Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames | |
|---|---|
 Lead vocalist Georgie Fame in Stockholm 1968 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Blue Flames |
| Origin | Britain |
| Genres | |
| Past members |
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Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames were a British rhythm and blues group during the 1960s whose repertoire spanned R&B, pop, rock and jazz.
They were originally the backing band for rock and roll singer Billy Fury.
At the end of 1961, their piano player Georgie Fame took over as lead vocalist and they went on to enjoy great success without Fury. They were influenced by Jon Hendricks, Mose Allison and blues musicians such as Willie Mabon.
The group found other influences in ska, which could be heard in Jamaican cafes in and around Ladbroke Grove, England, and frequented by the group's Jamaican born trumpeter Eddie Thornton. During the group's three-year residency at The Flamingo Club, Fame heard the latest jazz and blues from America, and it was Booker T. & the M.G.'s recording "Green Onions" which inspired him to take up playing Hammond organ with the band.[1]
- ^ "It was a great place to play, a midnight to 6am thing on Fridays and Saturdays and it was full of American GIs who came in from their bases for the weekend. They brought records with them and one of them gave me "Green Onions" by Booker T & the MG's. I had been playing piano up to that point but I bought a Hammond organ the next day."Rik Gunnell, Club owner and impresario: obituary by Spencer Leigh at independent.co.uk