LEGENDARY GUITARIST
K I M S I M M O N D S
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Anyone who witnessed Savoy Brown
leave the blocks in 1965 would speak of a similar epiphany. Back then, the band
were the spark that ignited the blues-boom, signing to Decca, opening for
Cream’s first London show and boasting a lead guitarist who was being
namedropped in the same reverential breath as peers like Clapton and Hendrix
(with whom Simmonds jammed). Already, the guitarist was emerging as the band’s
driving force. “I had a vision,” he reflects. “When I started the band back in
1965, the concept was to be a British version of a Chicago blues band. And the
exciting thing now is that vision is still alive.”
Soon, Savoy Brown had achieved
what most British bands never did – success in America – and became a major US
draw thanks to their high-energy material and tireless work ethic. “There’s far
too much said about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll,” Simmonds told Classic Rock.
“It’s a cliché. We were all extremely hard-working guys. When we came over to
America, we were like a little army. I look at that time as being filled with
incredible talent.”
Times changed, of course, and by
1979, Simmonds had moved from a London he no longer recognized – “The punks
were everywhere!” – to settle permanently in New York. The Savoy Brown band
members came and went, and the music scene shifted around him, but the guitarist
stuck thrillingly to his guns and reaped the rewards, performing in iconic
venues like Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore East and West, releasing thirty-odd
albums, and later enjoying a well-deserved induction into Hollywood’s Rock Walk
of Fame.
Even in the post-millennium,
while his peers grow soft and drift into semi-retirement, Simmonds retains a
vision and an edge, spitting out acclaimed albums that include
2011’s Voodoo Moon, 2014’s Goin’ To The Delta, 2015’s The Devil
To Pay – and the emphatic new addition to Savoy Brown’s
catalogue, Witchy Feelin’. “I'm amazed that I still have the energy inside
me to play guitar, create music and write songs,” he considers. “I’ve been
blessed in my life and I thank God for that. I’ve never been a believer in holding
on to the past – I don’t look over my shoulder and congratulate myself. I
always want to climb the next mountain – and I’m very pleased with this new
album…”
S A V O Y
B R O W N
WITCHY FEELIN'
NEW RELEASE
available at amazon.com
For more information and concert dates for Savoy Brown visit … www.savoybrown.com
Visit
Savoy Brown on Facebook at … www.facebook.com/SavoyBrown65/timeline
Or
on Twitter at https://twitter.com/savoy_brown
K I M S I M M O N D S
INTERVIEWED ON
THE RAY SHASHO SHOW-BBS RADIO
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