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Ritchie on Jim Sullivan
The legend of British music scene guitarist “Big” Jim Sullivan has passed away on October 2. Ritchie Blackmore had some of his early guitar lessons from him and admired Big Jim for the rest of his life:
I first met Jim Sullivan in 1958. He was introduced to me by my sister in laws brother. We both lived in the same area: in Middlesex, Cranford. He was playing with Marty Wilde and the Wildcats. He showed me another level of playing. He was probably the most advanced guitarist in the London area. I would listen to the radio every week there was a Marty Wilde show. Jim was often featured on the show so I was glued to the radio. He also made some great instrumentals. One being Trambone and one being Peak Hour. He was the 1st guitarist to play through a wah wah pedal. It was a Deamond foot volume and tone control. I remember an instrumental called the bat, where he used the pedal. That would’ve been around 1959. Last time I saw Jim was in LA where he was playing with Tom Jones. He was one of England’s finest players, a mentor and a good friend for me. His playing will always be in my heart and live on. God bless you Jim.
Thanks to Kevin Dixon for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The inspirations for 60s and 70s guitar heros need to be remembered. I love blues bb king etc who influenced the likes of clapton etc but here is the othe side of the coin
October 4th, 2012 at 20:35Ah, Big Jim on the Green Bullfrog album, with Blackmore & Paice & others, wonderful! RIP
October 4th, 2012 at 20:55Sadly, this is the closest Ritchie will get to relevant music ever again.
October 4th, 2012 at 21:50@3 thats a bit of daft comment on here..relevant music? what is relevant music? reflective words from Ritchie and an inspiration sadly missed.
October 5th, 2012 at 12:34Is that Joe Siegler from the Sabbath online site? It would be interesting to know what Joe ‘s perception of “relevant” music is, in regards to Ritchie Blackmore!
October 6th, 2012 at 11:49Love the green bullfrog album, the song instrumental green bullfrog alone makes that album….outstanding guitar work on that piece.
October 7th, 2012 at 15:18