Page 9 - BiTS_08_AUGUST_2024

STEPHEN 'Steve' DARRINGTON

Musician & Festival Organiser

14th August 1949 - 28th June 2024

Steve Darrington, piano, vocals and harmonica, was the organiser and
curator of the bi-annual Swanage Blues Festival, a multi-venue,
multi-artist event that was a magnet
for blues fans across the UK

Steve contracted poliomyelitis when he
was six years old, resulting in severe
disablement (He was not expected to
live.) He fought back but was confined
to a wheelchair. For most of the
following decade he was rudderless
until, at the age of 15, he was found by
the blues, started to play the piano and
slowly clawed his way towards some
kind of recovery. He still needed
walking sticks and sometimes a
mobility scooter to get about.
Nevertheless, after his mum bought
him a harmonica, he practised for
months, learning licks from a Sonny
Boy Williamson LP and within six months was out of the wheelchair and playing in an acoustic
duo (1965-1967) Spike & Steve. In 1965 John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, John
McVie and Hughie Flint played a school dance at Steve’s school, the Royal Grammar School, High
Wycombe. "I thought if these guys could make a living out of music, so could I," said Steve.

Before long he was in electric bands The Difference, Someone Else, Pink Sam & The Shakers and
others. Many of these bands featured keyboards, so Steve taught himself to play on a Vox
Continental organ, later moving on to piano.

Steve joined (1968-1969) Mahogany Guinness, which later changed their name to Mahogany.
For a while the band became The Wildcats, backing Marty Wilde. Brewers Droop followed known
for their bawdy, risqué, Cajun R&B music and counting among its changing line up, Mark
Knopfler, Dave Edmunds and Pick Withers .

From 1974-1976, Steve was part of Shucks and later of Roxon Roadshow. For a year in 1983
he was keyboards man with Lonnie Donegan, ‘The King of Skiffle’. Steve described it as "A
wonderful year.” The Little Big Band followed , a popular duo with a residency in Piccadilly
Circus and prestige appearances elsewhere. From 1984-1992, Steve worked with Magic. (Middle
Aged Gents In Concert!) And from 1993-1999 was a core member of The Boogie Band

Steve recorded three albums with The Boogie Band but had to stop touring after an accident in
1999.

From 2001 to his death, he was the organiser of the Swanage Blues Festivals. Occasionally sitting
in with bands, but no longer playing solo piano due to arthritis.

The next “Big Town Blues Party on the South Coast!” is scheduled for 3-6 October 2024
www.swanage-blues.org. It is unclear if this will take place. All at BiTS hope that it will. Check
regularly for information

Ian K McKenzie