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Jackie Lomax | |
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.png) Billboard ad, 1969. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Richard Lomax |
| Born | (1944-05-10)10 May 1944 Wallasey, Cheshire, England |
| Died | 15 September 2013(2013-09-15) (aged 69) Wirral, England |
| Genres | Rock |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1968–2013 |
| Labels | Apple,Capitol,Warner Bros. |
| Website | www |
John Richard Lomax (10 May 1944 – 15 September 2013)[1] was an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his association withGeorge Harrison, who produced Lomax's recordings forthe Beatles'Apple record label in the late 1960s.
John Richard Lomax was born in 1944 inWallasey, Cheshire.[1] He was a member of Dee and the Dynamites,The Undertakers, The Lomax Alliance, Heavy Jelly andBadger. He worked with The Tea Bags, George Harrison,Eric Clapton,Jeff Beck,Leon Russell andNicky Hopkins.[1]
In January 1962, Jackie Lomax left Dee and the Dynamites to join theMerseybeat bandThe Undertakers.[2] They followedThe Beatles' route through local venues before setting out forHamburg, Germany, and securing a recording contract. They signed withPye Records and released four singles,[2] but they managed only one week on theUK Singles Chart with "Just a Little Bit" (#49 in 1964).[3] In 1965 they decided to try their luck in the United States.[2]
Lomax spent two years in the US with The Undertakers and a couple of other groups. In 1967,Brian Epstein took his latest line-up, The Lomax Alliance, back to the UK to showcase them at London'sSaville Theatre. He arranged for a single and an album to be recorded, and they signed toCBS before Epstein's death.[2] During that period, CBS released two Lomax Alliance singles and one Jackie Lomax solo single. More than enough tracks for an album were recorded but it was never released.[citation needed]
After Epstein's death,The Beatles' new record label,Apple Records, took over responsibility for Lomax's recording career, andGeorge Harrison became involved in production. Despite having three-quarters of The Beatles on the record, plusEric Clapton andNicky Hopkins, Lomax's 1968 debut single on Apple, the Harrison-penned "Sour Milk Sea", backed with "The Eagle Laughs at You" written by Lomax, made little commercial impression. Lomax and Harrison recorded the remainder of theIs This What You Want? album in Los Angeles, withHal Blaine and other members of theWrecking Crew; but as with the concurrent single, the Lomax-produced "New Day", success remained elusive when the album was released in early 1969. A final Apple single followed, a cover version of "How the Web Was Woven" featuringLeon Russell. By 1970,The Beatles' breakup left the remaining Apple Records artists in limbo.[2]
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After leaving Apple, Lomax joined a band called Heavy Jelly.[4] The band began as a hoax review inTime Out magazine. Guitarist John Morshead from TheAynsley Dunbar Retaliation and three ringers had posed for the "group's" photo in the magazine, so to cash in on the buzz Morshead and drummerCarlo Little released a single on promoter John Curd's Head Records ("Chewn In"/"Time Out", Head HDS4001, 1969). They were beaten to the punch however by the groupSkip Bifferty who released their own single as Heavy Jelly, "I Keep Singing That Same Old Song" b/w "Blue", onIsland Records. The A-side became fairly well known at the time from its inclusion on the Island sampler album,Nice Enough to Eat. Curd owned the rights to the name however, and stopped Island from releasing any other Heavy Jelly productions. Guitarist Morshead, along with his former Aynsley Dunbar mate bassist Alex Dmochowski, formed another version of Heavy Jelly with Jackie Lomax.[4]Mike Kellie fromSpooky Tooth drummed on some sessions but was later replaced by Barry Jenkins, formerly ofThe Animals. Also helping out were theBadfinger duo ofPete Ham andTom Evans on backing vocals and "horn section to the stars"Bobby Keys andJim Price.
The self-titledHeavy Jelly album was recorded, entirely consisting of Lomax songs, but was issued only for promotional purposes and never released commercially due to contractual issues with Apple. After the album was finished, the band began touring but was bedeviled by line-up changes. DrummerDave Rowland and bassist Steve Thompson were with the group at one point. After a few months the band disintegrated.[5] (In December 2013, it was announced that after Lomax's untimely death his family resolved all issues with Apple amicably and the album was re-leased onAngel Air Records on 10 March 2014.)
Confusing matters further, another Heavy Jelly, produced bySimon Napier-Bell, released their only single in the U.S. and France onAvco Embassy, "Humpty Dumpty" b/w "Throw Down a Line", in a nice picture sleeve. This may have been a studio group since both sides were written by producer Napier-Bell and vocalist and sometime partnerRay Singer. In 1971, Lomax returned to the US to live and work inWoodstock, New York.[4] He signed toWarner Bros. Records and reunited with members of the Lomax Alliance and The Undertakers. They returned to the recording studio but their albums,Home is in My Head andThree, failed to sell.[4]
Disappointed with his lack of success, Lomax returned to the UK at the end of 1973. He joinedBadger,[2] aprogressive rock band originally formed by ex-Yes keyboard playerTony Kaye, and turned them into aR&B andsoul band he had used on his solo albums.[4] The band became a vehicle for Lomax's songs and singing but was short-lived, releasing only one album, theAllen Toussaint-producedWhite Lady, onEpic Records.[4]
Lomax crossed the Atlantic again to resume his solo career andCapitol Records signed him in 1975. He released two Capitol albums,Livin' for Lovin' andDid You Ever Have That Feeling?, before leaving the label in 1977.[4] The latter set was released only in the UK.[2]
The 1980s were a quiet time in Lomax's career.[2] In the mid-1980s he played guitar and sang background vocals on demos for various artists, produced by his friend Patrick Landreville. He briefly played with The Tea Bags, a Los Angeles-based group which includedIan Wallace,Kim Gardner,Mick Taylor,Brian Auger,Terry Reid,Peter Banks,Graham Bell andDavid Mansfield amongst others. In the 1990s, he spent time playing with other British artists on America's West Coast, and he toured as the bassist forThe Drifters,The Diamonds, andThe Coasters. In California, particularlyVentura County, Lomax played live with a succession of line-ups includingTom Petty, drummer Randall Marsh, Jim Calire, Patrick Landreville and Mitch Kashmar.
In 1990, Lomax recorded theTim Buckley song, "Devil Eyes" for theTrue Voices album.[4] Others appearing on the album includedGene Clark,John Stewart,P. F. Sloan andLucinda Williams.
In 2001, Lomax completed the recording of his first solo album since 1977,The Ballad of Liverpool Slim.[2] 2002 saw him continuing to play on the West Coast of America. In 2003, he made a return toThe Cavern in Liverpool, where his career began more than 40 years earlier. In 2004, Lomax was a guest on the 'BeatlesandBeyond' Radio Show in Walsall, hosted by Pete Dicks. Dicks later wrote the sleeve notes for, and organised, the UK release of Lomax'sThe Ballad of Liverpool Slim...and Others album. Lomax would return to Liverpool on several occasions, playing in the Liverpoolpub in James Street.
Percy Sledge included Lomax's song, "Fall Inside Your Eyes", on his 2004 albumShining Through The Rain.
During his last few years, Lomax was a regular visitor to Parrjazz at Studio 2, Liverpool, where his music was always warmly appreciated by an enthusiastic audience.[citation needed]
On 13 April 2012, Lomax played on the 50th Anniversary of theHamburg-basedStar-Club in theKaiserkeller, with the Star Club All-Star-Band plus Brian Griffiths (Big Three), Bobby Thompson (Dominoes), and Joe Fagin (Strangers), and also with The Undertakers.
During his last years, Lomax resided inOjai, California, United States, with his wife, Annie (previously Norma Richardson),[6] mother of fashion photographerTerry Richardson.[7] On 15 September 2013, Lomax died from cancer, on theWirral while staying in England for the wedding of his daughter.[8][9]
In 2019, one of his songs, "New Day", from the albumIs This What You Want?, was used for a cricket commercial for UK sports channel,Sky Sports. It featured a reworked version by Irish female singer Lyra. Her version was also used in a commercial for Dutch bike company VanMoof in 2020, after which it was released as a single.[10][11]
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