Savoy Brown

Like it or not, the British blues boom of the '60s was one of the best things to happen to the music as a popular genre. Before the the Rolling Stones, Clapton, Van Morrison, and others hipped white kids on both sides of the Atlantic to its tradition, blues was losing its audience to an embryonic soul music. In the early '60s, for example, B.B. King was once booed off the stage when opening for Jackie Wilson.

One of the few UK bands still going strong from way-back-when is Savoy Brown. Formed in 1966 by guitarist Kim Simmonds -- who remains the group's only original member -- the Brown was popular in the States during its 1968-'72 heyday, specializing in a dynamic hard-rocking style that both maintains and expands upon its blues roots.

Many musicians have passed through the band's revolving door, including Dave Walker, for a time a member of pre-Rumours Fleetwood Mac (originally a blues band too) and three of the four chaps in Foghat. Even though blues-rock's popularity peaked by '75, the music remains eternal -- and Simmonds, with his tireless dedication and sizzling slide, keeps on.