Everything about Zoot Money totally explained
George Bruno "Zoot" Money (born
17 July 1942,
Bournemouth,
Dorset) is a
singer,
pianist,
organist,
bandleader and
actor.
Career
Both his parents were
Italian immigrants, although his father's family (really called Money) were originally
English.
At school Money played the
French horn and sang in the
choir, but it wasn't long before he switched to
rock and roll, inspired by
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Ray Charles, and soon became a leading light on Bournemouth's vibrant
music scene. He named himself Zoot after the
jazz saxophonist,
Zoot Sims.
In 1961 Money formed the first incarnation of the Big Roll
band; over the next two years the line-up settled into
Andy Summers (later of
The Police) on
guitar, Nick Newall on
saxophone and
Colin Allen on
drums, with Money on
piano and
Hammond organ. This line-up continued for a few years with various interruptions. The first was when Money, spotted by "
British Blues Godfather"
Alexis Korner's then manager, was invited to play with Korner's
Blues Incorporated for a temporary spell. Money decided to stay in
London, and the other Big Rollers soon joined him.
Before long The Big Roll Band, taking over a residency previously held by
Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames and then
The Animals, were playing regularly at the
Flamingo, a
Soho club renowned for its wild all-nighters. They played a cooking mixture of
soul,
jazz and
R&B, peppered with the flamboyant antics of
frontman Money. Nurturing a passion for Ray Charles, the Hammond organ, and the odd alcoholic beverage, Money was a popular live attraction with the
UK's "in-crowd" as the blues and R&B movement of the early part of the decade progressed into the "
Swinging Sixties".
In 1967 Blues Incorporated became Dantalian's Chariot, and in spite of a singular lack of
chart success, due in part to a thirty year delay in releasing their
album, the band found themselves at the heart of the new counterculture, sharing bills with bands such as
Pink Floyd,
Soft Machine and
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
A brief stint in
America with
Eric Burdon's New Animals followed, and Money decided to stay there for a while. At this point he began picking up
acting roles, starting a parallel career which has continued ever since, with character appearances in many high profile
film and
TV dramas.
On the musical side during the
1970s Money featured with (amongst others)
poetry and
rock music band
Grimms, Ellis,
Centipede,
Kevin Coyne and
Kevin Ayers before signing up in 1980 to
Paul McCartney's
label,
MPL, to record the
Jim Diamond produced,
Mr. Money.
Over the years Money has also worked with,
Alexis Korner (independently of Blues Inc),
Rocket 88 ,
Spencer Davis,
Geno Washington, various incarnations of
The Animals and
Alan Price, with whom he continues to perform.
In early 2006
The British Blues Quintet was formed when Money and his long-time collaborator, drummer Colin Allen, teamed up with Allen's former bandmate from
Stone The Crows,
vocalist Maggie Bell, bassist
Colin Hodgkinson (Alexis Korner,
Whitesnake,
Jan Hammer and Spencer Davis) and guitarist
Miller Anderson (
Savoy Brown,
T-Rex,
Chicken Shack and Spencer Davis). Alongside the most recent incarnation of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, which includes longtime
Van Morrison guitarist Ronnie Johnson and former
Womble Paul McCallum on bass, Money maintains a busy touring schedule around the UK and
Europe.
Other work
In addition to live music and acting performances, Money has
penned songs for other
artists - "It Never Rains But It Pours" was
recorded by
Jimmy Witherspoon, and Money has also written for
Lulu,
Maggie Bell and
Long John Baldry.
Money's extensive musical knowledge is also called on from time to time as a
radio programming consultant, a skill which led to a spell in the 1990s as
Musical Director for
London's
Melody Radio.
He has produced two albums:
Ruby Turner's
Call Me By My Name - Indigo Records, 1999, and Woodstock Taylor's
Road Movie, independently released on Cuppa Records.
As an actor Money appeared (playing a promotions man) in the
film Breaking Glass with
Hazel O'Connor, he also played one of Leonard Rossiters' fellow commuters dicing for first place across the Thames in The Waterloo Bridge Handicap, a UK short film. Sometimes credited as G.B. Money or G.B. "Zoot" Money, he's appeared in a number of small roles in
British television programmes such as
Bergerac,
The Professionals and
The Bill.
Selected recordings
- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: It Should've Been Me (Columbia 33SX 1734) 1965
- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: Zoot! Live at Klook's Kleek (live rec. May 31, 1966) (Columbia S(C)X 6075) 1966
- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: Were You There? Live 1966 (Indigo Records IGOXCD 518) 1999
- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: Fully Clothed and Naked (Indigo Records IGOXCD 529) released 2000, recorded mid 1960s
- Dantalian's Chariot: Chariot Rising (Wooden Hill Records WHCD005) released 1997, recorded 1967
- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band: Transition (Direction/Columbia 8-63231) 1968
- Zoot Money : Welcome to My Head (Capitol ST318 [USA]) 1969
- Alexis Korner and Friends: The Party Album (1978)
- Mr Money (1980)
- Super Jam (1990) - live album recording of German TV series Villa Fantastica - featuring singers Zoot Money and Maria Muldaur, Brian Auger on piano, Pete York on drums, Dick Morrissey on tenor, Roy Williams on trombone, and Harvey Weston on bass.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Zoot Money'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://zoot_money.totallyexplained.com">Zoot Money Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
