“At the age of 14, I began to spend my pocket money on secondhand blues and jazz records. It was still the era of 78 r.p.m. shellac discs, so those were what I had, with the music of Leadbelly, Louis Armstrong, Lightnin’ Hopkins, The Mound City Blue Blowers, and Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie.
Soon I graduated to LPs and EPs, and a T-Bone Walker album that featured Junior Wells on harmonica. That changed things for me. I was already singing, but now I had to play harmonica as well. I couldn’t get it right at first, but my friend Brian Jones (yes, that Brian Jones) showed me how to play blues on it. I bought albums by Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (both of them) and Lightnin’ Slim, and studied the harmonica work on them.
At university, I formed a blues band, which I believed at the time was the only one in Britain. How wrong I was! One day Brian told me that Alexis Korner was opening a new blues club in west London, so we went – and there I met people who had blues bands in Newcastle (The Animals), Birmingham (Spencer Davis Group) and all over the country.
Alexis was a full-time encourager. Pretty much every young ‘wannabe’ musician back then owed him thanks for helping them get started. That certainly included me, and I could invariably be seen standing in front of the stage at the famous Marquee Club, looking up at Alexis, watching for that moment when he would call me up to do a song or two. This paid off, because when Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg asked the Marquee if they knew of anyone who could sing for a Rhythm & Blues band they were forming, I got the job.
After a few years as a Manfred, and the first decade of my acting career, I thought it was time to get back to the blues, so in 1979 I started The Blues Band, not imagining at the time that it would last for 43 years.
I’m still grateful to Alexis Korner, and to his former boss, Chris Barber. I got to record, and/or play live, with not only them, but also Carey and Lurrie Bell, Eric Bibb, Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Dawkins, Henry Gray, Stefan Grossman, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Govt Mule, Al Kooper, Trudy Lynn, Bernie Marsden, Percy Sledge, Walter Trout and Robin Trower. Among many, many others; the list is still growing, and I’m still having a great time”.
Paul
Paul Jones (born Paul Adrian Pond, 24 February 1942) is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, radio personality and television presenter. He first came to prominence as the original lead singer and harmonicist of the rock band Manfred Mann (1962–66) with whom he had several hit records including “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” (UK #1, US #1) and “Pretty Flamingo” (UK #1).
After leaving the band, Jones established a solo career. In 1979, he formed The Blues Band and toured with them until their breakup in 2022. He presented The Blues Show on BBC Radio 2 for thirty-two years, from 1986 to 2018, and continues to perform alongside former Manfred Mann bandmates in the Manfreds.
Paul was the original frontman with the group Manfred Mann, and co-composer of the signature tune for “Ready, Steady, Go!”. He was at the forefront of the 60s pop revolution, with million-selling records alongside the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Animals. Nowadays he is still lead vocalist and harmonica man in The Manfreds – along with some of the original members -, touring extensively both in the UK and abroad.
In 1966 he turned to acting, first in films and television, and then on stage. He has worked with directors such as Sir Richard Eyre, Peter Gill and Toby Robertson. His numerous gold albums include one for the original recording of Evita.
In 1979 he founded The Blues Band, which helped kick start another boom in Blues music. The band has now recorded about 17 albums, not counting compilations and repackagings; details and dates can be found on The Blues Band’s website. On radio, he worked for several years on the BBC’s World Service and has broadcast on BBC Radio networks as musician, DJ, actor, critic and Desert Island Discs castaway; he also contributed a set of questions to Mastermind.
Paul is the President of the Harmonica UK, and he has recorded with a range of artists including Tina Turner, Percy Sledge, Memphis Slim, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Katie Melua and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has written and/or played music for films, TV programs and commercials, and his songs have been recorded by a varied bunch, including early Steppenwolf, Helen Shapiro and Ten Years After.
He has been awarded “harmonica player of the year” in the British Blues Awards of 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as Blues Broadcaster of the year and a Lifetime Achievement award in 2024. Paul has been a BASCA Gold Badge-winner in 1996. He is a Doctor of Music (University Of Portsmouth) and in 2001 he received the famous red book for This Is Your Life.
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