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On this day, 2 August 1948, Welsh guitarist and singer Andy Fairweather Low was born in Ystrad Mynach. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner.
Fairweather Low's first opportunity to play guitar came when he took a Saturday job at a music shop in Cardiff.
He achieved fame as a founding member of the pop group Amen Corner in the late 1960s. They had four successive top-ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, including the number-one single "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" in 1969.
In the description of AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann, the band's overnight success and Fairweather Low's teen idol looks "put his attractive face on the bedroom walls of teenage girls all over Britain".
Amen Corner split in two in 1970, with Fairweather Low leading Dennis Bryon (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into a new band, Fair Weather. The band's "Natural Sinner" peaked at No. 6 in the UK in July 1970, but their albums, Beginning From An End and Let Your Mind Roll On, failed to chart.
After twelve months, Fairweather Low left to pursue a solo career. He released four albums up to 1980 on A&M and Warner Bros.These spawned further single chart success with "Reggae Tune" (1974), and "Wide Eyed and Legless", a No. 6 Christmas-time hit in 1975. Welsh group Budgie covered "I Ain't No Mountain" off Fairweather Low's 1974 album Spider Jiving on their 1975 release Bandolier.
In the late 1970s and 1980s he worked for numerous artists as a session musician, performing as a backing vocalist and guitarist on albums by Roy Wood, Leo Sayer, Albion Band, Gerry Rafferty, Helen Watson, and Richard and Linda Thompson.
In 1978, Fairweather Low sang backing vocals on the album Who Are You, from The Who, specifically on the tracks "New Song", "Had Enough", "Guitar and Pen", "Love Is Coming Down", and "Who Are You". On the Who's 1982 album It's Hard, he played rhythm guitar on the song "It's Your Turn". Fairweather Low later appeared on Townshend's 1993 album Psychoderelict and the accompanying concert tour.
In 1995, Fairweather Low played rhythm guitar on Joe Satriani's self-titled CD, along with Nathan East on bass and Manu Katché on drums. One reviewer commented that "this backup band of extremely gifted backup musicians sincerely adds a diverse range of textures and colors, bringing out a much-needed live feel to an otherwise bland album of blues-oriented jazz-rock."
Fairweather Low has worked with Roger Waters since Waters' The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking tour of America in 1985. He contributed to two of Waters' albums – Radio KAOS in 1987 and Amused to Death in 1992. He played guitar and bass on Roger Waters' all-star performance of The Wall – Live in Berlin on 21 July 1990, on the 1999–2002 In the Flesh world tour and was playing on Waters' Dark Side of the Moon Live world tour in 2006[1] and 2007, but was not able to perform with him in 2008.[10] His role was picked up by session guitarist Chester Kamen.
In 1992, he began working on projects alongside Eric Clapton. Fairweather Low had earlier appeared in Clapton's band in the 1983 ARMS concerts for Ronnie Lane and, while he has continued to do session work for various people, including Dave Edmunds, Fairweather Low has spent most of his time since the early 1990s as a sideman in Clapton's backing band, as well as session work; notably Clapton's Unplugged concerts, as well as on From The Cradle.
In the same year, he was present on tours with the 1999 Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris collaboration. In December 1991, he played guitar on George Harrison's Live in Japan tour and album, along with the rest of Clapton's band, and in 2002, he played several of the lead guitar parts for the Harrison tribute Concert for George, on some songs playing Harrison's famous Fender Stratocaster "Rocky" and Harrison's gold Fender Electric XII. In 2004, he appeared in the Stratpack concert, celebrating 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster.
An extremely busy sideman, Fairweather Low continues to perform with some of the greats in the industry while also including regular tours with his own band The Lowriders.
Between September 2021 and April 2022, Fairweather Low & the Low Riders undertook an extensive UK tour, billed as 'On The Road Again', playing over 50 dates and ending at the Flowerpot in Derby on 30 April 2022. On 31 December 2022/1 January 2023 he appeared as a guest artist on Jools' Annual Hootenanny show on BBC2 to welcome in the new year.
During the coronavirus lockdown, Low recorded a new solo album, Flang Dang, at Rockfield Studios, on which he played every instrument except the drums. The album was released in February 2023 under The Last Music Company label.
Solo album discography
Andy Fairweather Low on stage with Eric Clapton at London's Royal Albert Hall, 23 May 2009
Spider Jiving (1974)
La Booga Rooga (1975)
Be Bop 'N' Holla (1976)
Mega Shebang (1980)
Wide Eyed And Legless: The A&M Recordings (First three albums on a double CD release) (2004)
Sweet Soulful Music (2006)
Best of Andy Fairweather Low – Low Rider (2008)
Live in Concert (DVD) 2008
Lively (Sold at concerts exclusively) (2012)
Zone-O-Tone (2013)
Live From The New Theatre, Cardiff (Limited Edition 2CD/1DVD set) (2015)
Lockdown Live (2021)
Flang Dang (2023
