

That we Mods preferred the originals to the cover versions goes without saying. We were purists and we may have seemed snobbish to some. In fact I had most of the above-named originals in my collection of vinyl 45s. Guy Stevens and Chris Blackwell had initiated the British Sue label in 1963 but because at that time American R&B wasn’t played on British radio they suffered from a lack of air-play. In an interview published in Beat Instrumental in November 1965, Stevens comments on this, “Virtually all our artists are Negroes. Consequently, we get very few plays and little exposure except by hip record producers and in the London clubs, where they go down a bomb because of the profound dancing beat featured on most of them” (Rob Finnis 2004, p. 18). The air-play problem was solved by Easter 1964, when Ronan O’Rahilly, proprietor of The Scene Club unveiled the pirate Radio Caroline from an ex-ferry moored outside British territorial waters, a godsend for the R&B/soul underground. Radio Caroline played such rare numbers as Dale Hawkins’ “Suzie Q.” and Don and Bob’s version of “Hello Little Schoolgirl,” as well as more familiar Rolling Stones, Kinks, and Animals’ records, and t

In the early sixties, Chris Blackwell wanted to do more than simply import records; as founder of both Island Records and the British Sue label, he wanted to produce British R&B that was on a par with the American records because he realized it would be more lucrative. Blackwell felt a song that Jamaican Jackie Edwards had written, “Keep on Running,” had potential, and he persuaded Jackie Edwards to relocate to the U.K. in 1962. Chris Blackwell fielded a demo of Jackie Edwards singing “Keep on Running” but it went nowhere. Previously, the Spencer Davis Group had released covers of several Sue records including, in 1964, the Soul Sisters' "I Can't Stand It" (1963; backed by an unbelievably soulful version of “Blueberry Hill”). When sung by Stevie Winwood with the Spencer Davis Group, “Keep on Running” went to the top of the British charts in December 1965. Edwards also wrote The Spencer Davis Group's follow-up single, "Somebody Help Me” which also reached number one in March 1966.
Thus in the early-mid sixties, striving for a “black sound” was a preoccupation of many London-based musicians and producers, and singers with black-sounding voices attracted a lot of interest, including Rod Stewart and Chris Farlowe as well as Stevie Winwood. Without necessarily sounding black, Paul McCartney has a soulful voice, which was apparent on the Beatles first single “Love Me Do,” a new sound at the time. The same is true of Van Morrison as heard in “Gloria” when he was with the group Them, while Eric Burdon could scream and holler with the best of them. Although a hardcore American R&B fan, I was ready to support original home-grown R&B. I had dutifully bought “I’m the Face” by the High Numbers in 1964 and in 1965 I bought “Incense” by the Anglos on the Sue label. With “Incense” Chris Blackwell had partially realized his goal of producing British R&B. Although there was no attribution at the time, probably because Blackwell wanted buyers to think the singer was black, the lead singer was in fact, Stevie Winwood.

When all is said and done, whether the Mods approved of the white cover versions of black R&B or not, they were widely heard and made an impact. They publicized soul music and awakened British, Europeans and white Americans to good sounds that refused to remain hidden and by so doing launched the careers of some young British musicians. Furthermore, there was a ripple effect and for their part the originators could bask in an uneasy and reflected glow. No matter what, it did provide them with some recognition, and as a result a few American bluesmen and women enjoyed a rebirth of their careers in their twilight years. Even so, it is ironic that in a relatively short space of time a switch in musical heroes occurred from black R&B artists to their white imitators. Whereas groups like the Stones, Pretty Things, and Yardbirds looked to bluesmen like Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker as their musical heroes (Robert Johnson in the case of Eric Clapton), within a few years these groups themselves plus the Kinks, Animals, The Who, and the Spencer Davis Group, became the models for younger groups to emulate, and emerging musicians looked instead to Peter Green, Stevie Winwood, Jimmy Page, and Pete Townshend, et al. For example, lead vocalist and guitarist Phil Lynott of the Thin Lizzie rock group told me that he most admired guitarist Jeff Beck and was not particularly interested in the earlier generation of American bluesmen.
This work is the copyright of Robert Nicholls, Ph.D. The views expressed are purely those of the author and are not attributable to any other person or institution.
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