English singer and harmonica player Lew Lewis was born in 1955 in Essex. As a child he lived near future Dr. Feelgood member Lee Brilleaux who taught Lew Lewis how to play the mouth harp and helped him develop a style that recalled Muddy Waters’s great sideman Little Walter. He paid his dues throughout the 1960s and 1970s, eventually becoming a member of Eddie and the Red Hots where he played on singles like “Wooly Bully”. His career as a frontman began with a handful of releases for the legendary British label Stiff who made “Boogie on the Street” the fifth single ever issued by the company that became famous for acts like Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe that straddles pub-rock, new-wave, and punk. His 1978 single “Lucky Seven” was covered by Dr. Feelgood. He formed the band Lew Lewis Reformer and released 1979’s Save the Wall, an album that combined influences of pub rock and blues. Legal and mental health problems plagued him throughout the rest of his life, however he managed to perform live periodically during the 2010s. Lew Lewis passed away in April of 2021.
