Joe Brown - Complete Works '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Girls Girls Girls
02. Sunny Side of the Street
03. I've Got Plenty of Nothin
04. Lincolnshire Poacher
05. Farmers Boy
06. Shine on Me
07. Lonesome Traveller
08. Joe The Carter's Lad
09. Bill Bailey
10. Ain't She Sweet
11. Close Your Eyes
12. Summertime
13. Sonny Boy
14. Everybody Calls Me Joe
15. Seville Row
16. Jewish Dance
17. Egg Song
18. Sequidillas (Theme From "Carmen")
19. You Do Things To Me
20. Be My Friend
21. I'm A Gambler
22. New England Lady
23. Rock 'N' Reel


 moreBorn Joseph Roger Brown in Swarby, Lincolnshire in 1941, Brown proved a
natural guitarist from an early age, and in 1956, at age 15, he formed the
Spacemen, a skiffle group with whom he started his career in entertainment. The
band -- whose ranks included bassist Peter Oakman and his older brother Tony
Oakman on banjo and guitar -- later switched to rock & roll, and was
subsequently spotted by impresario Larry Parnes, who was in the process of
signing up lot of young vocal talent in an effort to get in on the rock & roll
boom. The Spacemen became Parnes' resident band, backing such figures as Vince
Eager, Johnny Gentle, and Marty Wilde on the early Parnes package tours. The
group also had the good fortune to be spotted by producer Jack Good, who was
putting together the house band for his new television music showcase Boy Meets
Girl. Brown was already a prodigious player, and he was hired as lead guitarist
for the house orchestra at the age of 18; he was proficient in authentic
American-style rock & roll, country, and country-blues, and stood out from the
competition.

He was signed to Decca Records that same year; his first two singles, "People
Gotta Talk" and "Jellied Eels," issued in 1959 and 1960, respectively, failed to
chart. But his third, "The Darktown Strutters Ball," reached number 34 on the
U.K. charts in 1960. The group by this time was rechristened the Bruvvers, owing
to the fact that they weren't using the Spacemen name anymore, and had no
official name, but were, as Brown put it -- in his uniquely Cockney-styled way
-- "like bruvvers." Brown left Decca for Pye Records in 1961, the latter company
using his single "Crazy Mixed Up Kid" to launch its Piccadilly imprint. Only two
of his next four singles even reached the Top 40, but Brown was making musical
headway (and history) nonetheless. At just about that same time, he appeared as
the lead guitarist on Billy Fury's landmark 10" long-player The Sound of Fury,
his playing among the highlights of what is generally regarded as one of the
best albums to come out of the early English rock & roll boom. His work from
that period and on that album has received high praise across the decades from
musicians of succeeding generations including Keith Richards of the Rolling
Stones.

Brown's own career didn't fully take off until 1962, when he hit the number two
spot on the singles charts with "A Picture of You." He was voted the "Top U.K.
Vocal Personality" of 1962 in the pages of New Musical Express, and toured that
year on a bill that included the Beatles, who were just about to record their
debut single, "Love Me Do"; "A Picture of You" was also a personal favorite of
both Harrison and Paul McCartney, later even turning up on the "Let It Be"
sessions. Brown's next two records, "It Only Took a Minute" and "That's What
Love Will Do" also made the Top Ten in 1962 and 1963, but his subsequent
recordings were much more modest sellers, only making the Top 30.

Brown was still sufficiently prominent in 1963 to get a film debut late that
year, in What a Crazy World, which co-starred Marty Wilde. By that time,
however, Brown's hold on the listening public was fading in the face of the
Merseybeat boom and the next wave of British rock & roll. He turned increasingly
to work in movies, pantomime, and theater musicals, and scored a big success in
Charlie Girl on London's West End. Ironically, his occasional penchant for
novelty tunes -- which included a recording of "I'm Henry the Eighth" --
anticipated the strategy of such successful mid-'60s pop/rock acts as Herman's
Hermits, who parlayed their recording of the latter song into a huge American
hit; that same use of novelty tunes in his repertory, however, also made it
difficult for listeners of subsequent generations, having heard of Brown's
reputation as a first-rate guitarist, to fully absorb some of his recordings,
especially the early concert documents, which were weighted heavily toward his
Cockney/novelty repertory.

Brown's last chart success of the '60s was a low Top 40 placement for his
rendition of "With a Little Help from My Friends" in 1967. He later worked on
television in children's programming and game shows, but in 1972, Brown was back
in music with a new band, Brown's Home Brew, whose repertory embraced not only
rock & roll but also country and gospel music and featured his first wife,
Vicki, on vocals. Brown has remained active in music ever since, and crossed
paths on record with his old friend Harrison several times in the '70s and '80s;
Harrison was also the best man at Brown's wedding to his second wife in 2000. He
has continued performing in the 21st century and is also seen frequently on
British television in connection with rock & roll-related programming. Brown's
50th year in music, in 2008, saw him receive a U.K. gold award for sales over
100,000 copies of a new best-of collection, as well as complete a 37-date tour,
and a Royal Albert Hall concert with Mark Knopfler, Jools Holland, Dave Edmunds,
and Chas & Dave. Brown has also received Mojo magazine's lifetime award for
outstanding contribution to music after 51 years of recording. In 2009, Brown
was given an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth.

The next decade was bookended by documents of his relentless touring ethic --
2011's Live in Liverpool and 2019's In Concert -- while in 2012 he issued The
Ukulele Album, on which he tackled material associated with acts such as the
Who, ELO, and Mötorhead. In 2019, Brown celebrated his 60th year in the music
business with the release of a lavish, multi-disc box set that traced the course
of his career and featured numerous unreleased recordings. ~ Bruce Eder

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