In Memoriam
15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021
Celebrating the life of our mate John Goodsall who left us after 46 years of music in Brand X.
28.11.2022: It’s been over one year since John departed. We remember our friend and partner in crime. Robin and Percy who have always consulted on the fate of Brand X announced that the band would retire.
That said, more of his music with Brand X, some of which, dating back to our beginnings, that’s never been heard before by the public at large, will be made available in an upcoming collection honoring a long career in the band he helped create.
John Goodsall, in memoriam - by Percy Jones
I first met John in 1974. I had moved from Liverpool to South London a few years earlier and was working a day job for a consulting engineer who specialized in vibration problems from construction and demolition. There were some local musicians in the area who included Robin Lumley and Keith and Julie Tippett. I had done a bit of jamming with Robin, which included a band with Jack Lancaster. Robin had hooked up with a bunch of Guys who got together every week to jam in Clapham. He invited me to go up there with him, and that’s where I first met John.
My first recollection was this guy with curly hair sitting on a stool with a red Gibson SG. He was also wearing some very loud multi coloured socks. We got into some jamming and I was immediately impressed by his chops and tone. The jams continued and we subsequently got signed, to Island records as Brand X, then later moved to Charisma.
John had a very distinctive style which was very recognizable. He was also a very skilled composer, with strong melodies and quite sophisticated rhythms. Some of his stuff was quite challenging to play, for example “The Poke”.
John had a long history of substance abuse which I think caught up with him in the end. But he certainly left a wealth of great music behind.
John was a character and a half, a very funny Guy. You could write a book about all the antics he got up to. Everything from strategically placed green slime on an aircraft to throwing his smoldering bed sheets out of a hotel window.
On one occasion, back in the late 70’s, we were in a hotel bar in Grand Junction Colorado. I was being harassed by a redneck who looked a bit like a beaten up Charlton Heston. Goodsall came over and had a few words with him. The Guy fled the hotel at great speed!
But playing with him was a trip. When he took a solo it seemed to elevate the whole room to some other level. Even when he was just comping it added such a tasty layer to the music. I can’t think of anybody that played like him. He is badly missed.