Legendary bluesman Long John Baldry dead at 64
{{date|July 22, 2005}}

Long John Baldry, English-born [[w:blues|blues]] legend, passed away at the Vancouver General Hospital, [[w:Vancouver, British Columbia|Vancouver, British Columbia]], Thursday evening after fighting a severe chest infection for the past four months. 

Baldry was considered an innovator and inspiration in blues music in the 1950s and 60s and is credited with inspiring other music legends such as [[w:Elton John|Elton John]], [[w:Rod Stewart|Rod Stewart]], [[w:Eric Clapton|Eric Clapton]], and [[w:The Rolling Stones|The Rolling Stones]].

Baldry was born in [[w:East Haddon|East Haddon]], England, [[1941-01-12]] and grew to the imposing height of 6 feet 7 inches (2 metres) which gave him his nickname "Long John". He began playing folk and jazz music as a teenager in the 1950s but his deep voice resonated with the blues. Eric Clapton credits seeing Baldry play as an inspiration for him to play the blues himself. In the early 1960s Baldry sang with [[w:Alexis Korner|Alexis Korner]]'s influential band, Blues Incorporated, and then went on to lead a series of bands himself and featured many new musicians who would go onto superstardom, including Rod Stewart, [[w:Mick Jagger|Mick Jagger]], [[w:Charlie Watts|Charlie Watts]], [[w:Jack Bruce|Jack Bruce]], and [[w:Jimmy Page|Jimmy Page]].

He befriended [[w:Paul McCartney|Paul McCartney]] while playing at the Cavern in Liverpool and performed on [[w:The Beatles|The Beatles]]' internationally televised special ''Around the Beatles'' in 1964. 

In 1966, Baldry adopted Bluesology for his back-up band, after seeing "promise" in the young keyboard player, Reginald Dwight. In 1968, Dwight adopted the name Elton John, taking the name John in tribute to Baldry.

In 1978, he moved to the United States, spending time in New York and Los Angeles, before moving on to Vancouver permanently about 1980 and becoming a Canadian citizen.

Baldry has released over 40 albums and, in the last twenty years, done much voice-over work in Canada for commercials and animations including [[w:ReBoot|ReBoot]] and narrating the Disney production, ''The Original Story Of Winnie-The-Pooh'', which earned him a 1998 Grammy ''spoken word album for children'' nomination.

Before his illness, it had been anticipated that Baldry would be touring in the autumn in support of new recordings produced by Rod Stewart and Elton John to be released this September.

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.canada.com/entertainment/story.html?id=3c334a04-4151-4db9-8aa3-8c235eb3c441
|title=Blues legend Long John Baldry dies
|author=
|pub=Canadian Press
|date=July 22, 2005}}

*{{source|url=http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2005-07-22T174712Z_01_HAR263990_RTRUKOC_0_PEOPLE-BALDRY.xml
|title=Blues legend Long John Baldry dies
|author=
|pub=Reuters
|date=July 22, 2005}}

*{{source|url=http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000990354|title='Long John' Baldry Dies At 64|author=Larry LeBlanc|pub=Billboard magazine|date=July 22, 2005}}
* [http://www.johnbaldry.com/index1.asp "Long John Baldry"]. ''[http://www.johnbaldry.com johnbaldry.com]'', July 22, 2005
*{{source|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p264|title=Long John Baldry: Biography|author= Richie Unterberger|pub=All Music Guide|date=July 22, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_John_Baldry|title=Long John Baldry|author=|pub=Wikipedia|date=July 22, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.gtamusic.co.uk/long_john_baldry.htm|title=Long John Baldry|author=|pub=GTA Music Consultants & Agency|date=July 22, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0049827/|title=Long John Baldry|author=|pub=Internet Movie Database|date=July 22, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.amug.org/~scrnsrc/grammys_98.html|title=The 40th Annual Grammy Awards|author=|pub=Screen Source|date=July 22, 2005}}

{{Wikipediapar|Long John Baldry}}

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[[Category:Obituaries]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Culture and entertainment]]
[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:British Columbia]]
[[Category:Vancouver, British Columbia]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Blues music]]
[[Category:Elton John]]
Long John Baldry, English-born blues legend, passed away at the Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday evening after fighting a severe chest infection for the past four months. 

Baldry was considered an innovator and inspiration in blues music in the 1950s and 60s and is credited with inspiring other music legends such as Elton John, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones.

Baldry was born in East Haddon, England, 1941-01-12 and grew to the imposing height of 6 feet 7 inches (2 metres) which gave him his nickname "Long John". He began playing folk and jazz music as a teenager in the 1950s but his deep voice resonated with the blues. Eric Clapton credits seeing Baldry play as an inspiration for him to play the blues himself. In the early 1960s Baldry sang with Alexis Korner's influential band, Blues Incorporated, and then went on to lead a series of bands himself and featured many new musicians who would go onto superstardom, including Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, and Jimmy Page.

He befriended Paul McCartney while playing at the Cavern in Liverpool and performed on The Beatles' internationally televised special Around the Beatles in 1964. 

In 1966, Baldry adopted Bluesology for his back-up band, after seeing "promise" in the young keyboard player, Reginald Dwight. In 1968, Dwight adopted the name Elton John, taking the name John in tribute to Baldry.

In 1978, he moved to the United States, spending time in New York and Los Angeles, before moving on to Vancouver permanently about 1980 and becoming a Canadian citizen.

Baldry has released over 40 albums and, in the last twenty years, done much voice-over work in Canada for commercials and animations including ReBoot and narrating the Disney production, The Original Story Of Winnie-The-Pooh, which earned him a 1998 Grammy spoken word album for children nomination.

Before his illness, it had been anticipated that Baldry would be touring in the autumn in support of new recordings produced by Rod Stewart and Elton John to be released this September.

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*  "Long John Baldry".  johnbaldry.com, July 22, 2005
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Obituaries Music Culture and entertainment Canada British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom Blues music Elton John