Jay Ferguson (American musician)
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Jay Ferguson is an American rock & roll musician known for his work with Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne, and his 1978 solo hit "Thunder Island". His later career has been as a composer of TV shows and mostly non-notable films.[1]
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[edit] Childhood and early musical career
He was born in Burbank, California, in the San Fernando Valley on May 10, 1947. He grew up in the cities of Van Nuys and then Canoga Park. At the age of twelve, Jay's parents encouraged his musical abilities with classical piano lessons. By the time he'd turned sixteen, Jay's interest had transferred to the banjo. Along with his brother Tom, an accomplished fiddle player, he formed a bluegrass group called The Oat Hill Stump Straddlers including Michael Fondiler and Steve Fondiler. Jay was a popular and well-known student at Chatsworth High School where he was a cheerleader and also elected to be senior-class president. Along with his friends Mark Andes, Michael Fondiler, Matt Andes, Steve Fondiler, and tone-deaf buddy Scott Stevens as a friend and fan, he was a member of local garage bands Western Union and The Red Roosters.
He also held part-time jobs at different points as a theater usher and architect's assistant for his father John Ferguson, taught piano in a music store, and studied at UCLA after high school. Jay was a bright and gifted student but his real passion was music, composing, writing, playing, and performing.
[edit] Spirit
Spirit was founded in the mid-'60s. Practically every musician of the time cited The Beatles and their music as an influence, and Jay was no exception. An interesting facet of musician life in the Los Angeles area at this time was that good "players" circulated amongst a subculture of performing bands that may have played for only one or two paying gigs and then dissolved as each went their own way. Reuniting after a chance meeting at an afternoon love-in at Griffith Park with longtime musician friends Randy California (a well known "guitar slinger" in the Jimi Hendrix vein who actually played with Hendrix in a pre-Experience band) and California's stepfather Ed Cassidy (a longtime studio drummer), Ferguson joined with them to form a jazz influenced rock group that was originally called Spirits Rebellious, after a Khalil Gibran passage. With the general consensus that the moniker was too long, they later shortened the name to Spirit. Jay was the last member to actually join the band, and sporting a rather mod Beatles style haircut, he found himself in the position of lead vocalist and percussionist.
Jay traded singing and songwriting duties with Randy, writing most of the songs that would be on their first album. Spirit began playing at various nightclubs and concerts in the Los Angeles area, especially the ones along the Sunset Strip, including the famous Whiskey-a-Go-Go. At one of these shows, famed French film producer Jacques Demy strolled in and saw Spirit perform and decided he wanted them in his next movie that he was filming there in Hollywood. This led to a cameo role for the band and a short speaking part in which Jay basically played a character based loosely on himself in a largely forgotten film called The Model Shop. Spirit also provided much of the instrumental soundtrack for this movie. Spirit went on to tour somewhat extensively and recorded several albums.
[edit] Jo Jo Gunne
As Spirit's final album with the original quintet, "Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus," was too slow-moving up the charts, Jay and Mark decided to leave Spirit in the early '70s and form their own band. Jay flipped through a music encyclopedia for inspiration as to what to call this fledgling group, and landed on one of his favorite artists, Chuck Berry. One of Chuck's songs provided a great idea for a name and Jo Jo Gunne was born.
Jo Jo Gunne was more of a straight-ahead rock-and-roll band than Spirit which, while favored to this day by fans and musicians alike, fit into no specific music mold. Jay became the sole songwriter for Jo Jo Gunne, serving as it only lead vocalist. His barrel-house piano playing style made him the ideal front man for the band, as well. Jay's songwriting and Mark Andes' full-bottomed bass style were ideal for Jo Jo Gunne, the second artists signed to the new Asylum Records label that was just being started by future Dreamworks co-founder David Geffen. The band scored a moderate hit with "Run, Run, Run" on their very first album.
With the first record and some touring already completed, Mark Andes then decided to depart Jo Jo Gunne and join the band that would later become Firefall, with brother Matt staying behind with Jo Jo Gunne. Jimmie Randall, an Austin, Texas bassist, assumed Mark's position for the remainder of the band's life.
Jo Jo Gunne toured all over the US and Europe almost constantly for the next three years, briefly managing to stop back into the studio to complete three more albums that didn't make as big an impact as their first album. The members became exhausted with this hectic, non-stop touring and recording schedule. Matt Andes also left the band after the third album and was temporarily replaced with Star Donaldson on lead guitar, and then, later, John Staehely (who had earlier briefly filled in with Spirit on their Feedback album) came on board, assuming Star's role. After a four-year grinding run, the group eventually decided to call it quits in the mid 1970s. Jo Jo Gunne reformed in 2005, and recorded a new album, "Big Chain," which included both new material and new versions of several Gunne classics.
[edit] Solo career
Jay took a year and a half off for much needed rest and recuperation and to finally spend some quality time alone with wife Debbie. But, as there were still more albums on his recording contract left to complete, record producer Bill Szymczyk one day called and asked Jay to come down to his Miami, Florida, studio when he was ready with some original songs to record. Bill had a band of excellent session musicians that were assembled for the solo project. Jay traveled to Florida, and recorded three studio albums and a limited-run live album for Asylum. He scored a top-10 hit with the title song on his second solo album, Thunder Island, which peaked at #9 in the US, and another hit with "Shakedown Cruise" from his last Asylum album, Real Life Ain't This Way. After his contract for Asylum was completed, Jay changed record companies, and recorded two more solo albums for Capitol Records. Joe Walsh lent a great deal of talent to Jay in his solo recording career as a guest musician.
[edit] Soundtrack composer
In 1982, after his sixth and last solo album, White Noise, Jay decided to make a big switch in the direction of his musical career. This was likely prompted by another big change in his personal life, having his first child (a daughter). Jay opted to become a soundtrack composer for movies and television, and to date, he has written music for over 15 feature movies and many TV shows, most recently and notably the US version of The Office, which won him the 2007 Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Comedy Television Program. He recently has begun producing CDs for other artists.
[edit] References
Bio from Jo Jo Gunne! Website
