Duffy Power (b. September 9, 1941) is a British blues and rock and roll singer, born Ray Howard, who achieved some success in the 1960s and has performed and recorded intermittently since then.

Career

Born in Fulham, London, Ray Howard was discovered in 1959 by impresario Larry Parnes, singing at a talent show with his group Duffy and the Dreamers. He was renamed Duffy Power in the style of Parnes' other discoveries, such as Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Vince Eager and Georgie Fame. He recorded a series of cover versions of such songs as "Dream Lover" and "Ain’t She Sweet" as singles for Fontana Records over the next two years, but unlike some of his stablemates failed to achieve commercial success.

Duffy left Parnes in 1961, suffering from depression. However, he was introduced by a friend to the growing London blues club scene, and in 1963 teamed up with Graham Bond, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and John McLaughlin to record "I Saw Her Standing There", one of the first cover versions of a Beatles song. He continued to record for Parlophone Records through the 1960s, both as a solo artist, often backed by top session musicians, and with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, but the critical acclaim for his performances failed to be matched by sales. He also worked as a session musician, and played on the soundtrack of the 1969 film The Italian Job.

In 1973 he finally released a solo album, Duffy Power on the GSF label, produced in conjunction with Andrew Loog Oldham and featuring Korner, Dana Gillespie and others. At around the same time, an album of tracks recorded in 1969 was issued on the Spark label. Although by this time he was widely recognised as an impressive singer, the albums again failed to sell.

For some years his problems were aggravated by drug use and he succumbed to mental illness. In the late 1980s he re-emerged, and some of his unreleased recordings from the 1960s were released on CD in 2002 as Leapers and Sleepers.

External link

• Duffy Power biography