The Repertoire
Greg, known within the band as "B.P.", drew up the list below. "BP" stands for "Blues Police" as he's a bit of a purist. In concert the reality is that the band is just as likely to break into classics like "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey", Lonnie Donegan's "Putting On The Style" or something made popular by Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, the Spencer Davis Group, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Adele or the Rolling Stones, when they were the resident band on Eel Pie Island.
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 a 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 vocal. 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.