The Blues Band - Part III

1983 Bye Bye Blues
1991 Fat City







1993 Homage
1999 Brassed Up

Bye Bye Blues is the live recording released after Brand Loyalty in 1983. I had not posted it in Part II. The other ones are all from the 90's. 1999's Brassed Up is recorded with heavy brass as the name implefies.

The Blues Band - Part II

1983 Brand Loyalty
1986 These Kind of Blues
1989 Back for More
1995 Wireless

In 1982 Hugh Flint left, and ex-Family drummer Rob Townsend filled the gap. They briefly disbanded later that year after recording of 1983's Brand Loyalty and a live album, but reformed soon afterwards. The Blues Band have remained a constant factor on the music scene ever since, unfazed by lack of chart success, happy to combine a regular schedule of touring and recording around their other commitments.
Paul Jones, Tom McGuinness and Rob Townsend are also members of The Manfreds, a virtual reincarnation of Manfred Mann, though because of the non-participation of the eponymous keyboard player of the 1960's outfit, legal reasons and courtesies require them to assume the name The Manfreds. Jones and Kelly sometimes play gigs as a duo, and Kelly performs with the Dave Kelly Band.
PS: Manfred Mann, Paul Jones & Tom McGuinness in one lineup again would be the nicest thing to have.

The Blues Band - Part I

The Blues Band were formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead singer and harmonica player with Manfred Mann in the 60's, and guitarist Dave Kelly. Also in the band’s first line-up were bassist Gary Fletcher, Jones’s former Manfred Mann colleague, guitarist Tom McGuinness, and drummer Hugh Flint, the two latter having been the mainstay of McGuinness Flint before.
Their first album, The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album, a mixture of blues standards and original songs – notably the Paul Jones-Tom McGuinness cut Come On In, and their long-standing stage favourite Flatfoot Sam - initially attracted no interest from major labels, so they pressed a limited run of 3,000 themselves, hand-stamped their logo on the cardboard sleeve, and signed them all. After unqualified endorsement from BBC Radio 1 and others, media interest resulted in a contract with Arista records, who gave the album an official release.