Alexis KORNER's Blues Incorporated – At the Cavern 1964

Alexis KORNER’s Blues Incorporated – At the Cavern 1964
2004 Issue.
RRCD-035

Blues

For those of us who lived too long on the original Oriole vinyl, seeing this repackage was a no-brainer. This is one of AK’s best live sets from an era that he outgrew quickly. The whole feel of the early days of Blues Incorporated. If you’re looking for AK up front with his gravelly vocals and rauchy guitar work, you have to go elsewhere. This is classic, early blues and rhythm and blues material with a frantic swing backbone. Plus if you waited 45 years to hear this recording, you reap the benefit of some bonus tracks that you can only (right now) get here.

Alexis was the Godfather of the British Blues, and this is one great place to start to discover why.
By Marcus Aurelius.
**
The group is still called Blues Incorporated, but without Cyril Davies or Long John Baldry, who were present on the first record. Recording at Liverpool’s Cavern Club was more a gimmick than anything else, and the music is not as well made or exciting as the group’s first album. This record shows Alexis Korner’s more big-band type blues work, favoring horns. At the Cavern was a good album, but not one that was going to make much noise amid the work of the Rolling Stones, the Animals, or the Yardbirds.
By Bruce Eder. AMG.
**
No band could swing like this if it felt at all inhibited by its surroundings; that wild sound which has made Blues Inc. what it is could never come out so loud and clear if the whole place were not completely happy. From the slow blues like Hoocie Coochie Man and Whoa, Babe, through to the jumping, up-tempo vocals by Herbie Goins on All Right, O.K., You Win and Everyday I Have The Blues, everybody sounds relaxed and confident. Even the long instrumental, Herbie’s Tune” – dedicated to the band’s brilliant American Blues Man, Herbie Goins – never seems to flag. And that really is saying something when you consider what the temperature at the Cavern can be on a really crowded night like this! If you want to know whether this was a really successful evening, just ask regular Cavern member what it is like when Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated plays there. The thing is that both Blues Incorporated and The Cavern have come a long way since they started in their widely separated areas. If, a couple of years ago, anyone had asked the people at The Cavern or Alexis Korner what they thought of one another, the answer, from both sides, would probably have been Who But, there you are, that is just the way in which times change. The oldest established R&B band in the business and the oldest established Beat Club eventually hat to come together and the result is to be found in this LP. Here are all the excitement, all the unexpected happenings of a live session, a stage performance which always captures the sort of atmosphere which no studio can recreate. Here is the small group with the biggest sound in the country, wailing and shouting the Blues in the freewheeling, uninhibited fashion which has contributed so much to its success over years. It could never sound like this in a studio! Here is just about the best audience in Britain – much too large to fit into a studio – urging the band on. One hears a lot said about Audience Participation and this is the classic example of what it should be. Under circumstanced like these, no group could give a really bad show, but there are few that could have given one as good. In the end it comes down to the fact that, in order to sell excitement, you must be excited by what you are doing. Blues Incorporated always are, which is the very reason why we wanted to record Alexis Korner ‘Live’ At The Cavern. The Cavern, by now, must be just about the best known Beat Club in the world. Along with the late Star Club, in Hamburg, The Cavern has figured in more press statements, success stories and guides to the Beat Scene than most of us would care to count. But is this fame really justified Unquestionably it is. The Cavern has launched more name groups than any other club in Britain. Ask Gerry and The Pacemakers, The Merseybeats, The Big Three and a host of others where they got their first big break and the answer is, almost invariably At The Cavern. But, under the guidance of Ray McFall, and the well-liked compere, Bob Wooler, the club has spread its wings to include R&B amongst its list of attractions, using both British and American artists. Sonny Boy Williamson, Charlie and Inez Fox, John Lee Hoocker, these are but three of the best-known American acts to have appeared there. And, among name British acts, none has proved more popular than Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated. Ever since Blues Incorporated made its sensational appearance at the 1963 Beat Festival in Liverpool’s Stanley Stadium, Alexis and the boys have been making regular return visits to Liverpool and, in particular, to The Cavern. Whether it is the audiences which create the atmosphere, or the atmosphere which helps the audiences, the plain fact of the matter is that they love playing in Liverpool. The people really listen to you, there. Says Alexis, and they help you to play and sing your best. The minute you set foot in The Cavern, you know that it’s going to be a good session. Everyone is so friendly, they just want to help you do your best. Now, The Cavern is a Beat Club, very strongly associated with pop market and this, you might think, could make life a little difficult for a semi-jazz based R&B band like Blues Incorporated. But, as you can hear on this great live LP, nothing could be further from the truth.
By Unknown.
**
Dave Castle- Alto Sax
Malcom Saul- Organ
Vernon Bown- Bass
Mike Scott- Drums
Herbie Goins- Vocals (3,7,8)
Alexis Korner- Vocal (1,2,4,6), Guitar, Backing Vocals (8)
**
01. Overdrive
02. Whoa Babe
03. Everyday I Have the Blues
04. Hoochie Coochie Man
05. Herbie’s Tune [Dooji Wooji]
06. Little Bitty Gal Blues
07. Well All Right, OK, You Win
08. Kansas City
**

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