Long John Baldry: 1941 to 2005
Veteran British bluesman and songwriter Long John Baldry died July 21 at his home in Vancouver, B.C. Baldry’s roots went back to the beginning of the British Invasion, and before. He began in the folk world, touring with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, before moving to blues with the seminal Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, with whom he recorded R&B At The Marquee, arguably the first British blues album, in 1962. He moved on to Cyril Davies’ All Stars; when Davies died, Baldry renamed the band the Hoochie Coochie Men, with Rod Stewart on second vocals. A subsequent enterprise, Bluesology, included Elton John. His sole #1 hit in the U.K. was “Let The Heartaches Begin”, but he remains best-remembered in the U.S. for the novelty hit “Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”.