Jim Glennie
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Jim Glennie (born James Glennie, 10 October 1963, Manchester) is the bassist for English rock band, James. Glennie is the band's longest serving member, having been there from the first line-up, through to the last.
Glennie never really had an interest in music in his youth, but his childhood best friend Paul Gilbertson managed to change his mind after convincing him to buy a bass guitar. Two weeks later they played their first concert at Eccles Royal British Legion club, in which their singer did not show up. Glennie offered himself up to sing instead, and the club manager pulled the plug halfway through their second song, demanding they stopped playing.
Glennie and Gilbertson's ritual, in the very early years, was to get very drunk before they went onstage to calm their nerves - this partly explains why they were almost unlistenable when the band first started - coupled with their own admittance that they could not really play their instruments at the time either.
After Gilbertson's sacking Glennie was quite badly affected initially, having lost a very close friend and musical companion. Glennie stuck it out, however, and remained true to the James cause. He and Tim Booth often had many conflicts, due to Glennie feeling Booth was not doing what was best for the band. Saul Davies admitted in the 2006 Q article that Glennie and Booth "didn't always see eye to eye".
Glennie often looks back fondly at the early years of the band, having no money and a bloody minded ignorance to the traditional forms of modern studio recording.[citation needed]
He is also the only remaining original member of James, having been through:-
1. The early years of he and Gilbertson
2. The financial struggles of both the Stutter and Stripmine album
3. Sudden success of the band making it big in 1991 with "Sit Down" and changing to a 7-piece
4. Working with Brian Eno on Laid
5. Nearly breaking America, and turning down huge record label deals
6. The band's near demise in 1995
7. Their 1997 comeback with She's A Star, the success of their Best Of and Millionaires, to Pleased To Meet You's underrated release
8. Finally, to the last tour, in 2001.
Glennie's style of playing is very much punk inluenced as he mostly uses a plectrum to play the bass; but often plays in a more melodic way as a part of the rhythm section.
He has made it onto all James' 11 studio albums and been on all their tours, and served his time from 1982 onwards. Glennie has also witnessed the departures of most of James' members, including Paul Gilbertson, Gavan Whelan, Larry Gott, Andy Diagram, Tim Booth, and Saul Davies.
If David Baynton-Power is incorrect in believing James has reached its end, technically it can be said that Glennie is the only remaining James member, as he is the only one who has confirmed that he wanted the band to continue in some kind of new incarnation. This would also mean his time in James can be stretched from twenty one years to almost twenty six.
Since James has been inactive, Glennie has seemingly disappeared from the musical radar screen, and was last rumoured to have co-produced work for the UK band, British Sea Power.
In an open letter to James' fans in January 2007, Glennie outlined the band's plans to record a new album and tour the UK.
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