John Wetton is a famous rock musician, composer, vocalist. He was born in 1949 in the city of Derby (Great Britain). Widely known as the King Crimson bass player.
Trip to america
John began by participating in numerous teenage groups, playing the guitar, trying to imitate the legendary Beatles. John Wetton later moved to London, but did not succeed there. Then he decided to try his luck overseas, lent money for a ticket and left for the USA. However, in the country of blues, it was difficult for musicians from England to break through, having missed themselves for several months, John Wetton went home.
This time, success was accompanied by him, his talent was fully revealed. Upon his return, he met with the musicians of the popular band Family, was accepted into the composition, recorded several albums and, figuratively speaking, believed in himself.
Education
John began his conscious musical activity after meeting with David Calodner, manager of the Atlantic Records representative office, who revealed the musician the basic principles of rock and pop bands and taught how to succeed. Along the way, Kalodner advised breaking up with the Family group and finding a place to better use his talent.
Gaining healthy ambitions, John left Family and became a regular member of King Crimson. He was unconditionally accepted as a promising rock musician. As it turned out, the choice was made right, the bass guitar and good vocal skills allowed Wetton to record three studio-format albums with King Crimson musicians, which later became part of the Gold Fund. These were the “Flooding Larks”, “The Unstellar Black Bible” and “Red” discs.
In 1974, to the surprise of everyone, the group was disbanded at the peak of its popularity. So decided its leader Robert Fripp.
Uriah Heep
Rock musicians in the UK are a friendly community where everyone knows each other. Each talented guitarist became famous two to three weeks after his appearance in London. John Wetton was briefly idle after the collapse of King Crimson. Once he received an envelope inviting him to attend a rehearsal of the famous group "Jurai Hip", which needed a professional bass player.
In early 1975, Jurai Hip lost one of his musicians, Gary Thane, who died from a drug overdose. John Wetton replaced him, and quite successfully. The appearance in the group of an experienced musician changed the atmosphere radically. John, a powerful generator of new ideas, has become a true leader of the group.
“Jurai Hip” toured a lot, immediately after the arrival of Wetton, the musicians went on the next world tour. A multimillion audience and 30 thousand miles on an airplane - these are the statistics of these tours. The leader of the group Mickey Boxing at one of the concerts broke his arm and walked in a cast.
"Asia"
By 1981, Wetton had left Jurai Hip and was ready to work with high-class musicians from Asia. The collaboration lasted until 1985 and was very productive. Together with "Asia" Wetton released four albums. As part of the group, John traveled to Moscow, where the musicians gave two full concerts in the "Olympic". Then in “Asia” there was a decline, and the group in 1989 took a timeout.
USA
In the early nineties, John again decided to visit America. This time things were different; Wetton was already a well-known bass player around the world and did not need to be introduced. In 1994, he recorded the solo album Battle Lines, in the 95th - Chasing The Dragon, in 1997 - the Archangel. In 2000, in Japan, Wetton released another disc, "Welcome to the Kingdom of Heaven." In 2003, the album "Rock of Faith" was released.
In the summer of 2006, "Asia" musicians gathered again, they invited Wetton and recorded the CDs "Categorical Collection", "Fantasy: Life in Tokyo" and "Phoenix" with him.
UK
The last group that Wetton John collaborated with was a progressive rock sextet. The musicians were called United Kingdom (UK). The group acts in the following composition:
- John Wetton - vocals and bass (from 2011 to the present);
- Eddie Jobson - violin, keyboards (2011 - today);
- Alex Makhachek - guitar (2011-2016);
- Virgil Donati - drums (2011-2016);
- Alan Halsworth - guitar (2011-2016);
Several more musicians are invited to tour. The composition of temporary participants is constantly changing, this makes it possible to refresh the instrumental accompaniment of the vocalist, as well as to give pleasure to fans who know the texts of posters by heart and are glad when new names of musicians who have not previously participated in concerts appear.
Discography
During his career, the famous bass player has recorded more than fifty discs. John Wetton, whose albums were created from 1970 to 2012 together with various rock groups in the UK, is preparing to release several more discs. Below is a sample list of albums with his participation.
- Fearless (1971);
- Estrada (1972);
- The Wisdom of Laughter (1973);
- The Red (1974);
- The Bride (1978);
- “Money is danger” (1979);
- The Number (1981);
- The Royal Road (1987);
- The Sphere (1989);
- The Archangel (1997);
- "One Way" (2002);
- “More Than” (2002);
- "Rock of Faith" (2003);
- The Icon (2005);
- Phoenix (2008);
- Omega (2010);
- "Raised from Captivity" (2011).
Currently, John Wetton is preparing for his next tour of Europe.