Spencer Davis of the sixties UK combo The Spencer Davis Group has died at the age of 81.
The BBC reports that Davis passed away in hospital on Monday whilst being treated for pneumonia.
After being formed by Davis with the Winwood brothers Steve and Muff, and drummer Pete York, in 1963, The Spencer Davis Group would go on to record enduring sixties hits starting with the breakthrough cover of Keep On Running, and original classics such as Gimme Some Lovin’ and I’m A Man.
Whilst it was Steve Winwood’s hammond organ, soulful vocals, and songwriting, which underpinned one of the signature sounds of that decade’s UK pop music, it was Davis whose name led the group apparently, according to Muff Winwood, so he could take the interviews.
“Spencer was an early pioneer of the British folk scene, which in his case embraced folk blues and eventually what was then called ‘rhythm and blues’,” Steve Winwood has told Rolling Stone.
“He influenced my tastes in music, and he owned the first 12-string guitar I ever saw. He was taken with the music of Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter and Big Bill Broonzy. I’d already got a big brother who influenced me greatly, and Spencer became like a big brother to me at the time.”
