swandown Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 British musician Jet Harris, who played bass guitar in Cliff Richard's band The Shadows, has died aged 71, British media reported on Friday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-shadows-idUSTRE72H6QT20110318 Jet Harris was partly responsible for helping BOTH Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones break into the music business. Jimmy's first major session was as a rhythm guitarist on Jet Harris & Tony Meehan's "Diamonds", in late 1962. Then, when "Diamonds" rushed up the charts (eventually hitting #1), Harris and Meehan hired Jones to play bass in their touring band. Jones spent a year touring the country, living the rock & roll lifestyle before finally settling down to try the session game. (And it was Harris' partner, Tony Meehan, who gave Jones his big break in the session world.) Little known fact: Harris did not play bass on some of the Harris & Meehan records. It was actually John Paul Jones, who secretly replaced Harris. Very few people know this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks for this. Sad to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjin-san Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Hi all, RIP Jet,.... KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Rider Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Rest in peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks for posting this...never was a big Cliff Richard fan, but the link between Jet Harris and Jimmy and JPJ is undeniable and not to be forgotten. And 71 is a reasonably long life...R.I.P. Jet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walesdad Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Jet Harris was partly responsible for helping BOTH Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones break into the music business. Jimmy's first major session was as a rhythm guitarist on Jet Harris & Tony Meehan's "Diamonds", in late 1962. Then, when "Diamonds" rushed up the charts (eventually hitting #1), Harris and Meehan hired Jones to play bass in their touring band. Jones spent a year touring the country, living the rock & roll lifestyle before finally settling down to try the session game. (And it was Harris' partner, Tony Meehan, who gave Jones his big break in the session world.) Little known fact: Harris did not play bass on some of the Harris & Meehan records. It was actually John Paul Jones, who secretly replaced Harris. Very few people know this. Very sad news.I would be one of the ones that didn't know about John Paul Jones playing on some of the Jet Harris/Tony Meehan tracks.Did JPJ play on "The Man With The Golden Arm" for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swandown Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Did JPJ play on "The Man With The Golden Arm" for example? No, JPJ joined the band after that song was recorded. The songs that are rumored to feature JPJ instead of Harris are "Scarlet O'Hara", "Applejack" and "The Tall Texan" (all from 1963). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyGuitar Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Requiescat in Pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendipa Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Little known fact: Harris did not play bass on some of the Harris & Meehan records. It was actually John Paul Jones, who secretly replaced Harris. Very few people know this. Yeah, right. Little known fact. Rolf Harris wrote Stairway To Heaven for Led Zep, but it was kept secret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlanetPage Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Singapore National Theatre Nov.'67 Courtesy: Joseph C. Pereira Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinceIveBeenLovingU Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 So sorry to hear this. RIP Jet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlanetPage Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Jet Black, The Shadows... Jet Black, The Drifters One more article...RIP J. Harris http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8391590/Jet-Harris.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webstars Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I dont suppose John Paul Jones would remember me. I passed on the bass playing role to John as I was bass man with Jet Harris's Jetblacks. My story is this. My sister Patti Brook was Jet's girlfriend for 2 years after a summer season in Blackpool with Cliff and the Shadows 1961. Patti and Jet became an item and I was one of the first to know the shock news that he was 'leaving' the Shadows. I passed an audition for his new band and The Jetblacks were formed and we were with Jet at Bath City Hall when Diamonds hit number 1. Tony Meehan up to that point wasn't interested in touring with Jet. When Tony came in it was on his terms and felt he needed to change the line up. Firstly our drummer Jim Ellis had to be dispensed with. He replaced our guitarist for Joe Morretti and replaced our tenor sax player. This left baritone sax man Glenn Hughes and myself on bass. There was no hint of me being replaced. I knew I was going to miss my new pal drummer Jim and Tony dished out sheets of music that I bluffed as I couldn't sight read. There was lots of banter about 'dope' and I didn't feel I was going to fit in with this new lot. John I believe was a mate of Tony and was around at the rehearsals in the pub room. I found him a really friendly guy and we would talk bass, so I proposed that he might be better suited to my job and he accepted. My sister Patti had a tour coming up and we could stay as 'The Jetblacks' backing her.Eventually we left Patti and played the dance hall circuit. Patti split with Jet after he cheated with singer Billie Davis. Bit late with my comment but am getting more into this Internet thing and putting things right. I sang harmony on Jet's record 'Some People' but credit goes to Tony Meehan who wasn't there at the time. www.terrywebster.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Great post, webstars. Welcome to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 That was a great first post above from Webstars! Is that the same Shadows regarding Hank Marvin? If so great stuff. Such a great guitarist and influential. Just love his playing and especially Pipeline and Sleepwalk. Can't beat these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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