Sam Mitchell is an English blues and acoustic blues guitarist and singer from Liverpool. He is known for his slide guitar playing, which appears on recordings by a wide range of artists, and he is described as one of the UK’s finest slide guitarists.

Early life and career

Mitchell is born in Liverpool in 1950 and grows up there. His father is a professional Hawaiian and jazz guitarist and plays with Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders. Mitchell begins his career in 1966, playing folk clubs in Liverpool and Brighton before moving on to London.

He takes up slide guitar after hearing Robert Johnson, and while playing in a London folk club he is discovered by Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry.

Recording work and collaborations

Mitchell’s slide guitar playing is heard on recordings by Jim Capaldi, Rod Stewart, Uncle Dog featuring Carol Grimes, and The Who, among many others. His playing reaches a wider audience through Rod Stewart’s albums Gasoline Alley and Every Picture Tells a Story.

He also appears in a foreshortened live set by The Sam Mitchell Blues Band on BBC Television’s Sight and Sound in Concert. In the early 1980s, he performs with the three-piece Sam Mitchell Blues Band at clubs in the Putney and Fulham areas of London.

Later projects

From the mid-1980s, Mitchell is a member of Denmark’s The Sandmen. Other collaborations include several albums with Dana Gillespie, a joint album with Serbia’s Homesick Mac, and a long association with Chris Jagger.

He also writes and performs Rubber Leg Boogie, a song named after the dancing style of Paul Randle, known as the Rubber Legs. His bass player Steve Slack later joins The UK Subs.

Style and legacy

Mitchell’s playing is noted for inventive slide solos and a style that covers both smooth and melodic approaches. He also has a soulful singing voice and performs lead roles with ease. His collection of blues albums is described as a broad history of the genre.

Mitchell dies in Liverpool in 2006.