Arthur LouisArthur Louis entered the public imagination in 1974 with his debut album "Knocking on Heavens' Door" featuring both Eric Clapton and Gene Chandler. These facts alone attest to his standing amongst fellow musicians. Arthur played and continues to play the white Fender Stratocaster guitar given to him by Jimi Hendrix on this album to this day. Always walking on the fringes of greatness, Arthur's story is more about his central role in enabling the success of other players in the music industry, than focusing on his own. Key amongst these is the entwined success of both Mike Oldfield and Richard Branson. Arthur Louis was the first artist to hire Branson's Manor studios close to Oxford, and recommended the tapes that became "Tubular Bells" by his bass player Mike Oldfield to Richard Branson. After a trip to Italy, Arthur came back to England to find that he had lost his bass player, and that Virgin Records had a multi-million album seller on their hands, without even an acknowledgement from either Branson or Oldfield. History records that "Tubular Bells" sold in excess of 25 million copies, kick-starting the Virgin Empire. Arthur's story of missed opportunities continued by demonstrating to Eric Clapton how to mix his love of Blues, Rock and Reggae into a wonderful new cocktail of sound. Arthur loved Bob Dylan and wanted to introduce Dylan to a black audience, so used Reggae as the perfect vehicle. Clapton went on to record his own version, and acknowledged Arthur's arrangement, also recording the Arthur Louis composed "Someone like You" as a "B" side. But Arthur, back in America, was so disillusioned with his treatment by his fellow musicians that he stopped playing during the late 1970's and early 1980's and turned to painting to express his creativity. But although Arthur tried to move from his musical past, the past would not forget him. The album "Knocking On Heavens' Door" had achieved cult status in the West, and reached no. 6 in the International Charts in Japan in 1976. Arthur started recording and performing again in the late Eighties. This resulted in 5 albums worth of unreleased material. Interest from Japan encouraged Arthur to release an album entitled "Back From Palookaville" in 1998 which further established him as one of the finest interpreters of Bob Dylan with an incredible blues version of "I shall be released" Arthur is blessed with a unique voice, as all great singers are, and this has improved with age. He still performs and records around the world, having recently been "discovered" in Italy where he outsells many other named artists, and has a new album in the pipeline. A Musicians' musician, Arthur is invited to events like playing at the London launch of "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues". Having being a musician for over 45 years and working with some of the best known names in the business, the Arthur Louis story is an untold one. The fact that wider recognition has sidestepped such a distinctive talent tells its' own story. This website tries to redress that balance. Arthur Louis was, and still is, a well respected composer and guitar player a familiar face at the height of the Speakeasy's hey day, jamming and supporting many of the legends that we know today. |