Description
In what can best be described as an unexpected epitaph capping a career that spanned more than 55 years, the final album by Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown finds the legendary Blues band still at the peak of their prowess. One of the early architects of the British Blues boom of the mid ‘60s, the band maintained its clarity and consistency over the course of its career.
That, of course, didn’t always work in their favor. While many of their contemporaries — Cream, the Yardbirds and Fleetwood Mac in particular — managed to adapt their sounds to keep pace with oftentimes fickle musical fashions, Simmonds and company always managed to stay the course, refusing to budge in their devotion to the Blues, commercial success be damned.
In that regard, Blues All Round stays true to its premise, thanks to a dozen songs that may be short on variation but still strong in terms of verve and vitality. Each of the offerings here purvey the drive and determination borne by shuffled rhythms and a galvanizing delivery. The trio — Kim Simonds on guitar, vocals, organ, and harmonica, Garnet Grimm on drums and percussion, and Pat Desalvo on bass — may be a compact ensemble, but they still manage to put across a sound that’s both steady and assured.
