Rod Price

The pubs and clubs of London in the late sixties produced a handful of legendary guitar players forging their own style in the blues/rock circuit: Eric Clapton, Peter Green and John Mayall. During that same time, Rod Price was in the process of creating his own sound with his unique blend of slide and blues based playing when he was plucked from the London music scene by ex-Savoy Brown alumni to become a founding member of Foghat. Thirty years, three platinum and eight gold albums later Foghat, propelled by the sheer power of Rod's lead/slide guitar, has no doubt become one of the most successful British bands to hit American soil and have truly made their mark on music history.

Now, 30 years later, Rod decided it was time to take inventory and re-chart where he wanted to go musically and spiritually. His newest release "Open" on Burnside Records is the result. Now free to play what truly moves him, Rod plays with a feeling and a fire that expresses his passion for the blues and that Chicago style sound that he loved to hear when he was growing up in England.

Born November 22, 1947 in Chiswick, London on Saint Cecilia's Day (the patron Saint of Music), which may have accounted for his immediate passion for music. His father and brother were both deeply into music of the classical kind and Rod learned to appreciate music at an early age; however, he knew deep down that he had not yet heard 'his kind of music'. About the age of 12, Rod would sit night after night by the radio and listen to the BBC play some amazing eclectic mix of music and he would wait. Wait for some enlightenment. Roy Rogers' "Four Legged Friend" and "How much Is That Doggie In The Window" didn't seem to tickle his fancy, but one day it happened, he heard his first E7 cord played by the brilliant hands of Big Bill Broonzy and that was it! Now all he had to do was to find out what kind of music this was. It didn't take too long to figure out that his passion was pointing him toward American Blues.

Getting down to details, Rod requested a guitar from his mother, who agreed to, but only after he learned to play the guitar. This led him to make new friends, all of whom were relatively, properly equipped. Taking music lessons became a turning point. Rod's eyes were opened to the world of jazz and Django Reinhardt. Although he never went after that style, the exposure was priceless.

Price's first gig was with a small, but locally successful, working man's rock and roll club/wedding band. This certainly got him going and in Rod's words "there is nothing like playing with real people to get your chops up". After less than a year, he decided it was time to find himself a blues band.

In 1966 Rod answered an ad in the Melody Maker for a guitar player for a 'Chicago style' blues group. Auditioning and beating out Paul Kossoff (founding member of Free), Rod got the job; of course his access to his mom's car may have helped him secure the position and the Shakey Vick's Big City Blues Band was born. The band developed into a comparatively purist blues band, taking material direct from the originals such as Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Shakey Horton, and Elmore James. Their interpretations were as close to the original style as they could get it and with a set list together, it was time to find some gigs. The established clubs in the 'blues scene' in London during '66-'67 were overwhelmingly played by the likes of John Mayall, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix. There were some smaller venues, The Nags Head in York Road, Battersea (where they had their first gig at with special guest, Lonesome Dave Peverett), The Hole in the Ground and The Blues Loft Club in High Wycombe. The latter club was where they hooked up and accompanied Champion Jack Dupree who later claimed that "they were the best blues band in Europe".

After a short-lived record deal that didn't pan out, the band decided to split, saying farewell with an April '68 gig.

After leaving Shakey Vick's Big City Blues Band, Rod helped to form Dynaflow Blues, which was a dynamite live band - until the harmonica player Chris Elvin decided to go back to college. All would have been lost except for Rod running into Duster Bennett at the local Sound City music store. Duster, to Rod's amazement, asked if he could help out. Thrilled by Duster's generous offer, Rod accepted the help. Duster joined, played a few gigs, and recorded four tracks at Olympic Studios; however, no albums were ever produced, only memories. Dynaflow Blues was short lived-then but Rod Price and a reformed Dynaflow Blues still play to this day - actually, on this CD.

Moving on to play and record with Black Cat Bones (a very heavy blues/rock quartet that recorded 1 LP "Barbed Wire Sandwich") and a stint as the lead guitarist for Foghat that spanned 3 decades, Rod has come full circle back to his first love - the blues. "I'm playing the music I love best" enthuses Rod about "Open", and that exuberance comes through loud & clear in his playing. Reunited with Shakey Vick on vocals & harp, "Open" marks Rod's jubilant return to Chicago style blues, done British blues-rock style. Dedicate to the memory of Foghat's "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, "Open" has many highlights: from the rockin' opener 'One More Time' through the soulful instrumental version of Howlin' Wolf's 'Sitting On Top Of The World', there's something for all fans of guitar-driven rockin' blues.

For more information, interviews or booking
contact Susan Stewart at Burnside Records
(503)231-0876 / music@burnsiderecords.com