated
• I Wonder Who (1967)
• Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated (re-issue of Sky High) – Blues Incorporated
• A New Generation of Blues (1968)
• Both Sides (1970) – New Church
• CCS 1st (1970) – CCS
• Alexis Korner (1971)
• Bootleg Him! (1972)
• CCS 2nd (1972) – CCS
• Accidentally Borne in New Orleans (1973) – with Peter Thorup; Snape
• Live on Tour in Germany (1973) – with Peter Thorup; Snape
• The Best Band in the Land (1973) – CCS
• Alexis Korner (1974)
• Get Off My Cloud (1975)
• The Lost Album (1977)
• Just Easy (1978)
• The Party Album (1979) – Alexis Korner and Friends
• Me (1980)
• Rocket 88 (1981) – Rocket 88
• Juvenile Delinquent (1984)
• Testament (1985) – with Colin Hodgkinson
• Live in Paris (1988) – with Colin Hodgkinson

Bibliography

• Bob Brunning (1986), Blues: The British Connection, London: Helter Skelter, 2002. ISBN 1-900924-41-2
• Bob Brunning, The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies, Omnibus Press, 2004; foreword by B.B. King
• Dick Heckstall-Smith (2004), The Safest Place in the World: A Personal History of British Rhythm and blues, Clear Books. ISBN 0-7043-2696-5. First Edition: Blowing the Blues – Fifty Years Playing the British Blues
• Christopher Hjort Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom, 1965–1970, foreword by John Mayall, Jawbone, 2007. ISBN 1-906002-00-2
• Harry Shapiro, Alexis Korner: The Biography, London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1997; Discography by Mark Troster. ISBN 0-7475-3163-3

 

Alexis Korner & Snape, Musikhalle Hamburg, November 1972 

Heinrich Klaffs

ALEXIS KORNER'S BLUES INCORPORATED (London ,England) - I ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STjn0ZM5JiI

Lyrics

I got my mojo working, but it just don't work on you
I got my mojo working, but it just don't work on you
I want to love you so bad, 'till I just don't know what to do

I'm going down to Louisiana, to get me a mojo hand
I'm going down to Louisiana, to get me a mojo hand
I'm gonna have all you women, get you under my command

I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
But it just don't work on me

I got a gypsy woman giving me advice
I got a gypsy woman giving me advice
I got a whole lot of tricks keeping here on ice

I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
I got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
But it just don't work on me

Songwriters: Preston Foster

I Got My Mojo Working lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Dare Music, Inc

Alexis Korner - Mary Open The Door - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5M66WIBQdM

Alexis Korner - Honky Tonk Woman - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_hCs7CFa0

Alexis Korner & Steve Marriott - One Scotch, one Bourbon, one beer ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ONNzX8eJdY

Lyrics

One scotch, one bourbon, one beer
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer, yeah
Please Mr. Bartender, listen here
I ain't here for trouble so have no fear
One scotch, one bourbon and one beer

I don't want soda up, bubble gum
You got what it takes, now give me some
Since my baby's been gone, everyday is lost
I'm on this kick and I can't get on

One scotch, one bourbon, one beer
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer
Hey Mr. Bartender, listen here
I ain't here for trouble, and have no fear
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer

My baby started me on this spree
I can't find her and she can't find me
She left this morning sayin' she wouldn't stay
She's been out all night and it's the break of day

One scotch, one bourbon, one beer
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer, yeah
Hey Mr. Bartender, listen here
I ain't here for trouble, and have no fear
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer

One more nipping, make it strong
I got to find my baby if it's all night long

One scotch, one bourbon, one beer
One scotch, one bourbon, one beer, yeah
Hey Mr. Bartender, listen here
I ain't here for trouble, and have no fear
One scotch, one bourbon and one beer

Did you hear me, fellas?
I said, pour a quarter, one scotch
Now I'm gonna put a bourbon on the side
Give me bourbon who serves two
One scotch

Songwriters: Rudolph Toombs

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

Robert Plant - Steal Away -(1968) - YouTube

▶ 4:44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOpWRHMDLHI

Jun 7, 2009 - Uploaded by Randy Meadows

Immediately PreZep with Alexis Korner and Steve Miller (Piano) Robert Plant took the 6 Demos from the Band ...

Alexis Korner - Sweet Home Chicago - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGyMDmc-Tm8