Downliners Sect

The Downliners Sect are a British R&B and blues-based rock band of the 60s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands, such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on their first album The Sect. Critic Richie Unterberger wrote: "The Sect didn't as much interpret the sound of Chess Records as attack it, with a finesse that made the Pretty Things seem positively suave in comparison."

History

In 1962, Mick O' Donnell, later known as Don Craine, started a band called the Downliners, who, despite touring France, were unsuccessful. The name of the band came from Jerry Lee Lewis B-side 'Down The Line'. After several lineup changes, the band folded, but in 1963, O'Donnell and drummer Johnny Sutton formed a new band out of the remnants of the previous act. Keith Evans, formerly a drummer, would join in on bass. Shortly thereafter the band would be named the Downliners Sect. At this time some of the members decided to change their names. Mick O'Donnell took the new name, Don Craine, and Keith Evans became Keith Grant.