REVIEWS Something Inside Of Me: Unreleased Masters and Demos From The British Blues Years 1963 -1976 (Wienerworld WNRCD5114) Review by Roger Trobridge, Chairman 2000-2012 This 4 CD box set contains 96 unreleased tracks which take you back into the world of the British Blues clubs in the late 1960s/ early 70s. It shows many of the music styles and types of performers you would find there - soloists, duos, trios, jug band acts and blues/R&B bands. The bands and performers include Danny Kirwan’s The Boilerhouse, Duster Bennett, Dave Kelly, Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts, Dynaflow Blues, Simon & Steve, Jeff Curtis & The Flames, The D.J. Blues Band, Bob Hall, Graham Hine, Al Jones, The Nighthawks, Shakey Vick’s Big City Blues Band, Dave Peabody with Tight Like That and The Vintage Jug Band. There are lots of great tracks, but for me the high spot is the release of the 18 tracks by Simon and Steve (Simon Prager - guitar - and Steve Rye - harmonica). Steve Rye is one of the unknown gems of the UK harmonica scene, and he influenced many of the ones who followed in the 70s and 80s. Steve died aged 46 in 1992. The box set comes with a 150-page book with comprehensive biographies of the main bands and musicians. The story of Steve Rye is told by his partner on guitar, Simon Prager, who is still performing as a duo with Kevin ‘Doc’ Stenson. Steve started playing harmonica after hearing Sonny Terry play ‘Fox Chase’ on BBC Radio’s Children’s Favourites and went on to teach himself to play like Sonny by listening to his records. He met Simon in 1964 after seeing Sonny Terry play at an American Blues Festival in London, and they found they had a common interest in the early blues. They began gigging around the local London folk clubs, like Bunjies, where they were part of the scene with Jo Ann Kelly, Dave Kelly, and Tony McPhee. Their repertoire included music from Sonny, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy, Sleepy John Estes, (John Lee) Sonny Boy Williamson, Gary Davis... and much of it is illustrated on these tracks. Steve was probably the best UK blues harp player. His downfall was his drinking problem. His unreliable behaviour limited his career with groups like The Groundhogs, with Bob Hall and Tony McPhee. There is more harmonica by Duster Bennett, Shakey Vick and
October - November 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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