Big Jim Sullivan

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For other people named Jim Sullivan, see Jim Sullivan (disambiguation).
Big Jim Sullivan
Birth name James George Tomkins
Born (1941-02-14)14 February 1941
Uxbridge, Middlesex, England, UK
Died 2 October 2012(2012-10-02) (aged 71)
Surrey, England
Occupations Guitarist, arranger
Instruments Guitar, sitar
Years active 1958-2012
Website www.overzeal.co.uk

Big Jim Sullivan (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012)[1] was an English musician, whose career started in 1958.

He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the most in-demand studio musicians in the UK, and performed on more than one thousand charting singles over his career, including 55 UK Number One hits.[1][2]

Contents

Early life and career [edit]

He was born James George Tomkins, in Uxbridge Hospital, Middlesex, England, and went to Woodfield Secondary School in Cranford, Middlesex. At the age of 14, he began learning the guitar, and within two years had turned professional.[3]

He called himself Jimmy Sullivan because it was lyrical similar to Lonnie Donegan.

When he was very young he played in The Clay County Boys, The Soho Skiffle Group, Johnny Duncan's Blue Grass Boys, Vince Taylor & The Playboys, Janice Peters & The Playboys and The Vince Eager Band.

In 1959, at The 2i's Coffee Bar, he met Marty Wilde and was invited to become a member of his backing group, the Wildcats, who were the warm up act on the television series, Oh, Boy!, produced by Jack Good. The Wildcats backed Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent on their tour of Britain in 1960, during which Cochran died.[3] Wilde bought Sullivan a Gibson Les Paul guitar, reputedly the first to be played in Britain, which he had bought from Sister Rosetta Tharpe. He later played a cherry-red Gibson 345 guitar.[4]

He was the lead guitarist of the Krew Kats, recording the 1961 tracks Trambone, Samovar, Peak Hour, Jack's Good and The Bat.

Session musician [edit]

Good introduced Sullivan to studio work. Sullivan became one of the most sought-after guitarists throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, due in part to his flexibility in playing different styles of music. He was often referred to as "Big Jim" to differentiate him from "Little Jim" or Jimmy Page, another noted session guitarist at the time, who would go on play in the Yardbirds and form Led Zeppelin.[citation needed] Sullivan gave guitar lessons to Ritchie Blackmore,[3] and, with Blackmore and Pete Townshend, persuaded Jim Marshall to make amplifiers. He played on at least one thousand UK chart entries, and averaged three recording sessions a day. He played on the first records in the UK to use a wah-wah effect - Michael Cox's 1961 "Sweet Little Sixteen" and Dave Berry's 1964 hit "The Crying Game". He also played uncredited guitar the 1962 Alexis Korner's and Blues Incorporated's album R&B from the Marquee, and played on the first record in the UK to use a fuzzbox, which he had borrowed from session guitarist Eric Ford, on P.J. Proby's 1964 hit "Hold Me".

In the early 1960s he also played on hits by Billy Fury, Frank Ifield, Adam Faith, Frankie Vaughan, Helen Shapiro, Freddie and the Dreamers, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield and many more.[3] He played on Georgie Fame's first album Rhythm & Blues at the Flamingo in 1964, Bobby Darin's 1966 live album Something Special, Little Richard's 1966 album Get Down With It: The OKeh Sessions and Del Shannon's 1967 album Home and Away. He was also the resident guitarist at Top of the Pops and Ready Steady Go!, and helped out at Saturday Club.[citation needed]

Later in the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan continued to play on a succession of hit records including those by The Walker Brothers, Donovan, David Bowie, Benny Hill, The New Seekers, Thunderclap Newman, Love Affair, Long John Baldry, Marmalade, Small Faces, The Tremeloes, and Rolf Harris.[5] In 1968 he played on George Harrison's Wonderwall. He directed and played on Amazing Blondel's first album in 1969, and in the same year played on the album Sound of Sunforest, the overture from which was used in the film A Clockwork Orange. In 1971 he played in the Jean-Claude Vannier Orchestra for Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson, and also played on Frank Zappa's 200 Motels. In 1972 he did arrangements for the orchestral version of The Who's 1972 Tommy. He released several albums under his own name, including Sitar Beat (1967), Sullivan Plays O'Sullivan (1971), and Big Jim's Back (1974).

Later career [edit]

In 1969, Sullivan joined Tom Jones' band, and it was during his time with Jones in Las Vegas that he met and formed a friendship with Elvis Presley. Sullivan was an innovator of the talk box, which he demonstrated on Jones' TV show.[citation needed] He was also featured giving guitar lessons on the Bay City Rollers' TV series Shang A Lang.

He composed the score for an episode of the science fiction series, Space: 1999 ("The Troubled Spirit"), in which he also appeared and performed part of the score on screen, as a crew member giving a Coral sitar concert. Under the guidance of Vilayat Khan, Sullivan learned to play the sitar and released two albums of sitar music. He also played sitar on a musical interpretation of the Kama Sutra. Sullivan practised the sitar with George Harrison at Harrison's Esher bungalow.[citation needed]

In 1975, Sullivan teamed up with the record producer, Derek Lawrence, to form the record label, Retreat Records. They produced various artists over a period of about two years. Amongst them were Labi Siffre, Chas & Dave and McGuinness Flint. Sullivan produced and arranged Siffre's "I Got The ...", sampled by Eminem. Lawrence and Sullivan went to the United States during this period, to produce the glam metal band, Angel.[4]

In the mid-1970s, Sullivan fronted a band called Tiger, alongside vocalist Nicky Moore, releasing three albums under this name before the group split up in 1976. In 1978, he became part of the James Last Orchestra for nine years, also touring with Olivia Newton-John after her success with Grease. In 1987, he began composing music for films and jingles. Later, Sullivan and guitarist Doug Pruden toured as the BJS Duo, and he also played in the Big Jim Sullivan Band with Duncan McKenzie, Malcolm Mortimore and Pete Shaw. In 2006 he was featured in the Guitar Maestros DVD series with Doug Pruden.

Notable recordings [edit]

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Sullivan's guitar work appears on the following songs:-

..........................................................

  • 1968 "The Koan" (from the album Sitar Beat - John McLaughlin on guitar)
  • 1970 Green Bullfrog with Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Albert Lee
  • 1974 "Cascade" (from the album Big Jim's Back)
  • 1975 "If I Could Only Play Like That"
  • 1977 "Peace And Quiet" (from the album Test of Time)
  • 1977 "Strange" (from the album Test of Time)
  • 2006 "Caravan" (from the DVD Guitar Maestros)
  • 2006 "Classical Gas" (from the DVD Guitar Maestros)

Number one singles [edit]

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Albums [edit]

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  • 1964 - Big Jim Sullivan (Charles Blackwell and Jimmy Sullivan) - Classics With A Beat
  • 1965 - Big Jim Sullivan (Charles Blackwell and Jimmy Sullivan) - Folklore With A Beat
  • 1967 - M Kansara (aka Big Jim Sullivan) De Wolfe Records DWLP3060 - - Sounds of India
  • 1968 - Big Jim Sullivan & Barry Morgan - The Perfumed Garden
  • 1968 - Big Jim Sullivan - Sitar Beat
  • 1969 - Big Jim Sullivan - Lord Sitar
  • 1973 - Big Jim Sullivan - Sullivan Plays O'Sullivan
  • 1974 - Big Jim Sullivan - Big Jim's Back
  • 1975 - Tiger - Tiger
  • 1976 - Tiger - Goin' Down Laughing
  • 1977/1983 - Tiger - Test Of Time
  • 1992 - Jim Sullivan - Forbidden Zones - Guitar Tutoring
  • 1994 - Tiger - Test Of Time
  • 1998 - Big Jim Sullivan - Big Jim's Back/Tiger
  • 2001 - Big Jim Sullivan - Mr Rock Guitar (aka Ultimate Rock Guitar)
  • 2003 - BJS Duo - Hayley's Eyes
  • 2003 - Big Jim Sullivan - Rockin' Rebels
  • 2004 - The Big Jim Sullivan Trio - Jazz Cafe
  • 2005 - The Big Jim Sullivan Band - Live At Coolham
  • 2006 - Big Jim Sullivan - Guitar Maestros

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "Prolific Session Guitarist Big Jim Sullivan Dies". www.sonicstate.com. Retrieved 3 October 2012. 
  2. ^ Big Jim Sullivan obituary, London Daily Telelgraph, 3 October 2012
  3. ^ a b c d BBC News, Guitarist Big Jim Sullivan dies, 3 October 2012. Accessed 4 October 2012
  4. ^ a b Dave Laing. "Big Jim Sullivan obituary | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-10-03. 
  5. ^ Ultimateguitar.com, Session Guru Big Jim Sullivan Dead At 71. Accessed 4 October 2012
  6. ^ "Engelbert". 

External links [edit]
Shows
See also
Presenters
Creator
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