Geoff Bradford (musician)
| Geoff Bradford | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Geoffrey Frank Bradford |
| Born |
January 13, 1934 Islington, England |
| Died | March 24, 2014 (aged 80) Enfield, England |
| Genres | Blues, British blues, skiffle, blues rock, folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer |
| Years active | 1954–2014 |
| Associated acts | Blues Incorporated, R&B All Stars, Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies, Brian Jones |
Geoffrey Frank "Geoff" Bradford (13 January 1934 – 24 March 2014) was an English guitarist who played alongside British blues musicians in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Long John Baldry and Alexis Korner.
Bradford was born in Islington, England, and went to school in East Barnet. From the age of 14 he took piano lessons, playing transcriptions of Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Hammond; although he soon lost interest in the instrument, exposure to blues music left a lasting impression on him.
After leaving school, he briefly obtained a position in an insurance office, before signed on for the Navy as a stoker-engineer when he was 17 years old. In 1954, whilst on leave, he met and married his wife Jean. During his service with the Navy, Bradford visited Sicily and bought his first guitar. Bradford bought himself out of the Navy, then worked briefly as a baker and butcher, before obtaining a position as a screen printer.
He joined a skiffle group called the Sunrisers, and initially emulated the work of Bill Broonzy and Bo Diddley. Eventually, he placed an advertisement in the Melody Maker for other blues players, and one of the respondents was Kevin Scott. Bradford and Scott appeared as a duo at The Roundhouse blues club, which was run by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner.NB This is not the fampus "Roundhouse" at Chalk Farm in London's Camden Town. THE ROUNDHOUSE mentioned here was a pub on the corner of Wardour Street and Brewer Street, W1, which was London's "Skiffle Centre" until 1956 when Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner started the London Blues And Barrelhouse Club. The Thursday night sessions often took the form of impromptu jams amongst the blues enthusiasts present and were visited by touring American bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, and Big Bill Broonzy. The Stones played here in the early days. The Roundhouse was recently open as The O Bar.
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