Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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FAIRWEATHER-LOW, Andy

(b 2 August 1948, Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed, Wales) British guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. He was a founder member of the pop group Amen Corner in the late 1960s; they had four successive Top 10 hits, including the no. 1 '(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice' in 1969. (None charted in the U.S.) The band split in two in 1970, with Fairweather-Low leading a new band called Fair Weather which had one hit single in the UK. He then pursued a solo career and released five albums on A&M, with a couple of hit singles. The albums were Spider Jiving '74, La Booga Rooga '75, Be Bop 'N' Holla '76, Andy Fairweather-Low '76, Mega Shebang '80.

 In 1978, Fairweather-Low sang backing vocals on the Who album Who Are You, and after filling in on guitar during rehearsal for the Who album It's Hard (Pete Townshend was in rehab), he ended up on the album itself, playing rhythm guitar on one track.

In the 1980s he did mainly session work. In 1992 he he played guitar on George Harrison's Live in Japan, along with the rest of Eric Clapton's band, and went to work for Clapton, having earlier appeared with him in the 1983 ARMS concerts for Ronnie Lane. He continued to session with various people including Dave Edmunds, and on Townshend's 1993 album Psychoderelict and the accompanying concert tour, and in 1995 playing rhythm guitar on Joe Satriani's self-titled CD. But he spent most of his time playing in Clapton's backing band, and appearing on various albums and tours.

He played several lead guitar parts for the Harrison tribute The Concert for George. He also played guitar and bass on Roger Waters's In The Flesh world tour from 1999-2002. In 2002 he featured on From Clarksdale To Heaven - Remembering John Lee Hooker with Jeff Beck, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce, and Peter Green. In 2004 he appeared in the Stratpack concert, celebrating 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster. In 2005 he toured with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, some of the concerts recorded for UK television as part of a 50 Years Of Rock 'n' Roll tribute. In 2006 he toured again with Waters and Wyman, and released a new album, Sweet Soulful Music on Proper Records.