Steve Gibbons

Steve Gibbons

Steve Gibbons is a rock singer, songwriter and guitarist from Birmingham, United Kingdom, born in 1941. He begins performing professionally at the end of the 1950s, first as a lead singer in the Dominettes, a local rock and roll group, after leaving a plumber’s apprenticeship. The Dominettes later change their name to the Ugly’s, and Gibbons remains with the band for eight years as it moves through rock and roll, rhythm and blues and psychedelia.

During the mid-1960s he develops a strong interest in Bob Dylan’s songs and writing, an influence that continues to appear in his work for many years. By 1968 he is the only original member left in the Ugly’s, and the group soon breaks up after difficulties involving manager Tony Secunda. He then joins Balls, alongside Trevor Burton, Denny Laine and his former bandmate Keith Smart, and the group leaves one album behind. After that he plays with the Idle Race, which had recently lost Jeff Lynne, before that line-up becomes the Steve Gibbons Band.

The Steve Gibbons Band is a UK blues rock group led by Gibbons and formed from the final line-up of the Idle Race. It tours the pub and club circuit before signing to management connected with The Who in 1975, and records its first album that same year for release the following year. Gibbons is also linked with The Who’s American label, MCA, and the same management company. His style is based on straightforward rock and roll and frequently uses Chuck Berry-inspired songs and covers, with lyrics about criminals, dealers and bad relationships.

Gibbons is often compared with Bob Dylan and has also been described as the “English Bob Seger”, although his career is more closely associated with a distinctly British rock approach. His solo work is best known from a five-album run that includes Down in the Bunker, which is singled out as the strongest of the set. After that album he releases two records for RCA in the early 1980s and On the Loose for Magnum Force in 1986.

In 1998 he records The Dylan Project, a Bob Dylan tribute album made with members of Fairport Convention, which marks a return to wider attention. He continues to tour with the Steve Gibbons Band into the 21st century and appears in Birmingham rock and roll showcases with fellow Birmingham musicians Trevor Burton, Bev Bevan and Danny King. His associated acts include the Ugly’s, Balls, the Steve Gibbons Band, B.L. & G. and The Dylan Project.