John Goodsall loved to describe himself as a “rhythm guitarist”, and that he was… But Goodsall was also, and chiefly, a superb lead guitarist: fast as lightening, and beautifully ethereal. His compositions were both avant-garde and melodic, in a uniquely English musical tradition: “melody first, always!”

In hindsight, his lifelong friend and colleague Percy Jones reflects that John always seemed to crave a life as a Hard Rock player, in the tradition of AC/DC, but somehow ended up in Prog-Jazz where he mostly remained… 

His prodigious talents earned him immense respect from many of his contemporaries, including Eric Clapton. 

John Peter Goodsall was born on February 15, 1953, in East Molesey, Middlesex, UK, and describes his childhood as “rough and tumble”, as he moved around groups of rowdy young boys who were often getting into street fights. John credited his taking up the guitar at age seven, for largely keeping him off the street… 

A young virtuoso, largely self-taught, he became a professional guitarist before the age of 16 when he joined Carol Grimes’s Babylon. 

After a stint with the band Atomic Rooster, time during which he was briefly known as “Johnny Mandala”, Goodsall joined up with Percy Jones and Robin Lumley in 1974, to found Brand X at the outset of a series of jam sessions that began in Clapham with Saxophonist Jack Lancaster. Goodsall, Lumley and Jones found themselves playing weekly with a session band at Island Records, under the patronage of Chris Blackwell, Richard Williams and Danny Wilding, and by 1975, they’d hired famed drummer Phil Collins into their lineup. Collins was able to score a management deal for Lumley, Jones and Goodsall, and the three became Brand X. Phil Collins continued to play with the band on and off until 1979.

After Brand X was placed on hold in 1981, Goodsall moved to Los Angeles where he briefly became a successful session player, appearing on hit albums with Billy Idol and Tony Basil, and he created his own band, The Fire Merchants. But his decades-long and painful struggle with substance addiction took its toll and Goodsall found it increasingly harder to score recording sessions and remain fully active in the cutthroat LA music environment. 

Still, John had an illustrious career as a session player. If his prolific output makes a full account of his contributions to the industry as “too numerous to list”, here is a brief list of his stellar achievements: 

After he co-founded Brand X with Percy Jones and Robin Lumley, and created the bandThe Fire Merchants, Goodsall played live or performed on albums by: Bryan Adams, Jeff Beck, The Alan Bown Set, James Bracken, Loughty Amao, Rod Argent, Atomic Rooster, Toni Basil, King Sunny Ade’s African Beats, Bill Bruford, Carol Grimes’ Babylon, Celebrity Skin, Ava Cherry, Eric Clapton, Billy Cobham, Todd Cochran, Paulinho Da Costa, The Cruisers, Lisa Dal Bello, Desmond Dekker and The Aces, Paul Delph, Micheal Des Barres, Dr. John, Mick Fleetwood, Flea, Andy Fraser, Peter Gabriel, Roscoe Gee, Kevin Gilbert, Donni Harvey, Rupert Hine, Eddie Howell, Diana Hubbard, Billy Idol, Mark Isham, Liquid Junior, Quantum Jump, John Kay, Cheryl Ladd, Gaspar Lawal, Karen Lawrence, Long Beach Mercenaries, Tamiya Lynn, Melissa Manchester, John Martyn, Junior Marvin, Bette Midler, Patrick Moraz, Billy Preston, Franz Pusch, X-Ray Spex, Chester Thompson, Alphonso Johnson, Jan Hammer, Anthony Phillips, The Reactors, Nona Hendrix, Sylvia St. James, Jack Lancaster, Terry Reid, Katey Sagal, Sandoz, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales, Jamie Sherriff, Micheal Shrieve, Jimmie Spheris, Blue Thunder, Top Topham, Tunnels, Chuck Turner’s Turneround, Lee Ving, Bill Ward Band, The Weather Girls, Wilding/Bonus, and presumably many more, lesser-known musicians… 

Goodsall was also a session guitarist on several film scores including No Small Affair, The Doorman, Can’t Buy Me Love, North Shore, Anal Intruder 9, Wave Warriors 2, Wave Warriors 3, and Point Break.

During the 1990s, John Goodsall was invited to play on a record by Brand X band mate Percy Jones and a young new recruit, drummer Frank Katz. The producers decided to name the new project Brand X, and Goodsall and Jones were able, as a result, to once again perform in an often scaled down version of their former band. They released two studio albums as Brand X during that decade, and enjoyed small tours, principally in California, but also including occasional rapid trips to Europe, and even Japan. A lack of commercial interest in their work, however, forced them to retire the band once again, by the end of the ’90s.

John Goodsall moved to Minnesota in the early 2000’s where he remained, occasionally gigging in local venues, until a final Brand X reunion in 2016 afforded him the opportunity to return to active touring for a short time. But multiple struggles on several fronts brought the Brand X reunion to a swift end.  

Goodsall passed away at the age of 68, in Rochester, Minnesota, on November 10th, 2021, after contracting Covid-19. 

That same year, Brand X co-owners, and mates Robin Lumley and Percy Jones called an end to Brand X’s run as a performing band. 

A career biography of John Goodsall can be found on Wikipedia, for links and references.