John Wetton

John Wetton live with Asia (2006)

John Kenneth Wetton (born June 12, 1949 in Willington (Derbyshire) , England, † January 31, 2017 in Bournemouth ) was a British rock musician. His main instrument was the electric bass , but he was also a singer, guitarist and familiar with various other instruments (piano, mellotron , violin).

He has been a professional musician since the early 1970s and was a member of the bands Family , King Crimson , Roxy Music , the Bryan Ferry Band , Uriah Heep , UK , Wishbone Ash and Asia .

Life

1960s: Corvettes, The Palmer-James Group, Tetrad, Mogul Thrash

Just before Wetton's tenth birthday, the Wetton family moved from Derby to the south coast of Bournemouth, Dorset. There, John Wetton met Richard Palmer-James at school, who played guitar in a band called The Corvettes . When the line-up was changed, John Wetton, who was already known as an excellent bass player and singer at the age of 13, was accepted into the band. They played covers and performed on all sorts of occasions in the area. After changing the musical style, the band was renamed The Palmer-James Group . After Palmer-James finished school in 1965 and went to study in Wales for three years, the band was reshuffled. When Palmer-James returned in 1968, he and Wetton formed a new band called Tetrad . In the same year John Wetton had an engagement as a bassist for a Romania tour with the former child star Helen Shapiro . Upon his return, Tetrad introduced himself to the Decca Records record label , but without success. After a tour of England they changed the band name again and called themselves Ginger Man . The last appearance of the band took place on July 5, 1969 in Salisbury .

John Wetton then went to London and tried to find accommodation with the band Atomic Rooster . There he met Carl Palmer , who was already in the band, and Steve Howe , who also applied for a position in the band, know. Like Howe, however, he was rejected. As an 18-year-old Wetton moved to London for good, where he joined a band called Splinter, which gave him a few weeks of but poorly paid engagement at the Storyville Club in Cologne ( Germany ). Back in London, John Wetton and James Litherland , who had just left Colosseum , founded the band Brotherhood, which a short time later renamed Mogul Thrash . An album was released with producer Brian Auger and engineer Eddie Offord . Shortly thereafter, the band recorded another single, Sleeping in the Kitchen , which became a hit in Belgium. The mainland toured was the band's success in England.

Early to mid 1970s: Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep

When the band split due to legal contractual problems, John Wetton increasingly accepted offers as a studio musician. The well-known Beatles producer George Martin became aware of him and he hired John Wetton for some of his projects as a studio musician, which enabled him to earn a decent income. During this time he also played two gigs for the band Renaissance , including one at the famous Reading Festival . He also worked for some time in America, but returned to London in 1971 because progressive rock emerged there, which cast a spell over him.

Jim Cregan , who Wetton knew from his youth, called him and suggested that he audition for the band Family , as they were looking for a bass player. John Wetton was hired on the spot. Here he not only stood out for his skills on bass, but was also very involved in the arrangements of the songs, played a wide variety of instruments, including, like his predecessor Ric Grech , the violin, and was sometimes able to play some very interestingly arranged background vocals (e B. My Friend the Sun ) and even some, albeit few, lead vocals ( Larf and Sing , Spanish Tide ). With Family he recorded two albums, Fearless and Bandstand , which received excellent record reviews. Family was also the first band for Wetton with whom he could play live in front of a larger audience.

Robert Fripp , co-founder of the band King Crimson , wanted to incorporate John Wetton into his band as early as 1971, but Wetton initially turned down. When Fripp informed him in 1972 that he would recast the band with Bill Bruford, among others , he saw his chance to finally prove his talent to a wider audience as a lead singer. In addition to rehearsed material, the band played extensive improvisations during their performances, with Wetton playing the bass so hard in places that it was not uncommon for a string to break. The lyrics came mainly from Wetton's childhood friend Richard Palmer-James , but also partly from Wetton himself. When Robert Fripp unexpectedly broke up the band in 1974, a small world collapsed for John Wetton. He later admitted that he would have happily stayed in the band for another 20 years. Shortly before, he had also contributed his bass playing to the album Still (1973) by the former King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield .

Wetton knew the musicians of the band Roxy Music through the joint record label EG Records . From these he was invited to help choose a new bass player. But since no suitable bass player could be found, Wetton agreed to be available for the upcoming British tour himself. The UK tour turned into a big world tour and Wetton enjoyed what it did as the band had a large audience. Wetton also played as a studio musician on solo albums by Bryan Ferry , Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno .

In the spring of 1975, after the Roxy Music Tour, Wetton joined Uriah Heep . He spent a good year with the band and played two studio albums with them, Return to Fantasy and High and Mighty . He also went on tour with the band. Uriah Heep had a large fan base, but often received bad reviews in the music press. With the arrival of Wetton, however, the tide turned in this regard. Wetton held a similar position here as with Family, was able to have a say in the arrangements and, in addition to his striking bass playing, also used the Mellotron again. On the piece One Way Or Another , John Wetton and Ken Hensley shared the lead vocals because lead singer David Byron was not available at short notice. After Byron finally left the band in the summer of 1976, John Wetton also got out.

Late 1970s: UK, Wishbone Ash

During the subsequent tour with the Bryan Ferry Band, John Wetton was repeatedly asked by journalists what became of King Crimson. So he got in touch with drummer Bill Bruford. Together with keyboard player Rick Wakeman they tried to set up a band, but this failed due to contractual problems with Wakeman's record company. Some of the pieces (Beelzebub, Back to the Beginning, Paper Talk) were later found on solo albums by Bill Bruford and John Wetton. Wetton and Bruford then agreed to do something bigger under the name UK , and everyone was allowed to bring a man into the band. Bruford brought guitarist Allan Holdsworth , who was one of the most sought-after fusion musicians of his time, while Wetton brought keyboard virtuoso Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music, Frank Zappa Band) on board. The UK debut album was very well received by fans of progressive rock. Shortly after recording the first album, Wetton visited Richard Palmer-James, who lives in Munich . There, in February 1978, the album I Wish You Would was created under the project name "Jack-Knife" in ten days . This album was essentially recorded by the band members of the previous band Tetrad , and music from this period was also largely selected. Back in England, the UK world tour started, with some very large crowds. Nevertheless, the band was rebuilt, Bruford and Holdsworth left the band, together with Terry Bozzio the second album Danger Money was recorded. The piece Rendezvous 6:02 became a top 20 hit in Holland. 1979 the live album Night After Night was released with two new tracks. UK appeared partly as opening act for Jethro Tull , their last concert took place in December 1979 in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. After that they went their separate ways without ever officially breaking up the band.

John Wetton tried to take advantage of the trend towards more commercial songs that had already started with the band UK and wanted to bring a corresponding solo album onto the market with Caught in the Crossfire . However, the record company was not convinced by the recordings and did not bring the album onto the market at first and later only in limited numbers, so that it became a coveted collector's item by the time the CD was released.

The next station was the twin guitar formation Wishbone Ash . Although he recorded all the bass parts on their album Number the Brave in the usual quality and was also allowed to contribute his own song (That's That) that Wetton had written for Wishbone Ash ( Here Comes the Feeling , the second track that Wetton wrote for Wishbone Ash) the album and later ended up on the first Asia album), they separated from him before the upcoming live tour.

Wetton's excessive consumption of alcohol, which had already begun in the 1970s, had developed into a severe addiction by the late 1970s at the latest. As Wetton himself stated, until shortly before joining Asia, he had his alcohol addiction under control to such an extent that it usually did not hinder his work (as would be the case later, especially in the 1990s). Still, setbacks like the breakup of King Crimson and the failure of his solo album were not good for his health and made his addiction worse.

1980s: Asia

After an attempt to join the French band Atoll , with whom he had recorded three numbers, including Here Comes the Feeling , John Wetton, at the suggestion of manager Brian Lane , went into the studio with ex- Yes guitarist Steve Howe to work on a few Record songs. Carl Palmer was hired as the drummer . Geoff Downes (keyboards), who subsequently became a constant partner of John Wetton, was the last to join the formation, suggested by Howe. The band called themselves Asia and had a resounding success with their debut album Asia . The record was number 1 on the US Billboard charts for nine weeks and was the best-selling album in the US in 1982. After the less successful second album Alpha , Wetton no longer wanted to work with Howe. His request failed and Wetton was temporarily replaced by Greg Lake , an intermezzo in which his alcoholism also played a role. After Lake left a new album concerning the Asia project due to different musical ideas, Wetton returned to the band, which ended Howe's time with the band. Howe was subsequently replaced by various guitarists, on the third studio album Astra, for example, by the Swiss Armand "Mandy" Meyer (ex- Krokus ).

Since the third album, the production of which took longer than a year, no longer reached the expected sales figures, Asia fell silent for a while without the band officially breaking up. The individual musicians pursued their own projects, John Wetton turned again increasingly to studio projects of other artists, provided them with their own texts and tried his hand at producing. A song by Asia that appeared on the soundtrack for Over the Top was actually only sung by Wetton. Wetton also worked on the Phenomena project in 1986 . The resulting ballad Did it all for Love , which was sung by John Wetton, was a hit in parts of Europe and especially in South America. In 1986 the duet album with Phil Manzanera was created. In 1988 the renowned London Marquee Club relocated . At the closing event at the old location, Wetton gave two concerts with Don Airey , Robin George and Carl Palmer .

At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s there were a number of Asian comeback concerts with a wide variety of line-ups, on the first tour John Young played the keyboards, with whom John Wetton later worked intensively on his own solo album. An original version of the song Arkangel was performed live at that time .

1990s: Solo career, numerous guest performances and Asia reunion

In spring 1991 Wetton left Asia frustrated after an unsuccessful tour. He moved from England to California and began working on his second solo album there. Wetton was signed to Virgin Records America and worked closely with manager Jordan Harris. When EMI bought Virgin, Harris left the company. Wetton received the news that all previously unreleased albums by artists with whom Harris had signed contracts should remain unreleased until further notice. This also applied to Wetton's solo album, which was previously called Raised in Captivity . Then Wetton was released from EMI - but his album was returned to him. It was then published in 1994 by the small label Eclipse, under the title Battle Lines , in Japan it was given the name Voice Mail .

Battle Lines ushered in a new era in Wetton's musical life. Several solo albums and numerous live albums were subsequently released. The most varied of band line-ups - so there were also solo tours in which he accompanied his singing with an acoustic guitar - again led to increased participation in the projects of other artists. The most notable of these was probably the invitation from Steve Hackett , with whom he performed old Genesis pieces in a new guise. The live concerts were also remarkable, with a top-class music group performing Genesis and Hackett songs as well as songs by King Crimson and John Wetton.

Wetton's solo concerts during this time gained notoriety among his fans because there was a risk that every concert would have to be canceled at short notice. Wetton's severe alcoholism had meant that he sometimes had to be carried off the stage after the first song.

The renewed contact between the Asia musician Geoff Downes and Wetton in July 1998 and the dissolution of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in December of the same year made it possible for the four Asia founders Downes, Wetton, Palmer and Steve Howe to reunite for a short time . However, Howe remained a permanent Yes member and was unwilling to join Asia, so they turned to Dave Kilminster as a replacement. But Wetton's alcohol problem and the fact that Downes was the only one for the participation of his Asia colleague John Payne , as well as Paynes's refusal to cede his rights to the name "Asia" to the three other musicians, led Downes to back down because the risk of jeopardizing the collaboration with Payne (and thus the band Asia) because of a few reunion concerts with the unreliable Wetton was too great.

Palmer and Wetton then decided to form their own band with Kilminster. They hired the former Asia member John Young as the fourth member and called the new band Qango . After the breakup of this band in 2000 Wetton turned back to his solo career. In the meantime he had taken part in a project by his manager Martin Darvill, in which musicians Al Stewart , Martin Orford from IQ and Jadis , Nick Barrett from Pendragon and the entire arena line-up (still with Paul Wrightson) also participated.

Since 2005 he has also created duet albums with his Asian colleague Geoff Downes, four of them under the project name Icon .

In mid-2006, after the reconciliation between Wetton and Howe, there was an Asia reunion with the original line-up.

By this time, Wetton had got his alcoholic sickness under control. One of the long-term consequences, however, had to just randomly discovered by atherosclerosis induced coronary heart disease out, which made heart surgery necessary in August of 2007.

Overall, the long-term effects of years of alcohol abuse became apparent. In May 2015, John Wetton had to undergo another operation, this time due to a recently diagnosed cancer . During the surgery, which went well, Wetton removed a malignant tumor weighing around 1 kg .

On January 31, 2017, John Wetton died at the age of 67 after a long history of cancer. Eric Clapton then dedicated a song to John Wetton. Yes played Heat of the moment at their concerts in honor of John Wetton in February 2017 . Three of the five Yes musicians belong or belonged to Asia.

Discography (albums, without compilations)

Solo studio albums

• Caught in the Crossfire , 1980, E'G / Polydor Records
• Battle Lines , 1994, Eclipse Records (partly published under the title Voice Mail )
• Arkangel , 1997, Eagle Records
• Chasing the Deer (film soundtrack), 1998, Blueprint Records
• Welcome to Heaven , 2000, Avalon Records (Japanese edition of the Sinister album )
• Sinister , 2001, Giant Electric Pea Records
• Rock of Faith , 2003, Giant Electric Pea Records
• Raised in Captivity , 2011, Frontiers Records

Solo live albums

• Chasing the Dragon 1995, Eclipse Records
• Akustika 1996, Blueprint Records
• Hazy Money Live in New York , 1998, Blueprint Records
• Live in Tokyo , 1998, Blueprint Records
• Sub Rosa Live in Japan , 1998, Blueprint Records
• Nomansland Live in Poland , 1999, Giant Electric Pea Records
• Live in Argentina , 2002, Blueprint Records
• Live in Stockholm 1998 , 2003, Blueprint Records
• Live in Osaka , 2003, Blueprint Records
• From the Underworld , 2003, Classic Rock Legends
• Amata , 2004, Metal Mind Productions

Duo albums

With Phil Manzanera

• WettonManzanera 1987, Geffen Records (the CD edition is called One World )

With Richard Palmer-James

• Monkey Business 1998, Blueprint Records

With Ken Hensley

• More Than Conquerors , Live, 2003
• One Way or Another , Live, 2003, Classic Rock Legends

With Geoffrey Downes

• Icon 2005, Frontiers Records / UMe Digital (US)
• Acoustic TV Broadcast - Live, 2006, Frontiers Records
• Icon II: Rubicon 2006, Frontiers Records (US)
• Icon 3: 2009 , Frontiers Records (I)

Bands

With Mogul Thrash

• Mughal Thrash

With family

• Fearless
• live
• Band stand

With King Crimson

• Live At The Zoom Club (Live)
• The Beat Club (Live)
• Live in Guild (Live)
• Larks' Tongues in Aspic
• The Great Deceiver (Live)
• The Nightwatch (Live)
• Starless and Bible Black
• Live in Mainz (Live)
• USA (Live)
• Live in Central Park (Live)
• Red

With Uriah Heep

• Return to Fantasy (DE 21 / AT 3 / NL 10 / NO 2 / NZ 29)
• High and Mighty (DE 48 / NL 14 / SE 21 / NO 4)

With jack knife

• I wish you would

With UK

• UK
• Concert Classics, Vol. 4
• Danger Money (NL 37)
• Night after night

With Wishbone Ash

• Number the Brave

With Asia

• Asia
• Live in Buffalo (Live)
• alpha
• Live in Massachusetts '83 (Live)
• Alive in Hallowed Halls (Live)
• Astra
• Andromeda (= Now! Live in Nottingham ) (Live)
• Then and Now
• Live in Hyogo (Live)
• Dragon Attack (Live)
• Live in MOCKBA 09-X1-90 (Live)
• Phoenix
• omega
• XXX
• Gravitas

With Qango

• Live in the Hood (Live)

As a guest musician and / or lyricist and / or producer

• Agnetha Fältskog - Eyes of a Woman
• Anneke van Giersbergen - To Catch A Thief (on Pure Air)
• Atoll - rock puzzle
• Ayreon - The Theory Of Everything
• Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
• Bryan Ferry - Another Time, Another Place
• Bryan Ferry - In Your Mind
• Bryan Ferry - Let's Stick Together
• Bryan Ferry - The Bride Stripped Bare
• Chapman / Whitney - Streetwalkers
• Cher - Love Hurts
• Daniele Liverani - Genius . A Rock Opera. Episode 1
• David Byron - Take No Prisoners
• David Cassidy -
• David Cross - Exiles
• District 97 - The Perfect Young Man
• Duncan Mackay - Score
• Edward's Hand - Stranded
• Galahad - Year Zero
• Gordon Haskell - It Is And It Isn't
• Ian McDonald - Driver's Eyes
• Jade - Fly On Strangewings
• Jefferson Airplane - I Love You This Much
• Ken Hensley - Running Blind
• Lana Lane - Project Shangri-La
• Larry Norman - Only Visiting This Planet
• Liesegang - No Strings Attached
• Malcolm & Alwyn - Fool's Wisdom
• Martin Darvill and Friends - The Greatest Show on Earth
• Martin Orford - Classical Music and Popular Songs
• Martin Orford - The Old Road
• Peter Banks - Peter Banks (= Two Sides of Peter Banks )
• Pete Sinfield - Still ( Stillusion = CD title)
• Phenomena II - Dreamrunner
• Philip Rambow - Jungle Law
• Phil Manzanera - Diamond Head
• Phil Manzanera - K-Scope
• Phil Manzanera - Primitive Guitars
• Phil Manzanera - The Southern Cross
• Rare Bird - Somebody's Watching
• Roger Chapman - Hyena's Only Laugh For Fun
• Roger Chapman - Kiss My Soul
• Roger Chapman - Mail Order Magic
• RX - Elements
• RX with John Wetton - Live in London (Live)
• Simon Cummings - Everybody's Got a Crises in Their Life
• Steve Hackett - Dark Town
• Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited
• Steve Hackett - The Tokyo Tapes (Live)
• The December People - Sounds Like Christmas
• The Name - Promise
• Vow Wow - V
• Various Artists - After Crying Live - Struggle for Life
• Various Artists - Encores, Legends & Paradox (ELP Tribute)
• Various Artists - Guitar Speak
• Various Artists - Over The Top (Score)
• Various Artists - Progfest '97 (Live)
• Various Artists - The Fox Lies Down (Genesis Tribute)
• Various Artists - The Sky Goes All The Way Home
• Various Artists - The Spirit of Jimmy Hendrix (Live)
• Various Artists - To Cry You a Song (Jethro Tull Tribute)
• Various Artists - Top Musicians Play: Pink Floyd The Wall (2009) Song "Hey You"
• Various Artists - The Many Faces Of Pink Floyd (2013) Song "Us And Them", "Eclipse", "Mother"

Web links

• John Wetton at Discogs (English)
• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jeff Giles: Asia's John Wetton Recovering From Major Surgery . Ultimate Classic Rock, May 26, 2015, accessed January 31, 2017.
2. ↑ Andrew Trendell: Asia frontman, ex-King Crimson bassist John Wetton dies . New Musical Express , January 31, 2017, accessed January 31, 2017.
3. ↑ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/eric-clapton-john-wetton-song/
4. ↑ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/yes-cruise-to-the-edge-2017/