Influential 1960s hitmaker Spencer Davis has died, aged 81. According to the Birmingham Mail, Davis died of a heart attack on Monday (October 19) at his home in California.
Born in Swansea, guitarist Davis formed The Spencer Davis Group in Birmingham in 1963, after discovering Muff and Steve Winwood (the singer/organist then just 14) playing in a local pub. The band racked up a string of huge hits in the mid-’60s, including the indelible “Keep On Running”, “Gimme Some Lovin'” and “I’m A Man”.
Steve Winwood left in 1967 to form Traffic with Muff moving into A&R, but the group made a further three albums before disbanding for good in 1974. Davis went on to record some solo jazz albums before reforming a version of The Spencer Davis Group in 2006.