Another great prog rock icon has passed away. Following the demises of John Entwistle, Chris Squire, and Greg Lake, the ranks of the great British bass players of the 1970s is thinning out. As a player, he was actually quite hard to emulate and always seemed to have a trick up his sleeve to surprise you. In some ways he was under-rated as a bass player but that was partly because he was a consummate song writer as well as a charismatic vocalist. In the shuffle of things, his bass playing seemed to get the least praise out of his skill set. Although styles are entirely different, the most comparable kind of musician might be Sting, and he was easily a better bass player than Sting.
John Wetton's turn playing bass and singing for King Crimson might have been the most macho incarnation of King Crimson. His work on 'Larks Tongues in Aspic' through to the live album 'USA' are moments of sheer, muscular playing matched with tremendously ballsy vocals. He certainly had a unique kind of swagger on record as well son stage.
After his turn with King Crimson, he played on a Uriah Heap album, then put out some solo albums, but put together the Prog Rock outfit 'UK' with Eddie Jobson, Bill Bruford, and Allan Holdsworth. The first, eponymous UK album 'UK' is one of the high point of Prog Rock, and even as Holdsworth and Bruford deserted the band, they recruited Terry Bozzio to drum on the follow up 'Danger Money', which is also a remarkable album.
John Wetton's widest fame probably came with the supergroup made up of various Prog Rock alumni, Carl Palmer, Steve Howe, and Geoff Downes, Asia. Asia of course had the big hit 'Heat of the Moment'. It was ironic that these Prog Rock mavens found mainstream success with a bit of radio friendly pop rock, but in the 1980s it made more sense to strip down the ornate arrangements.
Right across his work there is a funny John Wetton persona in his songs that seems to be about some hired hitman or state-assigned assassin or undercover spy, going on dangerous missions and doing violent things. He had the vocal strength and charisma to put over in song, what was series of vignettes from action movies as songs. His songs with Asia ranged from heroic through triumphant melancholy and then bombast. It was a heady mix.
After many incarnations, the band Asia reformed in the late 2000s with John Wetton, as 'Original Asia' and put out a series of studio albums. John Wetton was very active in Facebook, and shared with his fans his daily doings as well as his long fight with cancer. It is not surprising that he passed away given his long course of fighting his illness, but it is still a tremendous sad day for fans of music.
Vale John Wetton, you were the man! Update: I found this clip. It's not great for clarity, but it is the first incarnation of UK doing their thing:
No comments:
Post a Comment