Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later started playing drums. He studied drumming with local drummer Jack Horwood for two years and for a short period with Philly Joe Jones.
Allen's first stage performance was in a skiffle contest at a cinema. He went on to play with jazz musicians in Bournemouth. During 1963 he became a member of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, which included Andy Summers (later of The Police).[1] For a few years ago he played occasionally at The Bull's Head, Barnes with the Big Roll Band when visiting London. Allen moved to London on 1 January 1964 with Andy Summers.
Allen started writing lyrics when a member of Stone the Crows. He has also co-written songs which have been recorded by artists including Paul McCartney’s Wings (with music by Jimmy McCulloch), Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor and Mick Ronson. When co-writing he has mostly worked as a lyricist, as in Taylor's "Alabama", from his solo debut Mick Taylor (1979). To date about sixty songs he co-wrote have been recorded.
Personal lifeedit
Allen is married with one daughter. He has lived in Stockholm, Sweden since 1985, where he has played with many Swedish artistes and for several years was a member of one of the best known bands called Totta's Blues Band. He retired from playing in 2012 after a professional career of almost fifty years.
Referencesedit
^Zoot Money 11 October 2003 at the Wayback Machine Zoot Money.org
colin, allen, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, talk. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Colin Allen news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Colin Eric Allen born 9 May 1938 is an English blues drummer and songwriter Colin AllenAllen with Focus in 1974Background informationBorn 1938 05 09 9 May 1938 age 85 Bournemouth Hampshire EnglandGenresBluesOccupation s Musician songwriterInstrument s Drums percussionYears active1958 2012 Contents 1 Career 1 1 Songwriting 2 Personal life 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksCareer edit nbsp Stone the Crows Kralingen Music Festival 1970Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later started playing drums He studied drumming with local drummer Jack Horwood for two years and for a short period with Philly Joe Jones Allen s first stage performance was in a skiffle contest at a cinema He went on to play with jazz musicians in Bournemouth During 1963 he became a member of Zoot Money s Big Roll Band which included Andy Summers later of The Police 1 For a few years ago he played occasionally at The Bull s Head Barnes with the Big Roll Band when visiting London Allen moved to London on 1 January 1964 with Andy Summers Allen has worked with Bob Dylan John Lee Hooker Sonny Boy Williamson Memphis Slim Solomon Burke John Mayall amp the Bluesbreakers Mick Taylor Focus Donovan Stone The Crows Georgie Fame Brian Joseph Friel 2 and The British Blues Quintet with keyboardist Zoot Money bassist Colin Hodgkinson and vocalist Maggie Bell In 1973 he joined the Dutch band Focus He played drums on the album Hamburger Concerto 1974 Songwriting edit Allen started writing lyrics when a member of Stone the Crows He has also co written songs which have been recorded by artists including Paul McCartney s Wings with music by Jimmy McCulloch Fleetwood Mac Mick Taylor and Mick Ronson When co writing he has mostly worked as a lyricist as in Taylor s Alabama from his solo debut Mick Taylor 1979 To date about sixty songs he co wrote have been recorded Personal life editAllen is married with one daughter He has lived in Stockholm Sweden since 1985 where he has played with many Swedish artistes and for several years was a member of one of the best known bands called Totta s Blues Band He retired from playing in 2012 after a professional career of almost fifty years References edit Zoot Money Archived 11 October 2003 at the Wayback Machine Zoot Money org Colin Allen at AllmusicFurther reading editAllen Colin 2018 From Bournemouth to Beverly Hills Tales of a Tub Thumper Amazon ISBN 978 91 639 7250 8 External links editZoot Money official website Colin Allen discography at Discogs nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Colin Allen amp oldid 1188110480, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
