The Pink Spotlight on Long John Baldry

Background information
Birth name John William Baldry
Born January 12, 1941
East Haddon,
Northamptonshire, England
Died July 21, 2005 (aged 64)
Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada

Website JohnBaldry.com

John William Baldry, popularly known as Long John Baldry, (January 12, 1941 – July 21, 2005) was an English blues singer. He sang with many notable British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry at various stages of the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in 1967 and in Australia where his duet with Kathi McDonald "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" reached No. 2 in the charts in 1980. Baldry lived in Canada from the late 1970s until his death, where he continued to make records and do voiceover work. He is known by a younger generation as the voice of Dr. Robotnik in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Blues bands of the 1960s
Born John William Baldry in England, he grew to a towering 2.01 m (6 ft.7 in.) that resulted in the nickname "Long" John. Gifted with a deep, rich voice, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing blues music in clubs.

He sometimes appeared on Eel Pie Island, which is situated on the River Thames at Twickenham and, also at the Station Hotel in Richmond, Surrey which was one of the Rolling Stones' earliest regular gigs.

In the early 1960s, he sang with Alexis Korner's band Blues Incorporated, with whom he recorded the first British blues album in 1962, R&B at the Marquee. At various stages, Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts were members of this band while Keith Richards and Brian Jones played on stage with them, although none of those musicians played on the R&B at the Marquee album. The Rolling Stones supported Baldry in their first concert at the Marquee Club. Later, Baldry would be featured as the announcer introducing The Stones on their US-only live album, Got Live if You Want It!, in 1966.

Baldry became friends with Paul McCartney after playing a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the early 1960s, leading to an invitation to play on one of The Beatles 1964 TV specials.

In 1963, Baldry joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars with Jimmy Page on guitar and Nicky Hopkins playing piano. He took over the group in 1964 after the death of Cyril Davies, which became Long John Baldry and his Hoochie Coochie Men featuring Rod Stewart on vocals and Geoff Bradford on guitar. Rod Stewart was recruited after Baldry heard him busking a Muddy Waters song at Twickenham railway station after Stewart had been to a gig at Eel Pie Island.

In 1965, the Hoochie Coochie Men became Steampacket with Baldry and Stewart as male vocalists, Julie Driscoll as the female vocalist and Brian Auger on Hammond organ. After Steampacket broke up in 1966, Baldry formed Bluesology featuring Reg Dwight on keyboards and Elton Dean, later of Soft Machine, as well as Caleb Quaye on guitar. Reg Dwight decided to adopt the name Elton John, taking his first name from Dean and his surname from Baldry's first name.

Solo artist
Long John's Blues 1964In 1967, he recorded a pop song "Let the Heartaches Begin" that went to number one in Britain, followed by a 1968 top 20 hit titled "Mexico", which was the official theme of the UK Olympic team in that year. "Let the Heartaches Begin" made the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

Bluesology broke up in 1968, with Baldry continuing his solo career and Elton John forming a songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. In 1969, Elton John tried to commit suicide after having relationship problems with a woman he was engaged to. Taupin and Baldry, who was openly gay, found him, and Baldry talked him out of marrying the woman, helping to make John more comfortable with his sexuality. The hit song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was written about the experience.

In 1971, John and Stewart each produced one side of It Ain't Easy which became Baldry's most popular album and made the top 100 of the US album charts. The album featured the song "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" which became his most successful song in the US. John's first tour of the US was around this time. The band included, Micky Waller, Ian Armitt, Pete Sears, and Sammy Mitchell. Stewart and John would again co-produce his 1972 album Everything Stops For Tea which made the lower reaches of the US album charts. The same year, Baldry worked with ex-Procol Harum guitarist Dave Ball.

Baldry would then suffer from mental health problems resulting in his being institutionalised. The 1979 album Baldry's Out was recorded after his release.

Long John Baldry played his last live show in Columbus, Ohio, on July 19, 2004, at Barristers Hall with guitarist Bobby Cameron. The show was produced by Andrew Myers. On that occasion, John and Bobby played to a small intimate group of people. Some came from as far away as Texas to witness this blues performer. Two years previously the two had also completed a 10-venue sell-out tour of Canada together.

Television
In 1985, he lent his voice to the show Ewoks. Since then Baldry's voice has appeared in many other animated series.

1989 — Salty's Lighthouse as Top Hat, Hercules and Stanley/Chooch
1989 — Dragon Quest a.k.a. Dragon Warrior
1989 — Captain N: The Game Master
1990 — Captain N & the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
1990 — Madeline
1991 — Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars as Toad Air Marshal
1992 — Conan the Adventurer as Wrath-Amon
1993 — Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog as Dr. Robotnik
1994 — ReBoot as Captain Capacitor (1994, 1997-1998) and Old Man Pearson (1994-1996, 1997)
1996 — Sonic Christmas Blast as Dr. Ivo Robotnik
1999 — Sabrina, the Animated Series
1999 — Toad Patrol as Mistle Toad

Canadian citizenship
After spending time in New York City and Los Angeles in 1978, Baldry chose to settle permanently in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became a Canadian citizen. He regularly toured the Canadian west coast, as well as the U.S. Northwest. Baldry also toured the Canadian east, including one 1985 show in Kingston, Ontario, where audience members repeatedly called for the title track from his 1979 album Baldry's Out!--to which he replied, "I'll say he is!"

In 1979, he teamed up with Seattle singer Kathi MacDonald to record a version of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin", following which MacDonald became a permanent part of his touring group for the next two decades. The song made the lower reaches of the US Billboard charts but was a top 5 hit in Australia in 1980. He last recorded with the Stony Plain record label. His 1997 album Right To Sing The Blues won a Juno Award in the Blues Album of the Year category in the Juno Awards of 1997.

Death
Long John Baldry died on July 21, 2005, in a Vancouver hospital of a severe chest infection. Coincidentally, Deem Bristow, Robotnik's later voice actor had died earlier that same year.

*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia