Born in England, he grew to a towering 2.01 m (6 ft, 7 in) that resulted in the nickname "Long" John. Blessed with a deep, rich voice, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing blues music in clubs. In the early 1960s, he sang with Alexis Korner's band Blues Incorporated with whom he recorded the first British blues album in 1962, R&B at the Marquee. At various stages, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Brian Jones played on stage with them. Eric Clapton has said that he was inspired to become a musician after seeing Baldry play live. Baldry became friends with Paul McCartney after playing a show at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the early 1960s. Rod Stewart was recruited after Baldry heard him busking a Muddy Waters song at Twickenham railway station. In 1965 Steampacket was formed with Baldry and Stewart as male vocalists, Julie Driscoll as the female vocalist and Brian Auger on Hammond organ. After Steampacket broke up in 1966, Baldry formed Bluesology featuring Reg Dwight on keyboards and Elton Dean, later of Soft Machine. Reg Dwight decided to adopt the name Elton John, taking his first name from Dean and his surname from Baldry's first name. In 1967, he recorded a pop song "Let the Heartaches Begin" that went to number one in Britain followed by a 1968 top 20 hit titled "Mexico", which was the official theme of the UK Olympic team in that year. "Let the Heartaches Begin" made the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.Bluesology broke up in 1968 with Baldry continuing his solo career and Elton John forming a songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. In 1969, Elton John tried to commit suicide after having relationship problems with a woman he was engaged to. Taupin and Baldry found him and in a conversation Baldry talked him out of marrying the woman and helped make John more comfortable with his sexuality. The hit song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was written about the experience. In 1971, John and Stewart jointly produced It Ain't Easy which became his most popular album. The album featured the song "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll" which became his most successful song in the US. Baldry would then suffer from mental health problems resulting in his being institutionalised. The 1979 album Baldry's Out was recorded after his release. Baldry chose to settle permanently in Vancouver, British Columbia where he became a Canadian citizen. Long John Baldry died on July 21, 2005 in a Vancouver hospital of a severe chest infection.