John Goodsall
John Goodsall (born February 15, 1953) is a progressive rock & jazz fusion guitarist[1] most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster[2] and The Fire Merchants. Goodsall was born in Pennsylvania and has lived in Los Angeles, England, Milan and Minnesota. He began playing guitar at age 7. At 15, he became a professional musician and joined Carol Grimes' Babylon, with members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band, Juicy Lucy and Jon Hiseman's Colosseum. He then toured extensively, first with The Alan Bown Set, then with Atomic Rooster.
After Brand X's 1979 world tour (the last with Phil Collins), Goodsall moved to Los Angeles and worked as a session musician and as a member of the band Zoo Drive(1980–1987) which included Doug Lunn, Paul Delph and Atomic Rooster drummer Ric Parnell (aka Mick Shrimpton of Spinal Tap). Goodsall also performed and/or recorded with Bill Bruford, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Peter Gabriel, Billy Idol, Bryan Adams, Toni Basil to name a few.
The Fire Merchants released two albums, Fire Merchants and Landlords Of Atlantis before Goodsall and Percy Jones re-formed Brand X as a trio in 1992 with drummer Frank Katz. Katz was in Jones' band Tunnels with whom Goodsall also recorded on their album Progressivity. This Brand X line-up released X-Communication and Manifest Destiny, which also featured Tunnels' midi-vibes player Marc Wagnon and some keyboards & composition by Franz Pusch. John Goodsall & Franz Pusch continue to work mostly in studio, recently on Franz's music with drummer Ronnie Ciago and Yes bassist Billy Sherwood. Pusch produced The Fire Merchants self-titled 1st album with Goodsall,Doug Lunn (bass) and Chester Thompson (drums).This trio was featured on Tamiya Lynn's album 'Silk' and other projects. Most of the keyboard/synthesiser sounds however in the Brand X & Fire Merchants trios were triggered by John's midi-guitar. In 1997 Brand X embarked on a 3-month tour of Europe & Japan as a quartet with John Goodsall, Percy Jones, keyboardist Kris Sjobring from Goodsall's L.A. based group Trancendental Medication, & drummer Pierre Moerlen from Gong. Later versions of this group released The X-Files and Missing Period, they played the west coast again in 1999 including a headline show at Progfest in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
Goodsall has 2 daughters Germaine and Natasha.
He played live with John Goodsall's Ghost Society in 2008, performing music of Brand X. Other members included Jim Reiske, Jim Steele & Dave Lemish. Recent albums featuring John Goodsall include Franz Pusch 'Only Visions' and Leon Alvarado 'Strangers In Strange Places'. John Goodsall continues to perform on sessions for international projects in Japan, Germany, England, France, USA etc.
Performance History
John Goodsall:[Guitars,Midi Guitar] Performed live and-or recorded with Brand X, Bryan Addams, The Alan Bown Set, Leon Alvarado, Loughty Amao, Rod Argent, Atomic Rooster, Toni Basil, King Sunny Ade's African Beats, Bill Bruford, Carol Grimes' Babylon, Celebrity Skin, Ava Cherry, Eric Clapton, Mike Clark, Billy Cobham, Todd Cochran, Phil Collins, Paulinho Da Costa, The Cruisers, Lisa Dal Bello, Desmond Dekker and The Aces, Paul Delph, Micheal Des Barres, Dr. John, Mick Fleetwood, The Fire Merchants, Flea, Andy Fraser, Peter Gabriel, Roscoe Gee, Kevin Gilbert, Donni Harvey, Rupert Hine, Eddie Howell, Diana Hubbard, Billy Idol, Mark Isham, Liquid Junior, Quantum Jump, John Kay, Cheryl Ladd, Gaspar Lawal, Karen Lawrence, Long Beach Mercenaries, Tamiya Lynn, Melissa Manchester, John Martyn, Junior Marvin, Bette Midler, Patrick Moraz, Billy Preston, Franz Pusch, X-Ray Spex, Chester Thompson, Alphonso Johnson, Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer, Anthony Phillips, The Reactors, Nona Hendrix, Sylvia St. James, Jack Lancaster, Terry Reid, Katey Sagal, Sandoz, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales, Jamie Sherriff, Micheal Shrieve, Jimmie Spheris, Blue Thunder, Top Topham, Tunnels, Chuck Turner's Turneround, Bill Ward Band, The Weather Girls, Lee Ving etc.
Goodsall also played on several film scores including No Small Affair, The Doorman, Can't Buy Me Love, North Shore, Anal Intruder 9, Wave Warriors 2, Wave Warriors 3, Point Break etc.
Discography
Brand X
Studio
- Unorthodox Behaviour (1976)
- Moroccan Roll (1977)
- Masques (1978)
- Product (1979)
- Do They Hurt? (1980)
- Xcommunication (1992)
- Manifest Destiny (1997)
- Missing Period (1998)
Live
- Livestock (1977)
- Live at the Roxy LA (1979, released 1995)
Compilation
- X-Files: A 20 Year Retrospective (1999), compilation including side projects
- Timeline (2000)
- Trilogy (2003)
Atomic Rooster
- Nice 'n' Greasy (1973)
Bill Bruford
- Feels Good to Me (1978)
Fire Merchants
- Fire Merchants (1989) John Goodsall/Doug Lunn/Chester Thompson
- Landlords of Atlantis (1994) John Goodsall/Doug Lunn/Toss Panos
Billy Idol
- Rebel Yell (1983) Session musicians were not listed in album liner notes
Long Beach Mercenaries
- Greasy Fingers [Long Beach Mercenaries](2000)
Tamiya Lynn
- Silk
Franz Pusch
- Only Visions (2010)
Leon Alvarado
- Strangers In Strange Places (2011)
Cymbalic Encounters
- "1" (2013) "2" (2015)
Session work with Zoo Drive
- Word of Mouth - Toni Basil (1982) featuring "Mickey"
- Drastic Measures - Lisa Dalbello (1981)
- Lifetimes - Diana Hubbard
- I'm Only Human - Michael Des Barres (1980)
- Rebel Yell - Billy Idol (1983)
- Spheeris - Jimmie Spheeris (1984)
- Streetcar Named Desire - Ava Cherry (1981)
- A God That Can Dance - Paul Delph (1996)
- Targets - Jamie Sherriff
References
- ↑ Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P.; Eiche, Jon F. (1997-03-01). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 89–. ISBN 9780793540426. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ↑ Bonini, Alessandro; Tomagnini, Emanuele (2004). Enciclopedia discografica. Dal rock al soul, dal pop alla new wave, dal punk al metal al jazz (in Italian). Gremese Editore. pp. 38–. ISBN 9788884403148. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
External links
- John Goodsall's channel on YouTube
- FIREMERCHANTS/
- John Goodsall on Facebook
- John Goodsall on Myspace Music
- Artist biography from Buckyball Records
- Atomic Rooster John Goodsall page at angelfire.com
- Brand X on Allmusic.com