Also known as Johnny Gustafson Died September 12, 2014 Role Bass | Name John Gustafson Years active 1960s–2014 | |
 | ||
Birth name John Frederick Gustafson Born 8 August 1942Liverpool, Lancashire, England ( 1942-08-08 ) Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer Instruments Bass guitar, vocals, guitar, piano Music groups Roxy Music (1973 – 1976), Quatermass, Ian Gillan Band, Hard Stuff, The Big Three, The Merseybeats (1964) Albums Similar People Mick Underwood, Ray Fenwick, Paul Thompson, John Du Cann, Mark Nauseef | ||
John Frederick Gustafson (8 August 1942 – 12 September 2014) was an English bass guitar player and singer, who had a lengthy recording and live performance career. During his career, he was a member of the bands The Big Three, Ian Gillan Band, Roxy Music and his own group, Quatermass, among others.
Contents
Career
Born in Liverpool to a father of Swedish descent and mother of Irish descent, he is known for his work with 1960s bands The Big Three and The Merseybeats, and for singing on the original recording of Jesus Christ Superstar as Simon Zealotes. He made an appearance on Roger Glover's The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast album track, "Watch Out for the Bat", as a vocalist. He is probably best known for playing bass guitar for several re-incarnations of the Ian Gillan Band and for his earlier participation in the progressive rock band, Quatermass. He also re-formed The Pirates, originally the backing band for Johnny Kidd.
Gustafson was a member of Roxy Music for four years and performed on three studio albums. His final record with the band, Siren, included their only American hit single, "Love Is the Drug".
He was bassist on several tracks for Flamenco guitarist Juan Martin's 1981 concept album, Picasso Portraits (Flamencovision CD FV 03, 1994) namely: Harlequin – 1918, Desire Caught By The Tail – 1943, The Aficionado – 1912 and Girls of Algiers – 1955. Also played on Kevin Ayers' album The Confessions of Dr Dream, 1974.
In 1983 he was in the group Rowdy which included Ray Fenwick and Billy Bremner.