John Gustafson (musician)

John Gustafson
John Gustafson
Birth name	John Frederick Gustafson
Also known as	Johnny Gustafson, Johnny Gus
Born	8 August 1942; Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Died	12 September 2014 (aged 72)
Genres	Rock, hard rock, pop rock, beat, jazz-fusion, folk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)	Bass guitar, vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1960s–2014

John Frederick "Johnny" 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, The Merseybeats, Quatermass, Roxy Music, The Pirates and Ian Gillan Band. ^[1]

Career

Born in Liverpool to a father of Swedish descent and mother of Irish descent,^[2] 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 best known for playing bass guitar for several 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.^[3]

Gustafson performed on three studio albums for Roxy Music in the period from 1973 through 1975. He was frequently not with the band on live dates, getting replaced by John Wetton or Sal Maida. His last record with the band, Siren, included their only American top 40 hit single, "Love Is the Drug".^[4] Front man Bryan Ferry later called Gustafson a "wonderful player", adding, "“Love Is the Drug” wouldn’t have been anything without the bass playing. It really bought that track alive."^[5]

He was bassist on several tracks for Flamenco guitarist Juan Martin's 1981", "The Aficionado" and "Girls of Algiers". Also played on Kevin Ayers' album The Confessions of Dr Dream, released in 1974. In 1983, he was in the group Rowdy, which included Ray Fenwick and Billy Bremner.

Married to Anne for over thirty years, Gustafson died on 12 September 2014 from cancer.^[6]

Discography

With The Big Three

At the Cavern Decca EP (1963)
Resurrection Polydor (1973)

With The Merseybeats

The Merseybeats Fontana (1964)
On Stage Fontana EP (1964)
I Think of You Fontana EP (1964)
Wishin' and Hopin' Fontana EP (1964)
The Merseybeats Greatest Hits Look (compilation album) (1977)
Beats and Ballads Edsel (compilation) (1982)

With Quatermass

Quatermass Harvest (1970)

With Bullet / Hard Stuff

"Hobo" / "Sinister Minister" – Single (1971) Purple Records (as Bullet)
Bulletproof Purple Records (1972)
Bolex Dementia Purple Records (1973)
The Entrance to Hell – different mix of Bulletproof (2010) (as Bullet)

With Roxy Music

Stranded Island (1973)
Country Life Island (1974)
Siren Island (1975)
Viva! Island (1976)

With Ablution: With Peter Robinson, Jayson Lindh, Jan Schaffer, Malando Gassama, Barry De Souza, Ola Brunkert.

Ablution CBS (1974)

With Ian Gillan Band

Child in Time Oyster (1976)
Clear Air Turbulence Island (1977)
Scarabus Island (1977)
Live at the Budokan Virgin (1978)
The Rockfield Mixes Angel Air (1997)
Live at the Rainbow Angel Air (1978)

With The Pirates

Lights Out/I'm into Something Good EP (1986), with Mick Green and Frank Farley
Still Shakin Magnum/Thunderbolt (1988), with Mick Green and Geoff Britton
Live in Japan Thunderbolt (2001), with Mick Green and Les Sampson