STEVIE HUTCH (Keyboards and Backing Vocals) (Taken from the Monsters of Rock Biographies)
Stevie
Hutch (Steve Hutchinson) was the longest serving keyboard player for the iconic 1960's band THE ANIMALS (Previously Alan Price 3 years and Dave Rowberry 4 years) He was
brought up in the coastal town of South Shields in the North East of England on
the banks of the River Tyne. He earned his experience through performing in many local bands around the Newcastle and Sunderland area and then travelled the World as a professional musician performing in many famous bands
He
was classically trained on the piano from the age of 7 and by the age of 13 he
had his first musical 'job' as the full time organist at two churches in his home
town. At the age of 14 he achieved the required standard on piano to study at
The London Royal Academy of Music in London, but instead he stayed at home and succumbed to the lures of 'Rock and Roll'
As a teenager he was brought up on a musical diet of rock music from such bands as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, ELP, Zeppelin and Pink Floyd
He joined his first
working rock band AGINCOURT at the age of 16 but unfortunately was unable to embark on a
tour of Scandinavia with them due to being too young to obtain a work permit!
He continued to work
in many other hard working rock bands namely; FRAGILE and WARBECK, as well as BECKETT
with frontman Terry Slessor from BECKETT and BACK STREET CRAWLER featuring
FREE guitarist PAUL KOSSOFF, and also with PAUL THOMPSON of ROXY MUSIC and GARY MOORE's band featuring on the Emerald Isles tour and Donnington Festival in 1984
He was then chosen by the former original ANIMALS guitarist HILTON VALENTINE and
former original ANIMALS bass player the late CHAS CHANDLER (Manager of
JIMMI HENDRIX and SLADE) to join the reformed UK line-up of THE ANIMALS, alongside original 60's Animals' drummer JOHN STEEL
Stevie toured the World with THE ANIMALS for over six years playing keyboards at more than 600 concerts as far afield as the USA, Australia, Japan, Far East, Middle East, Europe and the USSR, achieving the accolade of becoming the longest ever serving keyboard player for THE ANIMALS
He can be heard performing on the widely acclaimed Animals CD 'House of The Rising Sun' as well as recording on the very collectable ANIMALS CD 'Interesting Life'
Stevie was responsible for the currently widely used arrangement of The Animals legendary hit song 'Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'
He has also featured in many videos and TV shows with The Animals in the UK, Ireland, USA, Russia, Poland, Scandinavia, France ,Germany and Australia
In
2001, he joined the NWOBHM Heavy Rock band FIST, where he can be heard on
their album entitled 'ROUND 2'
In 2002, he toured Scandinavia, Europe and Ireland with the original
SMOKIE
guitarist and songwriter ALAN SILSON, performing all of the SMOKIE
hits and also recording songs with Alan Silson including the massive
European hit 'What Can I Say', 'Living Next Door to Alice'
and 'If You Think You Know How to Love Me'
In
2003, Stevie appeared in Brian Connelly's band BC SWEET at the Dunmow Festival in Essex
In 2003, he joined CLASSIC CLAPTON and embarked on a two year tour of UK theatres and festivals in Europe
In 2007 he created the UK LEGENDS band featuring musicians from other famous bands which toured throughout Europe and regularly headlined at concerts with audiences of up to 50,000 people per show as well as live performances on TV shows that were simultaneously broadcast to over 100 countries worldwide. Stevie can still be seen performing with the band at selected shows and also with the band UK ROCK LEGENDS
In 2014 Stevie created the ANIMALS III band which became the third generation of the Animals band. His show is now currently performing throughout Europe under the name of ANIMAL TRACKS performing THE ANIMALS GREATEST HITS SHOW
In 2016 Stevie created the SONGS OF SMOKIE band as a tribute to SMOKIE having previously worked with original members of the band
In 2019 Stevie rejoined the world's No1 ERIC CLAPTON tribute band CLASSIC CLAPTON and can currently be seen performing with them
In 2019 he also joined THE BLUE FLAMINGOS 60's Review Show performing the songs of the early 1960's from both sides of the Atlantic featuring legendary singer Howard Baker, more than 40 years after they both worked together in the band WARBECK
Stevie
has also performed with many bands including; THE YARDBIRDS, BC SWEET, and CREEDENCE
CLEARWATER REVIVED and has played alongside such greats as BO DIDLEY, RITCHIE
BLACKMORE, ROD ARGENT, DAVE EDMUNDS, JERRY DONAHUE, JOHN MILES, SUZI QUATRO, DENNY LAINE,
CHRIS FARLOW and original members of LINDISFARNE
Read Stevie's own personal story about his musical career on the page'My Musical Journey'
