John Rostill
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John Rostill (born John Henry Rostill, on 16 June 1942, in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England. Died on 26 November 1973) was a talented bass guitarist and composer, recruited by the group The Shadows to replace Brian Locking. He worked with several artists before joining The Shadows, including a stint in the backing group of Zoot Money.
Stylistically, John Rostill had an approach somewhere between his two predecessors, combining the solidity of Brian Locking, and the adventurousness of Jet Harris. Many of his basslines were heavily syncopated and he developed a range of new bass guitar sounds during his time with the group, a longer period that Jet Harris and Brian Locking put together. After The Shadows break up at the end of the 1960's, John toured with Tom Jones. Although he was not involved in the Marvin, Welch & Farrar project (he was with Tom Jones at the time - 1970-72), he would have been a part of subsequent Shadows projects, had he not died in a tragic accident in 1973; he was electrocuted in his home studio.
Rostill was a prolific songwriter, prodigiously contributing to the Shadows' output from the start (both as a solo composer and as part of the mid-sixties "Marvin/Welch/Bennett/Rostill" team), and later going on to write for other artists such as Olivia Newton-John.
As a Shadow, Rostill played a prototype Burns "Shadows" bass guitar which differed from the production model that followed. A replica of his bass has been produced by Burns London in late 2006.
| The Shadows |
|---|
| Hank Marvin | Bruce Welch | Brian Bennett Jet Harris | Tony Meehan | Brian Locking | John Rostill | Ian Samwell | Terry Smart |
| Production |
| Norrie Paramor | Peter Vince | Warren Bennett | Abbey Road Studios |
| Related articles |
| Cliff Richard | 1960s |
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