Every new trend in music spawns any number of bands and artists all performing roughly the same music in the same way. So it was with the British blues in the early 1960s. The Rolling Stones were not alone in injecting a significant blues influence into their rock music. Here are some of the most notable of the other groups and artists who were part of, or influenced by, the British rhythm and blues era.
1. Five Live Yardbirds
The YardbirdsSome of the most famous rock guitarists -- Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton -- were graduates of The Yardbirds. The group succeeded the Stones as the house band at London's Crawdaddy Club. Their career was brief. The first of their nine U.S. albums was released in 1965, the last in 1968. The group's first U.K. release, Five Live Yardbirds is noteworthy because a live album is rarely a group's debut release.
Yardbirds DIscography
2. The Rod Stewart Album
Rod StewartThe raspy voiced singer was a member of the group Steampacket in 1965 when it was sharing the stage in live performances with the Stones. He later joined former Yardbird Jeff Beck as vocalist for the Jeff Beck Group. His first solo album The ROd Stewart Album in 1969 showcases the working class blues influences that he shared with the Stones in his early years.
Rod Stewart Discogrpahy
3. My Generation
The WhoIn the beginning, The Who was almost exclusively a R&B band. Although they eventually moved, like the Stones, toward a more energetic sound. The group's 1965 debut album, My Generation is the most reminiscent of the Stones sound during that period.
4. Glad All Over
Dave Clark FiveThis group promoted a clean-cut public image just as vigorously as the Stones promoted theirs as bad boys. The group's blues-tinged songs and the growling voice of lead singer Mike Smith combined to produce 17 Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1967, making it one of the most commerically successful bands of the British Invasion. Their debut album, Glad All Over is the one most likely to appeal to Stones fans.
Dave Clark Five Discography
5. Honkin' On Bobo
AerosmithAn American band, Aerosmith sounded so much like the Stones (lead singer Steven Tyler even looks like Mick Jagger) they were often criticized as being little more than a knockoff of the original. The band's second album, 1974's Get Your Wings shows a lot of the R&B thread that runs through the Stones' music, including a cover of the Yardbirds' Train Kept A-Rollin'.
Aerosmith Discography
