AllMovie

Alexis Korner was perhaps the greatest unsung hero of the British blues scene. Born in 1928, Korner heard a Jimmy Yancy record while waiting out a German air raid at the age of 12, and from that moment on he was obsessed with American blues and jazz music. Korner began playing guitar with a jazz combo in 1949 and, in 1962, he formed Blues Incorporated, one of the first notable electric blues outfits in the United Kingdom. He and a friend even started their own nightclub when London venues proved resistant to their new sound. Over the years, Korner's band became a launching pad for such artists as John Mayall, Ian Stewart and Charlie Watts (of the Rolling Stones), Steve Mariott (the Small Faces), Jack Bruce (Cream), Manfred Mann, and literally dozens of other notable blues and rock talents. Alexis Korner and Friends preserves a performance by Korner recorded only a few months before his untimely death in 1984. Backed by a band including Bill Wyman, Watts, and Stewart of the Stones, Korner and his pals roll through a set of classic blues tunes, including "Blue Monday," "I'd Rather Go Blind," "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," "Hoochie Koochie Man," and more.