Savoy Brown founder Kim Simmonds and Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine together at the Iron Horse this Sunday (6/8)

Long known as the mastermind behind the legendary British blues rock band Savoy Brown, Kim Simmonds is acknowledged as one of England’s finest bluesmen. Born in the UK in 1947 in the small mining town of Newbridge, Wales, Simmonds learned to play guitar at the tender age of thirteen by sending away for a mail order guitar that arrived disassembled. By the mid 60’s and now in his teens he formed Savoy Brown in Soho, London establishing himself amongst the hierarchy of white British blues guitarists that included Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Peter Green. The British blues movement, of which Simmonds was a major part, exported blues music back to the USA invigorating the art form as well as bringing attention to many forgotten blues musicians.

While Savoy Brown is Simmonds' vehicle to play electric blues and rock, his solo forays have always been all acoustic, as the Iron Horse show will be. From his early days of playing the late night clubs of London through the grand scale of headlining the world's biggest stages, Simmonds has stayed the course and continues to play the blues, inspiring awe and respect from all who see him play.

In 1963 The Animals were getting together as a band. Chas Chandler heard about this wild guitar player Hilton Valentine and asked him to join what was then called The Alan Price Combo. Hilton played with The Animals until their breakup in September 1966. He has reunited with the original lineup of Animals three times since their split. In 1994, Hilton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Animals. In 2001 he was inducted into Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame along with the other Animals and had a two night reunion concert at the El Rey Theatre. Today Hilton is concentrating on acoustic material and has just released his new CD under the name SKIFFLEDOG titled It's Folk 'n' Skiffle, Mate!

The Animals in the beginning with Hilton Valentine on the right, next to Eric Burdon.

Get tickets here!







My dad bought me this Savoy Brown album when I was 8 just because I loved the cover. It was $2.99 new. Dave Peverett and Roger Earl of Savoy Brown went on to form Foghat, one of my first concerts. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow opened. Springfield Civic center, 1978 I think.