Jess Roden
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Jess Roden is an English rock singer/guitarist who was most prominent in the 1970s.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England, Roden's first band was The Shakedown Sound that included guitarist Kevyn Gammond [1] and keyboard player August Eadon (aka Gus Yeadon).
In 1967, he joined the Alan Bown Set as their new lead singer. Although their records never charted nationally, he did pick up a fandom in London (and belatedly became something of a star on the Northern Soul scene) with the release of their single "Emergency 999".
He remained with the Bown group through to the late '60s, but left after recording the album The Alan Bown! His vocals were re-recorded by his replacement Robert Palmer for the UK release of the album, although Roden's original vocals remained on the US release. There were clearly no hard feelings between the two singers as Roden later appeared on backing vocals with Palmer on his appearance on The Tube in 1983.
In 1970 Roden formed the band Bronco but left after two albums, and later worked on Wildlife, the third Mott the Hoople album, and sang lead vocals on Keef Hartley's 1973 album Lancashire Hustler. In the same year he teamed up with ex-Doors John Densmore and Robby Krieger in The Butts Band, and sang on their first album.
Roden finally emerged as a solo artist in his own right in the mid-1970s on Island Records, with his 1974 self-titled solo album, which was cut in New Orleans and included Allen Toussaint and Art Neville on keyboards.
He then formed The Jess Roden Band and continued to record and tour throughout the 1970s. His albums often got great reviews but he never saw any significant sales. In between his own work, Roden managed to sing and play on albums by Carol Grimes, Jim Capaldi, Stomu Yamashta, Sandy Denny, and Grace Jones.
He formed Rivits, for one album Multiplay, at the outset of the 1980s before relocating to New York where he found work as a graphic artist.
He unexpectedly returned with a new band - The Humans - in the mid 90s only to disappear from the music scene once more.
[edit] Selective discography
[edit] Solo
- Jess Roden (1974)
- The Player Not the Game (1977)
- Stonechaser (1980)
[edit] The Jess Roden Band
- You Can Keep Your Hat On (1976)
- Play It Dirty, Play It Class (1976)
- Blowin' (1977)
- Live at the BBC (released 1993)
[edit] Alan Bown
- Emergency 999 (CD which collects all early Alan Bown singles featuring Jess)
- The Alan Bown! (1968)
[edit] Bronco
- Country Home (1970)
- Ace Of Sunlight (1971)
[edit] The Butts Band
- Butts Band (1973)
[edit] The Rivits
- Multiplay (1980)
[edit] The Humans
- Jess Roden and The Humans (1995)
- Live at The Robin 1996 (2004)
[edit] Other appearances
- The Who - "Magic Bus" (backing vocals)(single 1968)
- Mott the Hoople - Wildlife (1971) backing vocals
- Keef Hartley - Lancashire Hustler (1973)
- Sandy Denny - Rendezvous (1973) backing vocals
- Sandy Denny - Boxful of Treasurers (includes "Losing Game" duet with Jess)
- Paul Kossoff - Back Street Crawler (sings on "I'm Ready" and "Molten Gold") (1973)
- Carol Grimes - Warm Blood (1974) backing vocals
- Jim Capaldi - Short Cut Draw Blood (1975) - guitar!
- Stomu Yamashta - Go Too (1977)
- Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (1981) backing vocals
- Seven Windows - Seven Windows (1986)
- Peter Green Songbook aka Rattlesnake Guitar (1995) - sings on two tracks "Crying Won't Bring You Back" and "Merry Go Round"
- Luther Grosvenor - Floodgates (1996) - sings on two tracks "I Wanna Be Free" and "Fire Down Below"
- SAS Band - sings on "That's The Way God Planned It" (1998)
