Sam Mitchell

Sam Mitchell's imaginative slide playing has appeared on works by an incredible range of artists, including Jim Capaldi, Rod Stewart, Uncle Dog (featuring Carol Grimes) and The Who (the full list is much more extensive), while in his lifetime he was called the UK's finest slide guitarist.

Born April 21 1950 in Liverpool, where he grew up, his dad was a professional Hawaiian/jazz guitarist, and a member of Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders. Sammy began his career in 1966 playing folk clubs in Liverpool and then Brighton, before gravitating to London. He was inspired by the sound of Robert Johnson to take up slide guitar, and while playing in a London folk club he was discovered by Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry.