The Repertoire
Here's a selection of the numbers you might hear the band play if
you book us for a gig. We're always
prepared to add a few numbers that fit our genre and are your
favourites. Just give us reasonable notice of the requests.
- Alberta
- Chris takes his inspiration from the Eric Clapton version of this
song, who got it from Snooks Eaglin's recording. It's a variant of
the song "Corine Corina" performed by Muddy Waters and many others.
- Before You Accuse Me
- The Bo Diddley number, but our Chris takes Clapton's acoustic and
electric versions as his inspiration.
- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
- It may not be pure blues, but no one can deny Joe Cocker gave the
song a blues edge that is difficult to beat. Meanwhile Greg will go
on about the version he learnt from The Animals.
- Hard Times
- A great Ray Charles number, that Clapton also plays with a
piano and horn section backing on his "Journeyman" album. Bar Room
Blues lacks a keyboard player, and it's Greg's slide that provides
the musical decoration.
- House Of The Rising Sun
- We do this in a version that's somewhere between Ramblin' Jack
Elliot (the first guy Greg heard to use harmonica for the song),
Bob Dylan and Frijid Pink - no, not the last one!
- It Hurts Me Too
- Tampa Red first recorded this number in 1940. Greg, who
supplies vocals for the Bar Room Blues version, remembers hearing
the single released by John Mayall in the mid sixties.
- Key To The Highway
- First recorded in 1940 as a 12-bar blues, it was Big Bill
Broonzy that re-worked it into the 8-bar number that he recorded
the following year and which has now become the standard version of
the number. Greg sings this one, having first heard a version by
Ken Colyer.
- Malted Milk
- Could we call ourselves a blues band if we only did one Robert
Johnson number. It was the kind of number Greg had in mind when he
first said to Chris, let's do some Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry
stuff. It's often used as our warm up number.
- San Francisco Bay Blues
- Greg has been playing this number from the time he discovered
the great one man band, Jesse Fuller and bought the album of which
this was the title track. However, it was Chris who suggested that
it should become part of the BRB repertoire.
- Singing The Blues
- "Let's do it slow and bluesy", said Chris when he came up with
the idea of adding this number to the repertoire. Whether people
remember the Guy Mitchell or Tommy Steele version of the song,
those of a certain age always seem to enjoy singing along to the
"middle eight" as it always used to be referred to, back in the
day.
- Someday, After A While
- The Freddie King number, on which Greg delivers the vocals. Greg
first heard it on Mayall's "Hard Road" album and again more recently
by Eric Clapton.
- Sporting Life Blues
- This is one of the numbers Greg had in mind when he first
mentioned Brownie and Sonny to Chris, but like "Key To The Highway",
it's another number he also has a copy of by Ken Colyer.
- St James Infirmary Blues
- Chris will tell a tale of how he was forced into singing this
number with previous band. Greg will tell you that it was only the
second or third number that he learnt to play on guitar.
Currently, you can't be sure who will end up singing it, but the
trend is for Greg to pick up slide guitar rather than take the
lead. We call it our suicide number as Chris is convinced his
rendition brings a certain desperation in an audience.
- The Spider And The Fly
- If you play songs from the British blues boom then you can be
forgiven for playing a something from Rolling Stones 1995
"Stripped" album. Most will remember the song as the B-Side of "(I
Can't Get No) Satisfaction".
- Trouble In Mind
- An old standard first recorded in 1924. Greg takes the vocals
for this number and his inspiration is the cult folk singer Jon
Betmead, who recorded just one LP back in the 1970s and can still
be be found giving the occasional concert at venues around
Cambridge.
- Worried Life Blues
- Greg remembers this number from The Animals 1965 recording,
which appeared on their second LP. It started life as song called
"Someday Baby" recorded by Sleepy John Estes in 1935, but has
changed a bit since then.
