A British blues band formed in the 1960s, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band. Savoy Brown never achieved as much success in the UK as they did in America, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. The band was formed and led by guitarist Kim Simmonds, whose dominating personality has led to myriad personnel changes.

The original lineup consisted of Simmonds on guitar, John O'Leary on harmonica, singer Brice Portius, Ray Chappell on bass and Leo Manning on drums. Both Manning and Portius were black, while the other members were white, making Savoy Brown one of the first racially integrated groups to play in British clubs.

Their first pianist, Trevor Jeavons, was soon replaced by Bob Hall, who became one of Savoy Brown's longest-serving (albeit part-time) members. Previously, Hall had been a member of the Groundhogs, which had backed John Lee Hooker on his 1964 British tour, and he had also played backup to Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. By the time of the Groundhogs' first recordings, however, Hall had departed because of time conflicts with his day job.

The band was initially managed by Simmonds' elder brother, Harry. The Simmonds brothers overcame the problem of getting gigs by opening their own blues club, Kilroy's, in May 1966, in an upstairs room of the Nag's Head Tavern in Battersea. Artists such as Fleetwood Mac and Freddie King played there and it eventually became home to the Blue Horizon club - a place where several future British blues talents such as Fleetwood Mac's Danny Kirwan (then with his first band, Boilerhouse) were discovered.

Kilroy's became a local success and soon attracted the notice of Mike Vernon, who published the blues and soul music magazine R&B Monthly and was at the time a producer at Decca. Vernon had also established the Blue Horizon label, with a subsidiary Purdah Records. Vernon got the band to record a few tracks which were released as singles on Purdah.

The band got a big break when Brian Wilcock, a DJ at Klook's Kleek R&B Club in West Hampstead arranged for them to play the interval for Cream's appearance there in August 1966. Savoy Brown went down such a storm during their slot that they racked up enough gig offers to enable them to go full time - and Wilcock eventually became their tour manager in September 1967.

The band started to expand their gig list to include engagements at the Flamingo and the Marquee in central London and the Metro in Birmingham. Several shows even found them backing Champion Jack Dupree.

Altogether, their lineup remained stable except for pianist Hall, who once again had conflicts with his daytime job that caused him to drop out for a while but return on a part-time basis when his replacement didn't work out. Demos and acetates were recorded with this lineup prior to the sessions for their first album. Ex-Stone's Masonry guitarist Martin Stone was added while O'Leary departed to become a member of John Dummer's Blues Band.

Decca signed the band on the recommendation of Vernon, and by mid-1967 the band was at West Hampstead Studios recording their first album, Shake Down, a collection of blues covers, with Mike Vernon again producing. The band continued to gig extensively while Shake Down was in production, including doing 24 gigs in just 21 days as backing band for John Lee Hooker.

At around the time of Shake Down's release, a drug-related incident led Harry to actually fire his brother Kim from the band. Other changes ensued as Chappell and Portius left and were replaced by Bob Brunning on bass and Chris Youlden on vocals, who gave them a distinctive frontman with his vocal abilities, bowler hat and monocle. Brunning had previously been Fleetwood Mac's bassist for a few weeks in August 1967.

Next, Manning quit and was replaced on drums by Hughie Flint, formerly of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Alexis Korner's band, Free at Last.

Finally, Stone departed and was replaced by 'Lonesome' Dave Peverett on guitar.

With only Kim (who had since made amends with Harry) and Hall from the prior lineup, the group entered the studio to record their next single. Shortly after the single was cut, the band underwent more personnel changes when both Brunning and Flint left. By 1968, Brunning formed the Brunning Sunflower Band with Hall, and Flint went on to early-1970s pop-chart success in McGuinness-Flint, later settling with the Blues Band.

After trying out several replacements for drums (including Bill Bruford) and bass, the band decided on Rivers Jobe and Roger Earl, respectively. With perhaps its strongest lineup, Savoy Brown quickly made a name for itself. Producer Mike Vernon arranged for sessions for the group's next album, Getting to the Point, which took place in March 1968. Youlden emerged as co-leader of the group alongside Simmonds, and the pair composed most of the material. The album was released in both the US and the UK in July 1968 to positive reviews.

In June 1968, they released the single Walking By Myself, a strong ensemble piece showcasing Hall on piano, the confident soloing of Simmonds, and a vocal duet between Youlden and Peverett. The group had by now refined its name to just Savoy Brown for this and subsequent releases.

In October 1968, the band recorded the seminal Train to Nowhere over 2 days. Youlden turned in powerful vocals on the record and the band utilised a brass section for the first time (reportedly including 5 trombones).

In November 1968, the band discharged bassist Jobe and asked former member Brunning (who had recently filled in for some gigs) to join again permanently. Brunning again declined, and so Tony Stevens joined instead.

Savoy Brown began their first 10-week US tour in January 1969, playing both the Fillmore East and Fillmore West, and gigs in Chicago and Detroit along the way. The tour proved to be a big success.

In May 1969, the band released their next album, Blue Matter. Consisting of previously released singles, live tracks recorded with Peverett on vocals and a John Lee Hooker cover, Blue Matter was a significant improvement over its predecessor. But, in spite of critical praise, the album did not make the charts.

Later that month, the band held studio sessions for their next album (the last to be produced by Mike Vernon), A Step Further. Originally called Asylum, the album was released in the US to coincide with the band's second American tour, which began in June. Though not as strong as Blue Matter, the album nevertheless peaked at #71 in the US, helped by the very successful tour.

Upon their arrival home, the band went on a UK tour with Jethro Tull and Terry Reid from September to October 1969. Harry again fired his brother Kim in December 1969 and the band actually played in BBC sessions without him (Kim rejoined shortly thereafter).

In late January 1970, Savoy Brown embarked on their third US. tour, after which they returned to England to record the tracks for their next album, Raw Sienna (produced jointly by Kim and Youlden). The album was more complex than its predecessors and, despite press interest, never caught fire, reaching only #121 on the US charts.

Youlden left the band in 1970 following Raw Sienna, and shortly thereafter Peverett, Earl and Stevens departed to form Foghat, continuing the pattern of consistent membership turnover.

Simmonds collected yet another lineup and began a hectic tour of America, showcasing the group's now-refined bluesy boogie-rock style, which dominated the rest of their albums. The group briefly broke up in 1973, but re-formed the following year. Simmonds continued to tour and record throughout the 1980s and 1990s.