Will Johns

Last updated

Will Johns
Born (1973-03-22) 22 March 1973 (age 50)
London, England
Genres Rock, blues, jazz
Occupation(s)Singer, musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1998–present
Labels Big Bear
Website willjohns.com

Will Johns (born 22 March 1973)[ citation needed ] is an English rock singer and guitarist. Leading the Will Johns Band he has performed with renowned artists such as Joe Strummer, Eric Clapton, Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) Ronnie Wood, Jack Bruce, and Bill Wyman. [1] [2] Johns is the son of record producer Andy Johns and nephew of Glyn Johns. [3]

Contents

Early life

Johns was born in London to actress Paula Boyd and record producer Andy Johns. [4]

Johns grew up in a musical family and was first exposed to musical instruments when visiting record studios where his father, Andy Johns, was a record producer. [5] Some of John’s earliest memories revolve around the smell of electricity and music equipment emanating from the studios his father worked in.

During his youth, Johns’s parents, Andy Johns and Paula Boyd (sister of Pattie Boyd), struggled with substance addiction and alcoholism, leading his uncle Eric Clapton and aunt Pattie to nearly foster Johns. [6] Johns visited Clapton and Pattie Boyd’s house, "Hurtwood Edge", regularly on weekends and holidays, taking advantage of Clapton’s recording studio to learn to play the drums. [6] Hurtwood Edge was like a second home to the young Johns who continued to get exposure to musical instruments during his frequent visits. Early one morning when Johns was playing the drums, Clapton suggested; "don’t you think it's time you learned to play a proper musical instrument?" Clapton proceeded to show him the opening riffs to Crossroads and Bad Love, but then let Johns learn the remaining parts of the songs on his own. Johns continued to learn guitar teaching himself his uncle’s songs. Johns was given his first guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, at age fifteen by his father.

At an early age, Johns was between finishing school and living with his uncle or moving to Hollywood in hopes of starting an entertainment career. John chose the latter of the two options, but his entertainment dream did not come to fruition in the U.S. Returning back to England, Johns attended college in Oxford to pursue a performing arts course where he supported himself by performing in the town center. [6] Playing guitar in the central streets of Oxford sparked passion in Johns who realized he could earn money from his guitar and singing skills. Johns graduated with B.Tech in performing arts. [7]

Career

The first band Johns played in was Sun Machine, which he joined as a singer and played with during the early 1990s. The first band started by Johns himself was called Cloud Nine. The drummer, Chris Gale, is still a touring member of his current band; the pair have been playing together for thirty-two years. Cloud Nine was active and toured around Oxford and London.

After playing in a number of other small bands, Johns moved to Los Angeles to play in a band called Psy with his brother Evan, and Eva Gardner, daughter of famous bass guitar player Kim Gardner. The band played locally in Los Angeles in the classic clubs surrounding the sunset strip.

During his time and Los Angeles, Johns received a call from a friend who was driving trucks for Jamiroquai. Invited to Los Vegas, where Jamiroquai was playing that night as an opener for the Rolling Stones, Johns had a jam session at the MGM Grand with Jay Kay (Jamiroquai), Jesse Wood, Slash, Ronnie Wood, and a few other famous musicians, which ultimately led to the creation of the band Glyda. [8] Johns and Jesse Wood wrote many songs and toured with the band from 1996 to 2001. The band broke up when Jesse wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend of the time, Kate Moss.

Dealing with the break up of Glyda, Johns returned home and spent some time away from touring and rockstar lifestyle. Moving to Brighton, Johns worked in entertainment at the SeaLife Center, the world's oldest still running aquarium, showing the exhibits and animals to aquariums guests. After working in the aquarium, Johns worked for commercial fishing charter boats for around six years. It was during this time that Johns released his first album, Count on Me.

After the release of Count on Me, the song "On My Back" was praised by reporter Clive Rawlings who interviewed Johns for the magazine: "Blues Matters!". After this interview, Johns career in England ballooned in around 2011, with Johns playing an increasing number of shows and gaining nominations in several blues awards domestically. Johns was invited to play in Russia on multiple occasions, including for a concert at a maximum security prison for serious offending women. [9] It was during this time that John released his second album; Hooks and Lines, drawing inspiration from his stint as a commercial fisherman. The album art on the release features Johns coming out of the sea playing his guitar. [10]

His third album, Something Old, Something New, draws inspiration from Johns earlier days and features tracks from his years in his earlier bands, such as Cloud Nine. [10]

John’s fourth release, Bluesdaddy, got to the number one slot in the Roots Music Report in the U.K. and still remained in the chart at #19 nearly two years after its release. [11] The release also peaked at #4 on the Independent British Blues Association Chart.

Johns currently plays for Cream of Clapton, which he co-founded with Simon Roberts in June 2022. The band features Dylan Elise and the son of Eric Clapton’s long time bassist Nathan East: Noah East. [12] Cream of Clapton draws inspiration from Eric Clapton’s Heaven Band Era The band began playing live in March 2023 with a show in Augsburg, Germany, and has played 20 dates in Europe to date, including a sold out London show. [13] The band also toured in North America, with a notable stop in San Diego which featured Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes, and Steve Ferrone (all ex band members of Eric Clapton).

Johns is currently working on his fifth release, Yin & Yang. Yin & Yang is being tested for release on an Eco friendly vinyl. Johns is on the advisory board for Evolution Music, a company dedicated to dispelling the use of single use plastics within the music industry. [14]

Personal life

Johns' uncles included Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and the late George Harrison. [1] [4] His mother Paula Boyd is the sister of Pattie Boyd, ex-wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton and Jenny Boyd, ex-wife of Mick Fleetwood, founder of Fleetwood Mac.

Johns is an avid fisherman and was taught how to cast a line by Eric Clapton. [6] Johns packs a rod with him on tour and tries to fish as much as he can. Johns also owns a boat in Brighton where he can be found out fishing and relaxing. John also is the all England Squid Fishing Champion of 2014.

Johns credits Clapton with teaching him both the guitar and how to fish, providing Johns with both income and a means to feed himself. [6]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Clapton</span> English guitarist, singer, and songwriter (born 1945)

Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". In 2023, Clapton was named the 35th best guitarist of all time. He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cream (band)</span> 1960s British rock supergroup

Cream were a British rock band formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Bruce was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Clapton and Baker contributed to songs. Formed by members of previously successful bands, they are widely considered the first supergroup. Cream were highly regarded for the instrumental proficiency of each of their members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers</span> English blues band

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie, Mick Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves, and numerous others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mayall</span> English blues musician (born 1933)

John Mayall is an English blues and rock singer and musician whose career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blind Faith</span> English rock supergroup

Blind Faith were an English supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and Winwood's former group Traffic, but they split after a few months, producing only one album and a three-month summer tour.

<i>Slowhand</i> 1977 studio album by Eric Clapton

Slowhand is the fifth solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. Slowhand produced the two hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight", reached various international music charts and was honoured with numerous awards and recording certifications. In 2012, a deluxe edition was released to celebrate the album's 35th anniversary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek and the Dominos</span> British–American blues-rock band

Derek and the Dominos was a short-lived English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previously played together in Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during and after Clapton's brief tenure with Blind Faith. Dave Mason supplied additional lead guitar on early studio sessions and played at their first live gig. Another participant at their first session as a band was George Harrison, the recording for whose album All Things Must Pass marked the formation of Derek and the Dominos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Green (musician)</span> English singer-songwriter and guitarist (1946–2020)

Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi " and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.

<i>Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs</i> 1970 studio album by Derek and the Dominos

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is the only studio album by the English–American rock band Derek and the Dominos, released on 9 November 1970 as a double album by Polydor Records and Atco Records. It is best known for its title track, "Layla", which is often regarded as Eric Clapton's greatest musical achievement. The other band members were Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, and Carl Radle (bass). Duane Allman played lead and slide guitar on 11 of the 14 songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Layla</span> Song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon

"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded with their band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). Its contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon. The piano part has also been controversially credited to Rita Coolidge, Gordon's girlfriend at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pattie Boyd</span> English model, photographer (born 1944)

Patricia Anne Boyd is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harrison in 1966, experiencing the height of the Beatles' popularity and sharing in their embrace of Indian spirituality. She divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Harrison's friend Eric Clapton in 1979; they divorced in 1989. Boyd inspired Harrison's song "Something", and Clapton's songs "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan East</span> American bass player and vocalist

Nathan Harrell East is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from the University of California, San Diego (1978). He is a founding member of contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay and has recorded, performed, and co-written songs with performers such as Bobby Womack, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daft Punk, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Bottom Blues (Derek and the Dominos song)</span> 1971 single by Derek and the Dominos

"Bell Bottom Blues" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock, and performed by Derek and the Dominos. It deals with Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, and appears on the 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Issued as a single, backed with "Keep on Growing", the song reached number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. A re-release backed with "Little Wing" peaked at number 78 on the same chart.

Helen Mary "Jenny" Boyd is an English former model, the younger sister of 1960s model and photographer Pattie Boyd. She quit her modelling career in the 1960s after discovering Transcendental Meditation, stating that modelling was "a waste of her time". She later managed an addiction treatment centre and wrote two books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Fairweather Low</span> Welsh singer and guitarist (born 1948)

Andrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Whitlock</span> American singer, songwriter and musician (born 1948)

Robert Stanley Whitlock is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memphis soul acts such as Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the M.G.'s before he joined Delaney & Bonnie and Friends in 1968. His association with Delaney & Bonnie bandmate Clapton led to Whitlock's participation in sessions for George Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, in London, and the formation of Derek and the Dominos that year. On the band's sole studio album, the critically acclaimed Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Whitlock wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's fourteen tracks, including "Tell the Truth", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Vernon (record producer)</span> Musical artist

Michael William Hugh Vernon is an English music executive studio owner, and record producer from Harrow, Middlesex. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups in the 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Climax Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and Ten Years After amongst others.

Alice Magdalen Sarah Ormsby-Gore was a British aristocrat who was part of the fashion and arts counter-culture in London during the 1960s. For about five years she was the romantic partner of guitarist Eric Clapton. The couple were briefly subjected to media speculation about a possible marriage. She died of a heroin overdose in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tearing Us Apart</span> 1987 single by Eric Clapton and Tina Turner

"Tearing Us Apart" is a song recorded by English blues rock guitarist and singer Eric Clapton on his 1986 album August, produced by Phil Collins. The song was about "the committee", the group of Pattie Boyd's friends whom Clapton blamed for coming between Pattie and him. "Tearing Us Apart" was a duet with Tina Turner and was released as the second single from the album in mid-1987, following "Behind the Mask". The song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, but was a minor hit in the UK. The song has been included on several setlists of Clapton's live performances in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s; performed by other female vocalists such as Katie Kissoon, Tessa Niles, Shaun Murphy, Tracy Ackerman, Sheryl Crow, Sharon White and Michelle John. Clapton resurrected the song for his 11-night residency at the Royal Albert Hall in May/June 2011 and his European/South American tours from February 14 to October 16. Most recently, Clapton has performed the song in concert in 2022.

<i>Bobby Whitlock</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Bobby Whitlock

Bobby Whitlock is the debut solo album by American songwriter and rock musician Bobby Whitlock, released in early 1972. The album features all of the former members of Derek and the Dominos – Whitlock, Eric Clapton, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon – although never all together. Other contributors include George Harrison, the sessions for whose 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass had led to the formation of the Dominos; Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett; and ex-Manfred Mann bassist Klaus Voormann.

References

  1. 1 2 "Big Bear Records Agency Page". Bigbearmusic.com. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Will John Band – Hooks & Lines". Morning Star. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Andy Johns Interview". BalconyTV.com. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2012– via YouTube.
  4. 1 2 Bacon, Peter (13 July 2012). "Will Johns play's at Birmingham's Brasshouse". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  5. ↑ Will Johns - My Name is Will Johns , retrieved 8 June 2023
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Will Johns - Eric Clapton , retrieved 8 June 2023
  7. ↑ Evaluating Estate Tax Techniques Part I , retrieved 8 June 2023
  8. ↑ "The Will Johns Band @ The Garden House, Saturday 14th July 2012". The Hearing Aid. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "Biography". Will Johns. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Will Johns - Will's Music" . Retrieved 8 June 2023– via YouTube.
  11. ↑ Moab, Roots Music Report 375 South Main #127; States424-1487, Utah 84532 United. "Roots Music Report: Top 50 United Kingdom Album Chart". Roots Music Report. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "About – The Cream of Clapton Band" . Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "Tour – List – The Cream of Clapton Band". Thecreamofericclaptonband.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  14. ↑ "Advisory Board". Evolution Music. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.