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Savoy Brown Announce New LP Witchy Feelin’ Due Aug. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 14th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

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Led by founding guitarist vocalist Kim Simmonds, UK blues rock forebears Savoy Brown will release a new studio full-length, Witchy Feelin’ via German imprint Ruf Records next month. One might ask any number of internet-based oracles how many records Savoy Brown has put out since the band’s inception in 1965, but suffice it to say that even if one doesn’t count live releases, greatest hits collections, other compilations and so on, the number ranges upwards of 30. It’s the kind of no-rest-for-the-wicked discography that can result from a truly creative, passionate heart, and an absolute refusal to do anything but press forward despite whatever challenges invariably arise across years and decades.

I haven’t seen a preorder link for Witchy Feelin’ as yet, but if you’re looking to dig into the Savoy Brown catalog beyond the late-’60s/early-’70s era, or even in that era, it’s not like there’s a lack of options out there. The PR wire sent over the following notice:

savoy brown witchy feelin

new studio album coming from seminal British blues band SAVOY BROWN

Being released August 25, 2017 on Ruf Records, veteran British Blues band Savoy Brown’s Witchy Feelin’ proves the Devil still has all the best tunes. From the thrillingly brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the hands of a master, with founding member Kim Simmonds reigniting the seismic vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the ’60s British blues boom. “On this album, I tried my best to get my voice in its power zone,” he explains. “I’m a baritone singer. I like listening to singers I can relate to, such as J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, Tony Joe White and Tom Rush. For my guitar playing, I still get inspiration from Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and all the Chicago players I grew up listening to back in ’63… but I always listen to new music too.”

Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this ageless bluesman. “The songs on this album have been two years in the making,” he reflects. “I tried to write songs that had a personal point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On Vintage Man, I wrote about being the type of guy who doesn’t change as he gets older. I wrote about the power of love on Why Did You Hoodoo Me. And with Guitar Slinger, I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player in an old country bar – as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in ’69.”

Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew breath, its greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin’ suggests that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy Brown’s iconic leader is happy to confirm it. “Blues has always dealt with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I’ve always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin’ have that hoodoo vibe…”

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.”

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…”

http://www.savoybrown.com
https://www.facebook.com/SavoyBrownKimSimmonds/
https://www.twitter.com/savoy_brown
http://www.rufrecords.de/
http://www.facebook.com/RufRecords
http://www.twitter.com/RufRecords

Savoy Brown, “When You’ve Got a Good Thing”

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