Alexis Korner - A New Generation Of Blues (1968)

Alexis Korner was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, known as the 'founding father of British blues'.

In 1968 Alexis Korner turned 40. He managed to record and release another album, its title A New Generation Of Blues suggesting that he was passing the baton on to the younger crowd. Instrumental backing came from the rhythm section of Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, though the two of them were now finding much greater success as part of folk-jazz band Pentangle. Ray Warleigh also added both alto sax and flute, giving much of the album a jazzy feel, and there was a bit of piano from Steve Miller on a couple of songs. However much of the album was performed solo by Korner on acoustic guitar, and it was perhaps here that his strengths as a blues singer and guitarist were best showcased. Most of the songs were originals or traditional numbers, though it also featured Duffy Power's "Mary Open The Door" and Freddie King's "I'm Tore Down".

It was a fine album, and Korner's last of the 60s. His years as Britain's top blues authority were now in the past, as his proteges had gone on to form massively successful groups which had pushed him into the shadows, and by the late 60s popular British blues had a new heavy sound (referenced in "What's That Sound I Hear", which name-checks Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Peter Green and Aynsley Dunbar).

I Wonder Who (1967) <|> Both Sides (1970)
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