Ian Anderson: Bristol Bluesman

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"When a white English teenager from Somerset encountered scratchy old recordings of country blues guitarists from Mississippi in the mid 1960s, it seemed perfectly reasonable to want to become one!

Those old 78 rpm records which were being re-issued on obscure imported LPs came from a time unimaginably far away in an exotic past – 35 to 40 years earlier. So it’s sobering to realise that the scratchy old vinyl EPs and LPs from which most of the tracks on this compilation were dubbed (in the absence of surviving master tapes) are now more than 45 years old!

Ian Anderson began performing around the folk clubs of the Bristol area. In 1966 he teamed up with guitarist Al Jones and harmonica player Elliot Jackson: the resulting trio played the opening set at the legendary Bristol Troubadour club, released a limited edition EP in early ’67 and became resident at the UK’s first specialised country blues club Folk Blues Bristol & West. Ian & Elliot released a duo EP which got national BBC airplay, and contributed tracks to the Blues Like Showers Of Rain compilation of the leading UK country blues players of the day like Mike Cooper, Jo Ann Kelly and Dave Kelly.

With support from mentor Alexis Korner and BBC DJs like John Peel and Mike Raven, Ian was then signed to Liberty Records for his debut album Stereo Death Breakdown (re-issued on CD on Fledg’ling Records - see ghostsfromthebasement.bandcamp.com/album/stereo-death-breakdown to purchase) which came out in 1969. Ian Anderson’s Country Blues Band supported Mississippi Fred McDowell on many dates of a UK tour in spring 1969".