JOHN TURNBULL info
John Turnbull
(guitar)
Veteran guitarist from the
British scene.
His first known band I've
been able to trace is The Primitive Sect. After that, he joined The Chosen
Few around 1965:
They toured a lot, and when their singer Ernie Bell
left, they changed their name to Skip Bifferty.
It was early 1966, when The Chosen Few get a new
singer, Graham Bell, and change their band name to Skip Bifferty:
New times, new places... They established themselves
in London. After several years as a tight unit, they released a self-titled
album, Skip Bifferty, in 1968. Some of their songs were produced
by Ronnie Lane, and arranged by Steve Marriott.
In 1969, due to legal problems with their manager
Don Arden, they changed their name (again), this time to Heavy Jelly, releasing
a single, 'I keep singing that same old song / Blue' (1968, Island).
There were some later lineup changes. Dave Potts
joined the band:
But Potts stay was short, being replaced by Alan White:
But they parted ways that same year.
Gallagher and Turnbull went to work as songwriters
for Robbins Music. They formed a band in 1970 to record their own material,
Arc:
But they soon changed their drummer:
They released Arc at this. But in 1971,
they went on to act as backing band for old mate Graham
Bell. They finally formed a stable lineup, under the name Bell &
Arc:
They released Bell & Arc, with lots
of great guests: Kenny Craddock (guitar, keyboards), Bud Beadle (sax),
Steve Gregory (sax), Jeff Condon (trumpet), John Woods (percussion), Alan
White (drums, percussion). But after the album, Rob Tait left, being replaced
by John Woods:
But John Woods wasn't to stay too much time in the
band. For their American tour in November/December 1971, they got Alan
White:
After the tour, Alan White left, being replaced by
a great drummer, Ian Wallace:
In January 1972, Gallagher left, and another great
replacement arrives, Kenny Craddock:
But, after one month, they disbanded in February 1972.
A few months later, in April 1972, John joined
Glencoe, replacing their original guitarist Mick Travis:
They released two albums, the superb Glencoe,
and their 2nd one, The spirit of Glencoe. They disbanded
in February 1974. But next month, in March 1974, John assembles a new band
with old mates, Loving Awareness:
The drum stool wasn't permanent, and they tried with
different drummers:
And with a very famous one:
But the definitive drummer was Charley Charles:
They released a self-titled album, Loving Awareness,
in 1976.
The band ceased its existence in September 1977,
when they became Ian Dury & The Blockheads:
They made their debut on the Live Stiffs tour (with
Larry Wallis and many others), with guest
sax playing by Davey Payne (from Wreckless Eric band). Their next tour
was played with another great guest on sax, John Earle.
In December 1977, Davey Payne joins full time to the
band:
They released the album Do it yourself
in 1979. Their next album in 1980, Laughter, contained guest
appearances by late jazzman Don Cherry and a great addition to the band,
guitar axe Wilko Johnson (from Dr. Feelgood fame), plus Ray Cooper on percussion.
In 1981, The Blockheads disbanded. John Turnbull goes
to back singer Pearl Harbour within a band comprising famous musicians,
at Montreux Jazz Festival:
In 1985, he plays with Paul Young & The Royal
Family:
In 1986, he joins Talk Talk live band, in time to
play at the Montreux Jazz Festival that summer (replacing David Rhodes):
There's a live track recorded at that 1986 Montreux
Festival. It's the B-side of the single 'I don't believe in you / Does
Caroline know? (live)'.
He later joined Dave Stewart & The Spiritual
Cowboys around 1990. This was an informal band with many members. The ones
who recorded their first album were:
This lineup released Dave Stewart & The
Spiritual Cowboys album.
In April 1993, he joins World Party (the band formed
by Karl Wallinger after leaving The Waterboys):
In 1997, there's a new album by World Party, Egyptology.
John plays there, and the same lineup plays during the tour.
In 1998, he's part of Bob Geldof & The Happy Clubsters:
Albums as Skip Bifferty:
Single as Heavy Jelly:
Albums as Arc:
-
Arc at this (Jan 71) (with Mickey Gallagher)
Albums as Bell & Arc:
-
Bell & Arc (Jul 71) (with Mickey
Gallagher, Bud Beadle, Kenny Craddock, Steve Gregory, Alan White, Graham
Bell)
Albums as Glencoe:
-
Glencoe (Oct 72) (with Norman Watt-Roy)
-
The spirit of Glencoe (Aug 73) (with
Norman Watt-Roy)
Albums as Loving Awareness:
-
Loving awareness (Sep 76) (with Norman
Watt-Roy, Mickey Gallagher)
Albums as Ian Dury & The
Blockeads:
-
Do it yourself (May 79) (with Norman
Watt-Roy, Mickey Gallagher) (Remastered CD: Repertoire, with 7 bonus tracks)
-
Laughter (1980) (with Norman Watt-Roy,
Mickey Gallagher, Ray Cooper)
Albums with the 'Live Stiffs' package:
-
Stiffs Live (Feb 78) (live) (artists
featured include Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds & Nick Lowe, Ian Dury,
Larry Wallis) (with Bruce Thomas, Terry
Williams, Larry Wallis, Mickey Gallagher)
Albums as Talk Talk:
-
single 'I don't believe in you / Does Caroline
know? (live)' (1986)
Albums as Paul Young:
-
The secret of association (1985, with
B.J. Cole, Mark Feltham, Pink Palladino, Nick Payne)
Albums as Dave Stewart &
The Spiritual Cowboys:
-
Dave Stewart & The Spiritual Cowboys (1990)
Albums as World Party:
Sessions:
-
Alan Hull (Pipedream, Jul 73, with Colin
Gibson, Kenny Craddock)
-
Dana Gillespie (Ain't
gonna play no second fiddle, 1974, with John Porter, Eddie
Jobson, Mickey Gallagher, Phil Chen, Henry Lowther, Mel Collins, Jody Linscott,
Simon Phillips, Keef Hartley)
-
Gary Shearston (Dingo, 1974, with Tommy
Eyre, Gary Taylor, Andrew Steele)
-
Dennis O'Brien (Any other face, 1979,
with Ray Russell, Aliki
Ashman, Phil Palmer, Jim Gannon, Pete
Willsher, Gary Taylor, Tommy
Eyre, Pete Solley, Raphael Ravenscroft, Richard
Burgess, Dave Mattacks, Micky
Waller)
-
The Planets (Goon hilly down, Nov 79,
with Mickey Gallagher, Charlie Charles)
-
Eurythmics (single 'This is the house / Home is
where the heart is', Mar 82, with Andy Brown)
-
Nick Lowe (16 all time lowes, 1984,
compilation, with Billy Bremner, Charlie Charles, Huey Lewis, Bruce
Thomas, Pete Thomas, Norman Watt-Roy, Terry Williams)
-
Jimmy Nellis (Sort of normal, 1990,
with Marcella Detroit)
-
Londonbeat (In the blood, 1991, with
Dave Winthrop, Geraint Watkins)
-
Bloem de Ligny (Zink, 1998, with Geoffrey
Richardson)
-
Mitt Gamon (Uneasy listening, with Ian
Dury, Ian Maidman)
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at mterol@myrealbox.com
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