Victor Brox (1941-2023)
An internationally renowned blues singer and musician, Victor had a lifelong connection with the Tameside area.
Born in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1941 and brought up in Droylsden he formed his own band the Victor Brox Blues Train while he was still at school.. Later he sang with the highly regarded Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation who released a string of successful LPs and toured America.
Victor continued performing until just a few weeks before he died on February 20 2023. Throughout his long career, he always felt equally at home appearing in front of a large crowd at a blues festival as when he played in local pubs for a handful of friends and followers.
Bernard Silk, an old friend from Droylsden has written a heartfelt tribute for the Tameside Reporter which you can read here:
On The Show That Time Forgot, we paid homage to Victor's very distinctive vocal talents with two completely contrasting songs
First, from 1967, Trouble No More, a typical blues with Aynsley Dunbar's band:
Secondly, from 1970...
Victor sang the part of Caiphas the High Priest on the original studio-recorded double album of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.The writers Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber gathered together an ensemble of singers including Deep Purple's Ian Gillan (Jesus), Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene), Murray Head (Judas Iscariot) and Mike D'Abo, previously with Manfred Mann (King Herod).
Here's the song I played on the show - Hosanna, which starts with a chorus then it's over to Victor as the first solo voice, followed by Ian Gillan:
