| Long John Baldry | |
| Birth Name: | John William Baldry |
| Birth Date: | 12 January 1941 |
| Birth Place: | East Haddon, Northamptonshire, England |
| Death Place: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Years Active: | 1957–2004 |
John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Before achieving stardom, Rod Stewart and Elton John were members of bands led by Baldry. He enjoyed pop success in 1967 when "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in the UK, and in Australia where his duet with Kathi McDonald "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" reached No. 2 in 1980.
Baldry lived in Canada from the late 1970s until his death. He continued to make records there, and do voiceover work. Two of his best-known voice roles were as Dr. Ivo Robotnik in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and as KOMPLEX in Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars.
John William Baldry was born at East Haddon Hall, East Haddon, Northamptonshire, which was serving as a makeshift wartime maternity ward, on 12 January 1941, the son of William James Baldry (1915–1990), a Metropolitan Police constable and his wife, Margaret Louisa (Parker; 1915–1989); their usual address was recorded as 18 Frinton Road, East Ham.[1] His early life was spent in Edgware, Middlesex where he attended Camrose Primary School until the age of 11, after which he attended Downer Grammar School (now Canons High School).
Baldry grew to 6feet, resulting in the nickname "Long John". Baldry appeared quite regularly in the early 1960s in the Gyre & Gimble coffee lounge, around the corner from Charing Cross railway station, and at the Bluesville R. & B. Club, Manor House, London, also Klooks Kleek (Railway Hotel, West Hampstead). He appeared weekly for some years at Eel Pie Island on the Thames at Twickenham and also appeared at the Station Hotel in Richmond, one of the Rolling Stones' earliest venues.
In the early 1960s, he sang with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, with whom he recorded the first British blues album in 1962 R&B from the Marquee. At stages, Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts were members of this band while Keith Richards and Brian Jones played on stage, although none played on the R&B at the Marquee album.[2] When The Rolling Stones made their debut at the Marquee Club in July 1962, Baldry put together a group to support them. Later, Baldry was the announcer introducing the Stones on their U.S.-only live album Got Live If You Want It!, in 1966.
Baldry became friendly with Paul McCartney after a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the early 1960s, leading to an invitation to sing on one of the Beatles 1964 TV specials Around The Beatles. In the special, Baldry performs "Got My Mojo Workin'" and a medley of songs with members of the Vernons Girls trio; in the latter, the Beatles are shown singing along in the audience.[3]
In 1963, Baldry joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars with Nicky Hopkins playing piano. He took over in 1964 after the death of Cyril Davies, and the group became Long John Baldry and his Hoochie Coochie Men featuring Rod Stewart on vocals and Geoff Bradford on guitar. Stewart was recruited when Baldry heard him busking a Muddy Waters song at Twickenham Station after Stewart had been to a Baldry gig at Eel Pie Island.[4] Long John Baldry became a regular fixture on Sunday nights at Eel Pie Island from then onwards, fronting a series of bands.
In 1965, the Hoochie Coochie Men became Steampacket with Baldry and Stewart as male vocalists, Julie Driscoll as the female vocalist and Brian Auger on Hammond organ. After Steampacket broke up in 1966, Baldry formed Bluesology featuring Reg Dwight on keyboards and Elton Dean, later of Soft Machine, as well as Caleb Quaye on guitar. Dwight, when he began to record as a solo artist, adopted the name Elton John, his first name from Elton Dean and his surname from John Baldry.[5]
Following the departure of Elton John and Bluesology, Baldry was left without a backup band. Attending a show in the Mecca at Shaftesbury Avenue, he saw a five-piece harmony group called Chimera from Plymouth, who had recently turned professional. He approached them after their set to tell them how impressed he was by their vocal harmonies and that they would be ideal to back him on the cabaret circuit he was currently embarked on, which they did.
In 1967, he recorded a pop song "Let the Heartaches Begin" that went to number one in Britain, followed by a 1968 top 20 hit titled "Mexico", which was the theme of the UK Olympic team that year. "Let the Heartaches Begin" made the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Baldry was still touring, doing gigs with Bluesology, but the band refused to back his rendition of "Let the Heartaches Begin", and left the stage while he performed to a backing-tape played on a large Revox tape-recorder.
In 1971, John and Stewart each produced one side of It Ain't Easy which became Baldry's most popular album and made the top 100 of the US album chart. The album featured "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" which became his most successful song in the US. Baldry's first tour of the US was at this time. The band included Micky Waller, Ian Armitt, Pete Sears, and Sammy Mitchell. Stewart and John would again co-produce his 1972 album Everything Stops For Tea which also made the lower reaches of the US album charts. The same year, Baldry worked with ex-Procol Harum guitarist Dave Ball.[6] The 1979 album Baldry's Out was recorded in Canada, which he released at Zolly's Forum; a nightclub in Oshawa, underneath the Oshawa Shopping Centre.
In a 1997 interview with a German television programme Baldry claimed to be the last person to see singer Marc Bolan before Bolan's death on 16 September 1977, having conducted an interview with the fellow singer for an American production company, he says, just before Bolan was killed in a car accident.[7]
After time in New York City and Los Angeles in 1978, Baldry lived in Dundas, Ontario from 1980 to 1984[8] before settling in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became a Canadian citizen. He toured the west coast, as well as the US Northwest. Baldry also toured the Canadian east.
In 1976, he teamed with Seattle singer Kathi McDonald who became part of the Long John Baldry Band, touring Canada and the US. In 1979 the pair recorded a version of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin", following which McDonald became part of his touring group for two decades. The song entered the US Billboard charts and was a No. 2 hit in Australia in 1980. "(Walk Me Out In the) Morning Dew", a song from his 1980 Boys in the Band album, became a hit in the Netherlands in 1981.[9]
He last recorded with the Stony Plain label. His 1997 album Right To Sing The Blues won a Juno Award in the Blues Album of the Year category in the Juno Awards of 1997.
In 2003, Baldry headlined the British Legends of Rhythm and Blues UK tour, alongside Zoot Money, Ray Dorset and Paul Williams.[10] Baldry's final United States performance was held at Barristers Hall in Columbus, Ohio, on 19 July 2004. Baldry's final UK Tour as 'The Long John Baldry Trio' concluded with a performance on Saturday 13 November 2004 at The King's Lynn Arts Centre, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. The trio consisted of LJB, Butch Coulter on harmonica and Dave Kelly on slide guitar.[11]
According to Giorgio Gomelsky, Baldry's flamboyant mannerisms made his homosexuality an open secret within the music industry during the early 1960s; until 1967, homosexual acts were unlawful in Britain, and so Baldry did not publicly disclose his orientation. Baldry had a brief relationship with lead guitarist of the Kinks, Dave Davies.[12] [13] [14]
In 1968, Elton John tried to take his own life after relationship problems with a woman, Linda Woodrow. His lyricist Bernie Taupin and Baldry[15] found him, and Baldry talked him out of marrying her. The song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was about the experience.[12] [16]
In 1978, Baldry's then-upcoming album Baldry's Out announced his formal coming out, and he addressed sexuality problems with a cover of Canadian songwriter Barbra Amesbury's "A Thrill's a Thrill".[17]
During the mid-1970s, Baldry suffered from depression exacerbated by his collapsing career (particularly the failure of his 1973 album Good to Be Alive) and separation from an Austrian boyfriend who was required to leave the United Kingdom when his visitor visa expired. As a result, he developed an addiction to alcohol and painkillers.
Following an incident in which he was allegedly mugged in Amsterdam, Baldry was found barely conscious by his sister, Margaret, in their Muswell Hill home, having overdosed on Valium and alcohol in an apparent suicide attempt. Baldry was institutionalized for less than a week, reportedly stopping his dependencies cold turkey.
By the release of his 1986 album Silent Treatment, Baldry suffered from crippling gout – which required several pairs of special shoes – as well as bronchial and sinus issues. Shortly after moving into a condominium on Vancouver's 4th Avenue in 1995, Baldry was hospitalized and underwent surgery for a bleeding stomach ulcer. He quit smoking afterwards and ceased performing in clubs that allowed smoking. During a performance in Banbury promoting his 1999 live album Live, Long John Baldry Trio, Baldry was hospitalized for another bleeding ulcer caused and obscured by his arthritis medication indometacin. A few days after being discharged from Horton General Hospital, he developed agonizing gout across his body, prompting Rod Stewart to admit him to the London Clinic, where he stayed for three weeks.
In 2002, Baldry remarked that he had developed spinal osteoporosis and dorsocervical lipodystrophy.[18] He underwent hip replacement surgery to treat his osteoporosis, after which Tom Lavin of the Powder Blues Band noted that he appeared healthier.[19]
Although he had ceased smoking, Baldry developed a persistent hacking cough and chronic wheezing by late 2004; according to Felix "Oz" Rexach, Baldry's partner of 25 years,[20] he had fallen ill with pneumonia after returning from a European tour earlier that year.[19] Baldry held a phobia of hospitals, fearing that he would "never come out", and so resisted Rexach's attempts to get him medical attention. After becoming too ill to endure, he was finally admitted to a hospital in March 2005, and was moved to a rehabilitation clinic two weeks later, where Rod Stewart visited him. In early April, his condition deteriorated and he was moved to an intensive care unit, where he was fitted with a tracheotomy. Despite weeks of exploratory operations on Baldry's lung, the prognosis was grim; his doctor believed that he was unlikely to survive, and even if he did, he would not likely be able to perform again due to the damage to his lungs. On July 1, Baldry's condition was deemed beyond treatment, as he had contracted MRSA due to his depleted immune system. Baldry's personal friend and unofficial archivist, Jeff Edmunds, selected Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Up Above My Head" as the last song Baldry listened to. Surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones, Baldry was pronounced dead at 10:30 PM on 21 July 2005 at Vancouver General Hospital at the age of 64.[19] The cause of death was listed as a severe chest infection. He was survived by Rexach, his brother Roger, and his sister Margaret.[21]
| Year | Title | Label | Cat. No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | United Artists | ULP 1081 | ||
| 1966 | United Artists | ULP 1146 | ||
| 1968 | Let the Heartaches Begin | Pye Records | NPL 18208 | |
| 1969 | Wait for Me | Pye Records | NSPL 18366 | |
| 1971 | Warner Bros. | WS 1921 | ||
| 1972 | Warner Bros. | BS 2614 | ||
| 1973 | GM Records | GML 1005 | ||
| 1976 | Welcome to Club Casablanca | Casablanca Records | NBLP 7035-V | |
| 1979 | Baldry's Out! | EMI Capitol | ST 6459 | |
| 1980 | Quality Records | SV 2068 | ||
| 1980 | Long John Baldry | EMI Capitol | SW 17038 | |
| 1982 | Rock With the Best | EMI Capitol | ST 6490 | |
| 1986 | Silent Treatment | Musicline Records | ML 000l | |
| 1991 | Stony Plain Records / Hypertension-Music | SPCD 1163 / HYCD 200 122 | ||
| 1996 | Right to Sing the Blues | Stony Plain Records / Hypertension-Music | SPCD 1232 / HYCD 296 167 | |
| 2001 | Stony Plain Records | SPCD 1275 |
| Year | Title | Label | Cat. No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Musicline Records | ML 0002 | ||
| 1987 | This Is Japan (Diamond Club, Toronto 06/09/87) | Musicline Records | Unreleased | |
| 1989 | Musicline Records | ML 0005 | ||
| 1993 | On Stage Tonight - Baldry's Out! | Stony Plain Records / Hypertension-Music | SPCD 1192 / HYCD 200 135 | |
| 1999 | Stony Plain Records / Hypertension-Music | SPCD 1268 / HYP 0191 | ||
| 2009 | Angel Air Records | SJPCD310 |
| Year | Title | Label | Cat. No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | EMI Capitol | SN 66124 | ||
| 1995 | EMI | S22Z 29609 | ||
| 1998 | Let the Heartaches Begin: The Pye Anthology | Sequel Records | 42298 | |
| 2005 | Boogie Woogie: The Warner Bros. Recordings | Rhino Handmade | RHM2 7896 | |
| 2006 | Looking at Long John Baldry: The UA Years 1964-1966 | EMI | 0946 3 50899 2 | |
| 2014 | Stony Plain Records | SPCD 1376 |
| Year | A-Side | B-Side | Label | Cat. No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | You'll Be Mine | Up Above My Head | United Artists | UP 1056 | |
| 1964 | I'm on to You Baby | Goodbye Baby | United Artists | UP 1078 | |
| 1965 | How Long Will It Last? | House Next Door | United Artists | UP 1107 | |
| 1966 | Unseen Hands | Turn on Your Love Light | United Artists | UP 1124 | |
| 1966 | The Drifter | Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart | United Artists | UP 1136 | |
| 1966 | Cuckoo | Bring My Baby Back to Me | United Artists | UP 1158 | |
| 1967 | Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart | Let Him Go (And Let Me Love You) | United Artists | UP 1204 | |
| 1967 | Annabella | Pye Records | 7N 17385 | ||
| 1967 | Let the Heartaches Begin | Hey Lord You Made the Night Too Long | Pye Records | 7N 17408 | |
| 1968 | Hold Back the Daybreak | Since I Lost You Baby | Pye Records | 7N 17455 | |
| 1968 | When the Sun Comes Shining Thru | Wise to the Ways of the World | Pye Records | 7N 17593 | |
| 1968 | Mexico | We're Together | Pye Records | 7N 17563 | |
| 1969 | It's Too Late Now | The Long and Lonely Nights | Pye Records | 7N 17664 | |
| 1969 | Wait for Me | Don't Pity Me | Pye Records | 7N 17815 | |
| 1970 | Well I Did | Setting Fire to the Tail of a Fox | Pye Records | 7N 17921 | |
| 1970 | When the War Is Over | Where Are My Eyes? | Pye Records | 7N 45007 | |
| 1971 | Rock Me When He's Gone | Flying | Warner Bros. | K 16105 | |
| 1971 | Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll | Black Girl | Warner Bros. | GS 45105 | |
| 1971 | Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll | Mr. Rubin | Warner Bros. | WB.16099 | |
| 1972 | Iko Iko | Mother Ain't Dead | Warner Bros. | K 16175 | |
| 1972 | Everything Stops for Tea | Hambone | Warner Bros. | K 16217 | |
| 1972 | Mother Ain't Dead | You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover | Warner Bros. | WB 7617 | |
| 1973 | She | Song for Martin Luther King | GM Records | GMS 9005 | |
| 1974 | Crazy Lady | End of Another Day | ABC Records | ABC 4016 | |
| 1975 | Let Me Pass | High and Low | Casablanca Records | Casablanca 600 | |
| 1976 | This Boy's in Love Again | Song for Martin Luther King | GM Records | GMS 9043 | |
| 1977 | On Broadway | On Broadway (instrumental) | GM Records | GMS 9045 | |
| 1977 | Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll | Tell Me Something I Don't Know | Atlantic Records | CATX 40011 | |
| 1979 | Baldry's Out | EMI Capitol | 006-86113 | ||
| 1979 | A Thrill's a Thrill | Baldry's Out | EMI Capitol | EA 103 | |
| 1979 | A Thrill's a Thrill | Find You | EMI Capitol | 1A 006-860571979 | |
| 1979 | Come and Get Your Love | Lonely Nights | EMI Capitol | 72808 1979 | |
| 1980 | (Walk Me Out in The) Morning Dew | I Want You, I Love You | EMI Capitol | 006-86329 | |
| 1980 | Any Day Now | Work for Me | EMI Capitol | 72841 | |
| 1981 | Too Late for Crying | 25 Years of Pain | EMI Capitol | 72874 | |
| 1982 | Stay the Way You Are | Midnight Show | EMI Capitol | 72878 | |
| 1985 | Mystery to Me | Line Records | LS 1.00005 | ||
| 1986 | Silent Treatment | Our Love Is in Limbo | Musicline Records | MLS 002 | |
| 1986 | The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore | Carnival | Musicline Records | MLS 003 | |
| 1986 | Ain't That Peculiar | Spoonful | Musicline Records | MLS 004 | |
| 1987 | This Is Japan | When the World Doesn't Love You | Musicline Records | MLS 005 | |
| 1987 | Silent Treatment | A Life of Blues | Pläne Records | B-4791 |
| Year | Title | Tracks | Label | Cat. No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Long John's Blues | "Dimples" / "Hoochie Coochie Man" / "My Baby" / "Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough" | United Artists | UEP 1013 | |
| 1967 | Cuckoo | "Cuckoo" / "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" / "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)" / "Bring My Baby Back to Me" | United Artists | UEP 36.108 | |
| 1992 | Midnight in New Orleans | "Midnight in New Orleans" / "Introduction" / "Good Morning Blues" / "As Long as I Feel the Spirit" / "Black Girl" / "Ain't the Peculiar" | Hypertension Music | HYCDS 100 103 | |
| 1995 | ...Some Thrills | EMI | DRPO 1132 | Five track promo with a previously unreleased version of "Passing Glanes" | |
| 2018 | Filthy McNasty | "Filthy McNasty" / "Backwater Blues" / "St. James Infirmary" / "Money's Getting Cheaper" | Rhythm & Blues Records | REP21 |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Gallows Pole | Unissued Schott Music Corp. demo. |
| 1965 | Mister Someone | From the ITV television play The End of Arthur's Marriage |
| 1968 | Let There Be Long John | Pye Records; Unreleased album |
| 1970 | Madame | Unissued ATV-Kirshner / Pye demo. |
| 1981 | Ken's Theme | Recorded for the documentary film The Devil at Your Heels |
| 1984 | Run Through the Jungle | Unissued single that received some radio play. |
| 1987 | The Luckiest Man Alive | Self-penned opening song to the comedy Home Is Where The Hart Is |
| 2004 | Baldry's Back | Stony Plain Records; Unreleased album |
| 2004 | Baldry's Back | Self-penned title track from the unissued album 'Baldry's Back' |
| 2004 | Marriage Meltdown | Self-penned track from the unissued album 'Baldry's Back' |
| 2004 | I Ain't Superstitious | Track from the unissued album 'Baldry's Back' |
| 2004 | Baby Please Don't Go | Track from the unissued album 'Baldry's Back' |
Performances on other albums
TV specials
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Up the Chastity Belt | Little John | ||
| 1975 | Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done | The Major General, Monarch Of The Sea (voices) | ||
| 1990 | Angel Square | Radio Announcer | ||
| 1995 | Blame It on the Blues | Bartender | ||
| 1998 | Camelot: The Legend | Merlin (voice) | ||
| 2002 | Snow Queen | Rutger The Reindeer (voice) | ||
| 2003 | Ben Hur | Balthazar (voice) | ||
| 2004 | Mary Engelbreit's The Night Before Christmas | Augustus (voice) | Short; Final performance |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Bobbie Gentry BBC Series | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1985 | Proto One, The Great Heep | 1 episode + 1 special | ||
| 1989–1991 | King Charles, Little John, Clock Man, The Poltergeist King (voices) | 5 episodes | ||
| 1989 | Dragon Warrior | Narrator (voice) | 13 episodes | |
| 1990 | The New Adventures of He-Man | Treylus | Uncredited, 1 episode | |
| 1990 | A Klondike Christmas | Bear-Paw (voice) | Television special | |
| 1991–1992 | Captain Zed and the Zee Zone | Captain Spring (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 1991 | MacGyver | Man #2 | Episode: "Strictly Business" | |
| 1991 | Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars | KOMPLEX (voice) | 13 episodes | |
| 1991 | Nilus the Sandman: The Boy Who Dreamed Christmas | Nilus the Sandman (voice) | Television special | |
| 1992 | The Flying Stones of Nan Madol | Narrator (voice) | TV documentary | |
| 1993 | Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog | Dr. Ivo Robotnik (voice) | 65 episodes | |
| 1993 | Jack's Place | Tall Man | Episode: "Something Wonderful This Way Comes" | |
| 1993 | Madeline | Greybeard the Pirate (voice) | 1 episode | |
| 1994–1996 | Hurricanes | Stan | 1 episode | |
| 1994-1997 | ReBoot | Captain Capacitor, Old Man Pearson (voices) | 11 episodes | |
| 1994 | Nilus the Sandman: Monsters in the Closet | Nilus the Sandman (voice) | Television film | |
| 1995 | Nilus the Sandman: The First Day | Nilus the Sandman (voice) | Television special | |
| 1996–1997 | The Adventures of Corduroy | Mr. Tusk (voice) | 4 episodes | |
| 1996–1998 | Nilus the Sandman | Nilus the Sandman (voice) | 26 episodes | |
| 1996 | Sonic's Christmas Blast | Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Swat-Bot (voices) | Television special | |
| 1998 | Pocket Dragon Adventures | King Bigoty (voice) | 1 episode | |
| 1998 | Fat Dog Mendoza | Golden Volcano God (voice) | Episode: "Going the Distance" | |
| 1998–1999 | The Premier (voice) | 2 episodes | ||
| 1999 | Captain Jean Lafitte | 1 episode | ||
| 2002 | The New Beachcombers | Member of JJ's Jugband (voice) | Television special | |
| 2002–2003 | Toad Patrol | Mistle-Toad (voice) | 26 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | The Big Rock Candy Mountain | The Cowboy aka Narrator | ||
| 1988 | Peter Pan: The Musical | Captain Hook |