PHIL JONES AND THE UNKNOWN BLUES

The Unknown Blues were formed by guitarist Chris Brown, bassist Bill Hodgkisson and drummer Dave Rowlands at the start of 1966. Keyboard player Andrew Blundell joined them shortly after and vocalist Phil Jones joined later that year. The band was inspired by bluesmen Lousinia Red, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. In early 1967, the band signed to Festival Records and issued ''If I Had a Ticket / 300 Pounds of Joy'' which became a Top 20 hit in Sydney. ''If I Had a Ticket'' was a traditional song which the band rearranged and wrote new lyrics. Ed Kuepper (The Saints) revived the song in 1994 when he issued it as a CD single. On the release of ''If I Had A Ticket'', Jones was hospitalized and Ian Sullivan (ex-Soul Agents) filled in for him.

The Unknown Blues earned a reputation as a fine blues band. They played many gigs at Sydney venues such as Blues Cellar, Long John's Disco, Cell Block Theatre, The Here, Rhubarbs plus the university campuses. They were the resident band at Beethovens.  They followed up ''If I Had a Ticket'' with another traditional song, ''Pick a Bale of Cotton'' in August '67 and ''Brave New World (of Fairy Tales)'' in November '67. By that stage, new members had arrived, including Mal Capewell, King Fisher (ex-Id) and Vaughan Bros replacing Blundell. The band broke up and Phil Jones released two solo singles on Festival, ''I Really Love You'' and ''I Feel Like a King'' both in 1968. 

Jones left for the UK where he formed Quintessence in April 1969 in Notting Hill, London, England. Their style was a mixture of jazz, psychedelic rock and progressive rock with an influence of music from India. The band released a number of albums. Chris Brown would go on to join supergroup Ayers Rock in 1973. Bros would turn up in Heart 'n' Soul. The band reformed in 2011 for the Byron Bluesfest with this lineup: Phil Jones, Ian Sullivan, Chris Brown, Krishna Jones, Harry Brus , Mitchell Anderson, Malcolm Wakeford and Dave Rowlands.

Members

Phil Jones (vocals/harmonica), Andrew Blundell (keyboards), Chris Brown (guitar), Vaughan Bros (keyboards), Mal Capewell (saxophone), King Fisher (trumpet), Bill Hodgkinson (bass),
Dave Rowlands (drums)

SINGLES

''If I Had A Ticket (#46) / Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy'' 1967 Festival
''Pick A Bale Of Cotton / Sylvie'' 1967 Festival 
''Brave New World (Of Fairy Tales) / Lovin' You, Is Better Baby'' 1967 Festival

EPs

'If I Had A Ticket' 1967 Festival

References

Dave Rowlands

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/