Mike Cotton (musician)

Michael Edward Cotton (born 12 August 1939) is an English jazz and R&B trumpeter, flugelhornist, harmonicist, vocalist and bandleader born in Tottenham, North London.[1] He is best known for leading his band under the names The Mike Cotton Jazzmen and The Mike Cotton Sound.[1] Cotton currently plays with the Stars of British Jazz.[2]

Mike Cotton
Birth nameMichael Edward Cotton
Born (1939-08-12) 12 August 1939
Tottenham, North London
OriginHackney, London
GenresJazz
InstrumentsTrumpet, flugelhorn, harmonica, vocalist
LabelsColumbia Records
Associated actsDave Rowberry, The Kinks

Career

Mike Cotton formed The Mike Cotton Jazzmen in the early 1950s during the "Trad jazz" boom.[1] From 1962 he changed the group's name to The Mike Cotton Sound, and their musical direction to a more pop-based style,[1] achieving a UK chart hit single "Swing That Hammer" that year.[1] They appeared in a performance in the 1962 film The Wild and the Willing.[3]

Member Dave Rowberry left the band in 1965 to join The Animals,[4] and among those who auditioned to take his place were Elton John and Joe Cocker.[3] Ultimately the position went to Steve Gray who went on to play in The Eric Delaney Band and Sky. In 1966 Cotton changed the band's style again to a more soul-based sound and brought in a second vocalist, a former American airman named Bruce McPherson Lucas, known by his surname. He had been working with bands in the Norwich area.[1] The band backed a number of artists in live and studio work at various times during the 1960s, including Sugar Pie DeSanto, Gene Pitney, Stevie Wonder, Doris Troy, The Four Tops and Solomon Burke.[3]

When their bass player, Jim Rodford, joined his cousin Rod Argent in his new band Argent[1] in 1969, Cotton changed the band's name to the more modern-sounding Satisfaction, and the band recorded one album under that name in 1970 before splitting up.[1] He retained the brass section, and this line-up, working again under the name Mike Cotton Sound, joined The Kinks,[1] first on their 1971 album Muswell Hillbillies, and then appearing with them both in the studio and in concert until the mid-1970s, after which Cotton returned to playing jazz.[2]

Select discography

Albums

With Andy Cooper

  • Andy Cooper's Euro Top 8 (TIM AG)

Singles
  • "Swing That Hammer" (1963) - UK #36[5]
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References
  1. Larkin, C. Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 128. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X
  2. "The Band". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. Eder, Gene. "The Mike Cotton Sound". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  4. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 146. CN 5585.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 123. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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