Geoff Everett
Encyclopedia
Geoff Everett is a lead rock/blues guitarist and lead vocalist/frontman based in the South East of England. He has long been known in the music industry for his unique mastery of the Electric guitar
bringing with it highly advanced and emotive styles of on the spot improvisation (soloing). (He also plays slide guitar
, harmonica
and mandolin
on his live and recorded performances).
Everett has worked with: Screaming Lord Sutch in Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages
, (replacing such notables as Jeff Beck
and Jimmy Page
) Alan Lancaster
(Status Quo), David Knopfler
(Dire Straits
), Bob Henrit (The Kinks
/Argent), Sam Kelly (Gary Moore
), Jim Russell (Stretch/Scotty Moore), Carl Palmer (ELP and Atomic Rooster
), Gerry McAvoy
and Brendan O'Neill (Rory Gallagher
/Nine Below Zero
), Jim Leverton (Steve Marriott
/Savoy Brown
), Kim Beacon (String Driven Thing
), Ian Paice (Deep Purple
), Gordon Huntley (Matthew's Southern Comfort) and Bobby Miller (Supertramp
). He has written songs for Nine Below Zero such as 'Satellite Blues' from the 1992 Album 'Off The Hook', and wrote some numbers on "The Other Side" by The Herbs - a rare sought after album featuring John Keeble
from Spandau Ballet
and Dean Howard
from T'Pau (band)
.
). In 1967, aged sixteen, Everett joined the Chicago Line Blues Band - a semi pro band (nurtured under the auspices of Blue Horizon
's Mike Vernon (producer)
and Dick Vernon) and played prestigious clubs such as the Eel Pie Island
blues venue in Twickenham, London supporting and sometimes jamming with the likes of Keef Hartley
, Art Wood
(Ronnie's brother), Ritchie Blackmore
, etc. A band from Earls Court came next in 1969 with Colin Solman on drums (coincidentally later with Screaming Lord Sutch) but their lack of ambition caused Everett to split and try a project with Alan Lancaster from Status Quo. Quo had a sudden change in fortune when they switched from pop to rock and Alan was whisked off. The rest of the band were taken under the wing of George Young (rock musician) and Harry Vander from The Easybeats
. George and Harry's time and energy, though, had to be consumed by a band formed by George's brothers - Angus and Malcolm, now a household name – AC/DC
.
privately and at adult education classes. Unfulfilled with all this, he formed a funk blues outfit called Blind Eye in 1978 with Tony Ellis - who was also with Everett with Screaming Lord Sutch. In the early 1980s more UK and Scandinavian tours followed and Everett was asked by Tony Ellis to join The Cafe Racers, led by Dave Knopfler and Mark Knopfler
, Mark having recently left to form Dire Straits). Tony's involvement with the Knopfler brothers is outlined in the Mark Knopfler biography by Myles Palmer. Later during Everett's busy sessions he met Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O'Neill who when they were not playing with Rory Gallagher, joined Everett in a three-piece band called The Mosquitoes playing pubs and clubs in and around London.
's drummer Paul Robinson and Sam Kelly from The Gary Moore Band. On their website you will find the following quote:
Everett can be found on http://www.kenttv.com/695#PRG695Kent County Council's Kent TV
] where Everett's unique soloing can be seen. Kent TV also broadcasted a sample of an early Geoff Everett Band international gig in Meteor, Greece. His band are also heard from time to time on America’s Texas Blues Café radio station and their podcast website. Currently (2009–2010), The Geoff Everett Band perform in the UK, Greece, France and Holland.
guitar; a rare pre CBS 1964 version, and two eighties versions, one of which he uses for Slide Guitar and the other is the 'Heavy Metal' model. He also plays a 1964 Gibson SG Junior
and various other electric guitars from the 1950s onwards. His main amplification is an early 1980s Music Man (company)
electric guitar amp.
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
bringing with it highly advanced and emotive styles of on the spot improvisation (soloing). (He also plays slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
on his live and recorded performances).
Everett has worked with: Screaming Lord Sutch in Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages
Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages
Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages were a British rock group from the early Sixties, sporting an ever-changing line-up of musicians and a taste for horror themes and zany humour. Some regard them as forerunners of both The Sex Pistols and Monty Python...
, (replacing such notables as Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
and Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
) Alan Lancaster
Alan Lancaster
Alan Lancaster is a bassist and a founding ex-member of the English rock band, Status Quo...
(Status Quo), David Knopfler
David Knopfler
David Knopfler is a British singer-songwriter, rhythm guitarist, pianist and cofounder of the critically acclaimed rock band Dire Straits....
(Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
), Bob Henrit (The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
/Argent), Sam Kelly (Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
), Jim Russell (Stretch/Scotty Moore), Carl Palmer (ELP and Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
), Gerry McAvoy
Gerry McAvoy
Gerry McAvoy is an Irish blues rock bass guitarist, who is best known for his twenty five year long friendship and professional association performing with Rory Gallagher between 1970 and 1991...
and Brendan O'Neill (Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
/Nine Below Zero
Nine Below Zero
Nine Below Zero are an English blues band, who have a cult following throughout Europe, and were most popular in the period between 1980 and 1982.-Career:...
), Jim Leverton (Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
/Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London...
), Kim Beacon (String Driven Thing
String Driven Thing
String Driven Thing were a 1970s folk-rock band from Scotland led by husband and wife Chris Adams and Pauline Adams and featuring the electric violin of Graham Smith.-Formation:...
), Ian Paice (Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
), Gordon Huntley (Matthew's Southern Comfort) and Bobby Miller (Supertramp
Supertramp
Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
). He has written songs for Nine Below Zero such as 'Satellite Blues' from the 1992 Album 'Off The Hook', and wrote some numbers on "The Other Side" by The Herbs - a rare sought after album featuring John Keeble
John Keeble
John Keeble is a British pop musician, who is the drummer with the 1980s band, Spandau Ballet.Spandau Ballet disbanded in 1990, after their final studio album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True and Parade.In 1999, John...
from Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
and Dean Howard
Dean Howard
Dean Howard is a guitarist who was part of Ian Gillan's backing band on the Deep Purple frontman's U.S. solo tour in August and September 2006...
from T'Pau (band)
T'Pau (band)
T'Pau was a 1980s British Rock group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe...
.
The early era
Everett started playing guitar and singing aged 13 and started gigging straight away at parties, local dances, etc. with a little group, The Reminiscents formed with school mates, Gary Pantry and Lee Abbott (now with international folk rock outfit Magna Carta (band)Magna Carta (band)
Magna Carta is a folk rock group originally formed in London in April 1969; their first concert was on 10 May 1969, by Chris Simpson , Lyell Tranter , and Glen Stuart ....
). In 1967, aged sixteen, Everett joined the Chicago Line Blues Band - a semi pro band (nurtured under the auspices of Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the mid 1960s.Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry ; and another by John Mayall and Eric Clapton "Bernard Jenkins", and...
's Mike Vernon (producer)
Mike Vernon (producer)
Mike Vernon is an English record producer. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups during the late 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and...
and Dick Vernon) and played prestigious clubs such as the Eel Pie Island
Eel Pie Island
Eel Pie Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Twickenham, in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames, London. It is situated on the Tideway and can be reached only by footbridge or boat...
blues venue in Twickenham, London supporting and sometimes jamming with the likes of Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted the Keef Hartley Band, and played at Woodstock. Hartley was later a member of Dog Soldier, and variously worked with Rory Storm, The Artwoods and John Mayall.-Biography:Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire, England...
, Art Wood
Art Wood
Arthur "Art" Wood was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother of Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones.-Life:...
(Ronnie's brother), Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, etc. A band from Earls Court came next in 1969 with Colin Solman on drums (coincidentally later with Screaming Lord Sutch) but their lack of ambition caused Everett to split and try a project with Alan Lancaster from Status Quo. Quo had a sudden change in fortune when they switched from pop to rock and Alan was whisked off. The rest of the band were taken under the wing of George Young (rock musician) and Harry Vander from The Easybeats
The Easybeats
The Easybeats were an Australian rock and roll band. They formed in Sydney in late 1964 and broke up at the end of 1969. They are regarded as the greatest Australian pop band of the 1960s, and were the first Australian rock and roll act to score an international pop hit with their 1966 single...
. George and Harry's time and energy, though, had to be consumed by a band formed by George's brothers - Angus and Malcolm, now a household name – AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
.
The Intermediate era
During the early 1970s, in order to survive, Country music filled the musical gap and Everett travelled the UK and abroad with several country bands. When at home he taught classical guitarClassical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
privately and at adult education classes. Unfulfilled with all this, he formed a funk blues outfit called Blind Eye in 1978 with Tony Ellis - who was also with Everett with Screaming Lord Sutch. In the early 1980s more UK and Scandinavian tours followed and Everett was asked by Tony Ellis to join The Cafe Racers, led by Dave Knopfler and Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
, Mark having recently left to form Dire Straits). Tony's involvement with the Knopfler brothers is outlined in the Mark Knopfler biography by Myles Palmer. Later during Everett's busy sessions he met Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O'Neill who when they were not playing with Rory Gallagher, joined Everett in a three-piece band called The Mosquitoes playing pubs and clubs in and around London.
Recent times
The early 1990s saw Everett forming a rock, funk outfit called The Absolute who gathered a large following at their performances and the late 1990s saw Everett touring with a band called 'A Band Named Sioux', The Cruising Mooses and The Rob King Band. It was not long until Everett returned to fronting his rock and blues with the return of The Mosquitoes under the moniker The Fabulous Mosquitoes. The current incarnation of Everett's rock and blues outfit is 'The Geoff Everett Band' with bassist Kevin Dore and various high profile drummers such as Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's drummer Paul Robinson and Sam Kelly from The Gary Moore Band. On their website you will find the following quote:
Geoff Everett is a guitarist and vocalist with stunning style. His playing is aggressive and beautiful with imaginative dynamics and articulate grammatical soloing. His performance is gutsy and very exciting. In addition to powerful vocals, Geoff also offers up stunningly exciting slide guitar work as well as mandolin, keyboard and harmonica. He writes and records in his own professional studio. Geoff is widely regarded in Europe and the UK as one of the finest performers and most innovative blues guitarists around today.
Everett can be found on http://www.kenttv.com/695#PRG695Kent County Council's Kent TV
Kent TV
KentTV.com is an internet-based broadband television channel providing content relating to the county of Kent in the United Kingdom. It was launched in September 2007 by Kent County Council and is run Independently by Bob Geldof's media company Ten Alps. Content is produced in one of four ways, in...
] where Everett's unique soloing can be seen. Kent TV also broadcasted a sample of an early Geoff Everett Band international gig in Meteor, Greece. His band are also heard from time to time on America’s Texas Blues Café radio station and their podcast website. Currently (2009–2010), The Geoff Everett Band perform in the UK, Greece, France and Holland.
Instruments
Everett is well known for playing the Fender StratocasterFender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
guitar; a rare pre CBS 1964 version, and two eighties versions, one of which he uses for Slide Guitar and the other is the 'Heavy Metal' model. He also plays a 1964 Gibson SG Junior
Gibson SG Junior
The Gibson SG Junior was a solid-bodied electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from the early 1960s to the late 60s. Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale to anyone who wanted Gibson quality for a cheap price. It is known for its single P-90 treble...
and various other electric guitars from the 1950s onwards. His main amplification is an early 1980s Music Man (company)
Music Man (company)
Music Man is an American guitar, and bass guitar manufacturer. It is a division of the Ernie Ball corporation.-Early years:The Music Man story began in 1971 when Forrest White and Tom Walker talked with Leo Fender about starting a company they would call Tri-Sonic, Inc...
electric guitar amp.