Robert William Blunt was born on 4 March 1951 in Worcestershire, growing up in Wolverley near Kidderminster, and was a fairly popular gun for hire in the 1970's. His first band were the Kidderminster-based Big Gees, and he then moved on to Southern Sound, who released one single in 1966, with 'Just The Same As You'/'I Don't Wanna Go'. Southern Sound were followed by Butch Clutch & The Excellerators, but his first band to really bring him any success was when he joined Bronco, fronted by the powerful singer Jess Roden. Their first album, 'Country Home', featured Clifford T. Ward guesting on vocals, and contained some superb rock with a country tinge, and Blunt contributed some outstanding solos. Their second album 'Ace Of Sunlight' was released in 1971, and was recorded with help from Trevor Lucas on vocals, Mick Ralphs on guitar, and Ian Hunter on keyboards. Around 1972, Bronco disintegrated when both Roden and Blunt left the band, with Blunt joining the Michael Des Barres-fronted Silverhead, replacing their original guitarist Stevie Forest. The band had already released their eponymous debut album by the time that Blunt joined, and so he played on their classic second album '16 And Savaged', co-writing five of the tracks on the 1973 release. The following year the group broke up, and in October Blunt joined the newly-formed Stan Webb Band, which Webb had put together after a short spell with Savoy Brown. Before long they had morphed into Stan Webb's Chicken Shack, and after recruiting Jim Kroeven in February 1975 as their new drummer they changed their name again to Broken Glass, although Bob Daisley and Jim Kroeven soon left, to be replaced by Rob Rawlinson on bass and Mac Poole on drums. This line-up released a self-titled album, with help from Miller Anderson, and produced by Tony Ashton, but in 1977 Webb decided to resurrect the Chicken Shack name, and so Broken Glass split up, with only Blunt staying with Webb for his new project.
With the addition of Paul Martinez on bass and Ed Spevock on drums they recorded 'The Creeper', which was released on Ariola in 1978, following this the same year with 'That's The Way We Are', before Spevock left them in 1979, to be replaced by Louis Borenius. Later that year, all the members deserted Chicken Shack, leaving Webb as the sole owner of the name, and Blunt joined a band called Little Acre for a few months, before being recruited by Steve Gibbons for his group. The Steve Gibbons Band had a diverse line-up, with many of his friends dropping in to play when they were available, but the core of the band was Trevor Burton on bass and guitar, and Harry Rix on drums, alongside Blunt on guitar and Gibbons on vocals, with dual saxophones from Nick Pentelow and Bill Paul. This line-up recorded the 'Street Parade' album, which was released in 1980, and which featured a distinct reggae flavour to a number of the tracks. 'A-Z' was released as a single, with the non-album 'Blue Lagoon' on the flip, and this featured some of Blunt's best guitar-work with the group. In March 1981, Robert Plant started a low-key project called The Honeydrippers, in order to satisfy his long-time goal of having a rock band with a heavy rhythm and blues basis, and he asked his friend Robbie Blunt to join him. They eventually recruited Andy Silvester to help out on guitar, Jim Wickman on bass, Kevin O'Neil on drums and Ricky Cool on harmonica, and they gigged around the country for the next couple of years. However, when Plant began collaborating with Blunt on original material, he deemed it more suited to his goals as a solo artist, and so he formed a hard rock backing unit, putting the Honeydrippers on the back burner.
The first album from the solo Plant was the outstanding 'Pictures At Eleven', released in 1982, and featuring guest appearances from Cozy Powell and Phil Collins on drums, as well as Raf Ravenscroft on sax. 'The Principle Of Moments' followed in 1983, and was recorded with help from both Phil Collins and Barriemore Barlow on drums, after which Plant revived the Honeydrippers, this time with an impressive roster of studio guests, including guitarists Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Nile Rodgers, keyboardist Paul Shaffer, bassist Wayne Pedziwiatr, and drummer Dave Weckl. Together they recorded the five-song EP 'The Honeydrippers: Volume One', which was released in 1984, and which featured Plant's takes on '50s and '60s R&B numbers. After a couple of singles and a tour in 1985, which featured guest appearances from The Stray Cats' Brian Seltzer, Plant resumed his solo career and released the 'Shaken 'N' Stirred' album, but no sooner had that come out than all his musicians left him in October 1985. Blunt teamed up with Stan Webb again in a new incarnation of Chicken Shack in 1986, and the next few years also saw him going back to his session musician days, adding his guitar to recordings by Clannad, Edie Brickell And The Bohemians, The Jeff Healey Band, John Kilzer and Murray Attaway. In 1998 he joined Julian Lennon to record his 'Photograph Smile' album, and he was also featured on the 'I Don't Wanna Know' single taken from it. Since then he's appeared with Deborah Bonham on a couple of records, and in 2013 he recorded an obscure single with Gwyn Ashton, but whoever he was playing with you can be sure that his work enhanced their records, as this collection undoubtedly shows.
Track listing
Disc One
01 Just The Same As You (single by Southern Sound 1966)
02 My Ship, My Star (from 'Thinking Back' by Gordon Jackson 1969)
03 Misfit On Your Stair (from 'Country Home' by Bronco 1970)
04 Cartoon Princess (from '16 And Savaged' by Silverhead 1973)
05 Crying Smiling (from 'Broken Glass' by Broken Glass 1975)
06 Dr. Brown (from 'The Creeper' by Stan Webb's Chicken Shack 1978)
07 Blue Lagoon (b-side of 'A-Z' single by Steve Gibbons Band 1980)
08 Just Can't Be Satisfied (The Honeydrippers live 1981)
09 Worse Than Detroit (from 'Pictures At Eleven' by Robert Plant 1982)
10 Live And Learn (from 'Sirius' by Clannad 1987)
Disc Two
01 What I Am (from 'Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars' by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians 1988)
02 Nice Problem To Have (from 'See The Light' by The Jeff Healey Band 1988)
03 Voices (from 'Hard Roads' by The Jazz Devils 1990)
04 The Flacon (from 'Busman's Holiday' by John Kilzer 1991)
05 Fall So Far (from 'In Thrall' by Murray Attaway 1993)
06 L'amore Mio (from 'Il Cielo Capovolto' by Roberto Vecchioni 1995)
07 I Don't Wanna Know (from 'Photograph Smile' by Julian Lennon 1998)
08 Black Coffee (from 'The Old Hyde' by Deborah Bonham 2004)
09 Fortunate Kind (single by Gwyn Ashton 2013)
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