Alexis Korner Biography Quotes 17 Report mistakes

Early Life and Musical Awakening
Alexis Korner was born on 19 April 1928 in Paris and became one of the most influential figures in postwar British music. Of mixed European background and raised in a family that moved widely, he spent parts of his childhood in France, Switzerland, and North Africa before settling in London during the Second World War. In later recollections he described hearing the thunderous sound of boogie-woogie and blues recordings amid the noise of the Blitz; the piano playing of Jimmy Yancey, in particular, left a lasting impression. That early shock of discovery set him on a path to the guitar, to collecting records by American blues and jazz artists, and to a deep curiosity about where the music came from and how it might evolve in new surroundings.

From Skiffle to the Birth of British Blues
In postwar Britain, American blues records were scarce, and many young players first learned their craft through skiffle, a do-it-yourself style that borrowed from folk and early jazz. Korner was part of this transition, but he consistently reached for the deeper idiom of the blues. By the mid-1950s he found a kindred spirit in the harmonica player Cyril Davies. Together they organized club nights devoted to acoustic and amplified blues, bringing a growing audience into close contact with music that most had known only from rare records. They hosted and supported visiting American artists and absorbed lessons from them. Big Bill Broonzy and, later, the amplified Chicago sound of Muddy Waters helped confirm for Korner and Davies that Britain could develop its own electric blues tradition without losing touch with the source.

Blues Incorporated and the Ealing-Marquee Axis
In 1961 they formed Blues Incorporated, a loose but potent ensemble that quickly became a magnet for ambitious young London musicians. Residencies at the Ealing Club and the Marquee Club made those stages a crossroads for what would soon be called the British blues boom. The group's 1962 album, R&B from the Marquee, announced a homegrown approach to amplified blues. The lineup was fluid: at different times Blues Incorporated featured or welcomed Long John Baldry, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Graham Bond, and a rhythm section that might include Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker. Charlie Watts played with the band before joining the Rolling Stones, and Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones all came to the Ealing scene to learn, sit in, and test ideas. Korner was the bandleader and guitarist, but he was also a facilitator, giving players space to find their voices.

Mentor to a Generation
Korner's influence came as much from his generosity and breadth of taste as from his guitar playing. He had a talent for recognizing potential and encouraging it in public. He offered stage time to novices and guided them through the idiom's history, insisting that British blues could be modern and personal while honoring its American roots. Young musicians such as Eric Clapton watched and listened at his club nights; others, including future members of the Rolling Stones and Cream, passed through his ensembles. In the later 1960s he worked with singers and players who were about to define hard rock, giving Robert Plant and John Bonham opportunities to perform and record shortly before Led Zeppelin emerged. The connections made around his bands and club nights became a lattice on which the wider scene grew.

Broadcaster, Bandleader, and Experimenter
Refusing to be trapped by purism, Korner consistently tried new formats. At the turn of the 1970s he co-founded CCS (Collective Consciousness Society), a large, brass-driven rock and blues outfit led by his guitar and fronted by Peter Thorup with arrangements by John Cameron. CCS enjoyed hit singles, including a striking version of Whole Lotta Love that became a widely heard television theme in Britain, and the group proved that blues feeling could thrive inside a sophisticated, almost orchestral setting. Around the same period he also formed Snape with Thorup, bringing in players such as Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace, and explored jazz-inflected, horn-rich grooves that drew on his long-standing respect for both blues and modern jazz.

Korner was equally important as a communicator. He wrote about the music, served as a tireless advocate for its history, and became a familiar voice on British radio. His long-running BBC programs, notably Alexis Korner's Blues on Radio 1, introduced generations of listeners to classic recordings and to contemporary developments. He interviewed musicians, curated sessions, and traced the deep currents connecting spirituals, jazz, rhythm and blues, and the rock then dominating the charts.

Later Years and Ongoing Collaborations
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s Korner toured widely, recorded under his own name and in collaborative projects, and continued his informal role as a bridge between scenes. He appeared with former colleagues from Blues Incorporated, with jazz soloists he admired, and with younger players eager to learn on stage rather than in classrooms. His performances mixed reworked blues standards with original material and rearrangements that reflected his taste for texture and ensemble interplay. Even when commercial trends moved elsewhere, he maintained a busy schedule, balancing club dates, broadcasts, and recording sessions, and he remained a sought-after presence for festivals and television.

Character, Method, and Musicianship
Korner's guitar style favored economy and feel over flash, shaped by early country blues, urban electric phrasing, and the rhythmic discipline of jazz accompaniment. He valued groove, horn voicings, and the ensemble's total sound more than solo display. As a bandleader he was both exacting and permissive, setting clear frameworks while inviting risk-taking within them. He was a teacher without a classroom, passing on recordings, explaining the lineage of a riff or a lyric, and insisting on respect for the artists who created the tradition. His collaborations with Cyril Davies exemplified this ethic: Davies leaned toward a raw Chicago attack, Korner toward broader textures; the friction pushed both men, and the wider scene, forward.

Death and Legacy
Alexis Korner died on 1 January 1984 in London, a few months after his 56th birthday. By then his reputation as a founding father of British blues was secure. The roll call of musicians who learned through his bands or stages is inseparable from the story of British rock and jazz in the 1960s and 1970s: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Long John Baldry, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Graham Bond, and many others. His interventions later touched figures like Robert Plant and John Bonham, illustrating the breadth of his reach. Beyond the famous names, he left a template for how to build a music community: find the roots, make a welcoming space, share knowledge freely, and let the next generation transform what it inherits. His recordings, broadcasts, and the memories of those who passed through his bands preserve a legacy of curiosity, hospitality, and musical rigor that continues to shape how the blues lives in Britain.

Our collection contains 17 quotes who is written by Alexis, under the main topics: Music - Mental Health - Nostalgia - Career - Betrayal.