• Get the app
  • Concerts
  • Charts
  • Radio Spins
  • Fast Forward 2025
  • Download Shazam
  • Apps
  • Concerts
  • Charts
  • Radio Spins
  • Fast Forward 2025
  • Help
Listen to Chris Spedding, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!

Chris Spedding

Rock

The next Chris Spedding concert is scheduled for Thursday, June 19, 2025 at Parque da Bela Vista in Lisboa, Portugal. See all 1 upcoming concerts
View Artist

Top Songs By Chris Spedding

Listen to Video Life by Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Video LifeChris Spedding
Listen to It's Only Make Believe by Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
It's Only Make BelieveRobert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Listen to Motorbikin' by Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Motorbikin'Chris Spedding
Listen to Motor Bikin' by Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Motor Bikin'Chris Spedding
Listen to The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife by Marianne Faithfull, Sharon Freeman, Orchestra & Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
The Ballad of the Soldier's WifeMarianne Faithfull, Sharon Freeman, Orchestra & Chris Spedding
Listen to Wild In the Street by Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Wild In the StreetChris Spedding
Listen to Dead London (Early Band Run-Through) by Jeff Wayne, Herbie Flowers, Roy Jones, Jo Partridge, Chris Spedding, Barry Desouza, Ken Freeman & Ray Cooper, see lyrics, music video & more!
Dead London (Early Band Run-Through)Jeff Wayne, Herbie Flowers, Roy Jones, Jo Partridge, Chris Spedding, Barry Desouza, Ken Freeman & Ray Cooper
Listen to The Way I Walk by Chris Spedding & Robert Gordon, see lyrics, music video & more!
The Way I WalkChris Spedding & Robert Gordon
Listen to Follow Your Destiny by The Vibrators & Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Follow Your DestinyThe Vibrators & Chris Spedding
Listen to Message for Stella (feat. Steve Parsons) by Chris Spedding, see lyrics, music video & more!
Message for Stella (feat. Steve Parsons)Chris Spedding

More albums from Chris Spedding

Listen to Hellafied by Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
ALBUMHellafiedRobert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Listen to Mars Casino by The Vibrators & Chris Spedding
ALBUMMars CasinoThe Vibrators & Chris Spedding
Listen to Joyland by Chris Spedding
ALBUMJoylandChris Spedding
Listen to Lone Star Cafe 9.16.88 Early Show by Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
ALBUMLone Star Cafe 9.16.88 Early ShowRobert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Listen to Lone Star Cafe Late Show 9/16/88 by Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
ALBUMLone Star Cafe Late Show 9/16/88Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Listen to Live Fast, Love Hard! by Robert Gordon, Link Wray & Chris Spedding
ALBUMLive Fast, Love Hard!Robert Gordon, Link Wray & Chris Spedding
Listen to Rockin' the Paradiso by Chris Spedding & Robert Gordon
ALBUMRockin' the ParadisoChris Spedding & Robert Gordon
Listen to Motorbikin' - Studio & Live by Chris Spedding
ALBUMMotorbikin' - Studio & LiveChris Spedding
Listen to Click Clack by Chris Spedding
ALBUMClick ClackChris Spedding
Listen to One Step Ahead of the Blues by Chris Spedding
ALBUMOne Step Ahead of the BluesChris Spedding
Listen to Gesundheit! by Chris Spedding
ALBUMGesundheit!Chris Spedding
Listen to Just Plug Him In by Chris Spedding
ALBUMJust Plug Him InChris Spedding
Listen to Tightropewalker by Chris Spedding & Mike Mc Clintock
ALBUMTightropewalkerChris Spedding & Mike Mc Clintock
Listen to Cafe Days by Chris Spedding
ALBUMCafe DaysChris Spedding
Listen to Café Days Revisited by Chris Spedding
ALBUMCafé Days RevisitedChris Spedding
Listen to Enemy Within (Remastered) by Chris Spedding
ALBUMEnemy Within (Remastered)Chris Spedding
Listen to Friday the 13th by Chris Spedding
ALBUMFriday the 13thChris Spedding
Listen to I'm Not Like Everybody Else by Chris Spedding
ALBUMI'm Not Like Everybody ElseChris Spedding
Listen to Guitar Graffiti (Expanded Edition) by Chris Spedding
ALBUMGuitar Graffiti (Expanded Edition)Chris Spedding
Listen to Hurt (Expanded Edition) by Chris Spedding
ALBUMHurt (Expanded Edition)Chris Spedding
Listen to Chris Spedding (Expanded Edition) by Chris Spedding
ALBUMChris Spedding (Expanded Edition)Chris Spedding
Listen to The Only Lick I Know by Chris Spedding
ALBUMThe Only Lick I KnowChris Spedding
Listen to Backwood Progression by Chris Spedding
ALBUMBackwood ProgressionChris Spedding
Listen to Songs Without Words by Chris Spedding
ALBUMSongs Without WordsChris Spedding

About Chris Spedding

Listen to Chris Spedding, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Hometown
Staveley, Derbyshire, England
Born
June 17, 1944
Genre
Rock
One of Britain's most versatile session guitarists, Chris Spedding has had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock & roll to come down the pike, as well as a solo career. Spedding was born in Sheffield, England, in 1944. His family moved to Birmingham in the mid-'50s, by which time he had already taken up music, playing the violin in his school orchestra. That all changed when he discovered rock & roll, initially with Bill Haley & His Comets and later Elvis Presley. According to Chris Welch in a 2004 article, Spedding began to strum his violin like a guitar, and the Rubicon had been crossed. Thanks to his music lessons, Spedding was already proficient on several instruments, including the piano, and could also sight-read, which put him several cuts above the typical aspiring rock & roller of the time, who might not have known three chords. Spedding organized his first band, the Hot Spurs, while still attending school. Not too long after that, while still in his mid-teens, he headed for London and joined a beat group called the Vulcans, and from there supported cabaret acts on a cruise ship and several touring country bands. During the second half of the 1960s, Spedding backed both Alan Price and Paul Jones at a time when both were among the top-ranked solo artists in England. He also landed a high-paying gig with the Nat Temple Orchestra, doing weddings and bar mitzvahs, among other events. It was tenor saxman George Khan (aka Nisar Ahmed Khan), who had lately joined a band-in-the-making coalescing around poet/lyricist Pete Brown (best known for his work writing for Cream), who cleared the path for Spedding to his first major music opportunity. Brown was assembling a group and, at Khan's suggestion, he approached Spedding about playing with the band that became the Battered Ornaments. The group was signed to EMI's progressive/art-rock/psychedelic Harvest Records imprint and ended up cutting an LP, A Meal You Can Shake Hands with in the Dark. Brown handled the vocals and was the most prominent member of what was still officially known as Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments. But Spedding also had his spotlight moments on the album, on lead guitar, slide guitar, and even a Portuguese chittara on one track. The album was favorably reviewed and a favorite on London's burgeoning underground music scene, and the group was getting lots of high-profile bookings, including the July 1969 Hyde Park concert with the Rolling Stones. Suddenly one day, Brown was gone, ousted in a coup by the majority of the group in favor of Spedding, who quickly became the leader and lead vocalist of what was now simply known as the Battered Ornaments. The group was forced to wipe Brown's vocals from the second album, Mantle-Piece, that they'd already finished. While Spedding's singing was smoother and more professional, the album ended up a lot flatter and less interesting. Spedding kept with them for a time after the release, but by 1970 Spedding cut ties with the group and the Battered Ornaments were soon history. Despite the turmoil surrounding the Battered Ornaments' brief existence, Spedding's time there helped establish his reputation in British music circles. He was invited to play on ex-Cream bassist/singer Jack Bruce's first solo album, Songs for a Tailor (1969). This led to more work with Bruce, as well as ex-Manfred Mann singer Mike d'Abo, and it was around this same time that he cut an instrumental album, Songs Without Words (1970), that only got released in Europe and Japan. He began his formal solo career the following year with Backwoods Progression, which featured his vocals as well as his playing -- it was in a light progressive rock mode, and also included Royston Mitchell and Paul Abrahams on keyboards, plus Laurie Allan and Roy Babbington as the drummer and bassist. The album wasn't a huge success, but did well enough that Spedding could follow it up in 1972 with the delightful The Only Lick I Know, where the focus was more on his playing. Those records went unnoticed by all but a cult audience of guitar enthusiasts and Spedding's fellow musicians; the reality was that most of his livelihood during the 1970s derived from playing on others' recordings. But such was his reputation that Spedding appeared on records by artists as diverse as Elton John, Nilsson, Memphis Slim, Family Dogg, Julie Driscoll, Brian Eno, John Cale, and Mickey Jupp, as a result of which his name gradually became known to a wider public. His solo efforts were interrupted in 1972 when former Free bassist Andy Fraser formed the Sharks, and offered Spedding the lead guitar spot. The group broke up a year and two albums later, and Spedding returned to doing session work, appearing on some highly successful records, including Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, which ended up being the biggest-selling soundtrack/cast album ever released in England. He played with bubblegum group the Wombles in full costume, and in 1975 he signed to Mickie Most's RAK label, for which he recorded the single "Motor Bikin'." The latter record made the U.K. charts, peaking at number 14 and led to the Chris Spedding album. Though it wasn't his first solo album, so great had been the impact of "Motor Bikin'," it might as well have been his debut as far as most listeners were concerned. It was also a serious departure from his earlier albums; with a decidedly retro feel that careened between Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent, and a guitar style that emulated the playing by Holly and Tommy Alsup, as well as Vincent's lead guitarist Cliff Gallup, the record was a hugely influential work in its time. It gave him the credibility (despite being a veteran of the British Invasion scene and the psychedelic era) to join the Vibrators on their first single, "Pogo Dancing." His punk credentials were enhanced by demos he produced for the Sex Pistols and the Cramps; false rumors flew for years that he actually played the guitar parts on the former band's records. And when rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon parted ways with gritty guitar legend Link Wray, Spedding was recruited to take Wray's place on-stage and in the recording studio. Spedding attempted unsuccessfully to capitalize on this new credibility with 1978's Guitar Graffiti, an exultant album-length guitar workout that put him back in his early-'70s mode but with a lighter touch and a more freely flowing spirit behind it; somehow, it failed to connect with the public, beyond his cult audience. He then moved to New York and joined the Necessaries as a guitarist and songwriter. The chemistry wasn't right, however, and he returned to England and recorded another album of his own, I'm Not Like Everybody Else, in 1980. The live Friday the 13th was released a year later, showing off some extended solos on his late-'70s material. Over the '80s and '90s, Spedding -- who was frequently compared to Mark Knopfler as a guitarist and recording artist -- continued his session work on such albums as Tom Waits' Rain Dogs, while periodically releasing solo material (1985's Mean and Moody, 1986's roots-rocking Enemy Within, and 1990's Cafe Days). He subsequently worked with the likes of Paul McCartney and Bono from U2, among many other world-class performers. He also led his own band -- mostly in Europe -- delving into vintage musical styles, including 1950s rock & roll (Gesundheit, 2000) and blues-rock (Click Clack, 2005). In 2009, Spedding collaborated with Mike McClintock on the album Tightropewalker, and in 2014, a star-studded team of guest stars (including Johnny Marr, Bryan Ferry, Glen Matlock, and actor Ian McShane) joined Spedding for the recording of the album Joyland. ~ Steve Huey & Bruce Eder
Chris Spedding has also released music as a member of The Wombles, Frank Ricotti Quartet, The Necessaries, and Nucleus.

Similar to: Chris Spedding

Discover more music and artists similar to Chris Spedding, like Robert Gordon, Flamin' Groovies, The Blasters
Listen to Robert Gordon, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Robert Gordon
Listen to Flamin' Groovies, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Flamin' Groovies
Listen to The Blasters, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
The Blasters
Listen to The Inmates, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
The Inmates
Paul Nelson Band
Listen to Dr. Feelgood, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Dr. Feelgood
Listen to The Rolling Stones, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
The Rolling Stones
Listen to Kenny, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Kenny
Listen to Mink DeVille, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Mink DeVille
Listen to Link Wray, watch music videos, read bio, see tour dates & more!
Link Wray

Shazam Footer

Select language:

Company

  • About Us
  • Apps
  • Careers
  • Help for Apple Devices
  • Help for Android Devices
  • ShazamKit for Developers

Legal

  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy
  • Manage Your Data
  • My Library
Google Play Store
Apple App Store
Chrome Web Store
Galaxy Store

Follow Us

© Copyright 2025 Apple Inc. and its affiliates | Supplier Responsibility
instagramSharePathic_arrow_out

Upcoming Concerts for Chris Spedding

  • Jun
    19
    Jun 19, 2025
    Parque da Bela Vista
    Lisboa