John Ellis (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
John Ellis is an English guitarist and songwriter.
band Bazooka Joe
in 1970 and a founding member of the punk rock
band The Vibrators
. Ellis formed The Vibrators in 1974 while still at art school studying illustration. The Vibrators released two albums with Ellis and toured extensively. Ellis left the Vibrators in 1978 to form the short-lived group Rapid Eye Movement, before embarking on a solo career in 1979, releasing a couple of singles
, one of which, "Babies in Jars" (a live Rapid Eye Movement recording) reached #34 on the UK Indie Chart
.
In 1980 he toured with Peter Gabriel
on his "Tour Of China 1984", and he appears on the album Peter Gabriel 4. From 1982 on he recorded a number of albums with Peter Hammill
, and toured with Hammill (off and on) from 1981 until 1989. From 1981 until 1984 he was a member of the K Group with Peter Hammill. Hammill was "K" (on vocals, piano and guitar), Nic Potter
was "Mozart" (on bass guitar), Guy Evans
was "Brain" (on drums), and Ellis was "Fury" (on backing vocals and guitar). The Peter Hammill album The Margin
is a registration of live-concerts by the K group.
Between late 1990 and 2000, Ellis was a member of the punk rock band The Stranglers
, starting with the album Stranglers In the Night
. During that period he also created music for European Art exhibitions and several short films. Ellis left the Stranglers in 2000. He is an exponent of the E-bow
guitar.
Ellis has contributed to the recordings of Judge Smith
, a founding member of Van der Graaf Generator
.
In 2005 Ellis formed a community organisation called 'The Luma Group', that delivers arts based training and workshops.
In 2009 Ellis started his own record label, Chanoyu Records, in order to release his own music. The first release was Wabi Sabi 21©, an album of electronic instrumentals inspired by the Japanese Tea Ceremony
.
:
With The Stranglers
:
:
With Peter Hammill
:
With Nic Potter
:
With Judge Smith
:
Career
He was a co-founder of the pub rockPub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
band Bazooka Joe
Bazooka Joe (band)
Bazooka Joe or Bazooka Joe and the Lillets was a British pub rock band formed by John Ellis and Danny Kleinman in 1970. It featured Stuart Goddard, who would later change his name to "Adam Ant". Both Ellis and Goddard would go on to find success with The Vibrators and Adam and the Ants, respectively...
in 1970 and a founding member of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Vibrators
The Vibrators
- Early career:The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his...
. Ellis formed The Vibrators in 1974 while still at art school studying illustration. The Vibrators released two albums with Ellis and toured extensively. Ellis left the Vibrators in 1978 to form the short-lived group Rapid Eye Movement, before embarking on a solo career in 1979, releasing a couple of singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, one of which, "Babies in Jars" (a live Rapid Eye Movement recording) reached #34 on the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
.
In 1980 he toured with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
on his "Tour Of China 1984", and he appears on the album Peter Gabriel 4. From 1982 on he recorded a number of albums with Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
, and toured with Hammill (off and on) from 1981 until 1989. From 1981 until 1984 he was a member of the K Group with Peter Hammill. Hammill was "K" (on vocals, piano and guitar), Nic Potter
Nic Potter
Nic Potter is a British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s.-Career:...
was "Mozart" (on bass guitar), Guy Evans
Guy Evans
Guy Randolph Evans is an English progressive rock drummer, percussionist and composer, and a member of Van der Graaf Generator....
was "Brain" (on drums), and Ellis was "Fury" (on backing vocals and guitar). The Peter Hammill album The Margin
The Margin
The Margin is a live album by Peter Hammill, documenting early nineteen-eighties concerts by his K Group. Hammill was K , Nic Potter was Mozart , Guy Evans was Brain , and John Ellis was Fury . The album was originally released as a double album on Foundry Records in 1985...
is a registration of live-concerts by the K group.
Between late 1990 and 2000, Ellis was a member of the punk rock band The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, starting with the album Stranglers In the Night
Stranglers In the Night
Stranglers in the Night opened the recording career of the Stranglers MK II, with Paul Roberts on vocals and John Ellis on guitar. It was also the first release on the band's own record label, "Psycho", in 1992. The band returned to a purer, less "produced" sound; the horns have departed and the...
. During that period he also created music for European Art exhibitions and several short films. Ellis left the Stranglers in 2000. He is an exponent of the E-bow
E-Bow
The EBow or ebow is a hand-held, battery-powered electronic device for playing the electric guitar, invented by Greg Heet in 1969...
guitar.
Ellis has contributed to the recordings of Judge Smith
Judge Smith
Christopher John Judge Smith , is a songwriter, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been known simply as Judge Smith since 1994.- Early years :In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge...
, a founding member of Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records. The band achieved considerable success in Italy during the 1970s...
.
In 2005 Ellis formed a community organisation called 'The Luma Group', that delivers arts based training and workshops.
In 2009 Ellis started his own record label, Chanoyu Records, in order to release his own music. The first release was Wabi Sabi 21©, an album of electronic instrumentals inspired by the Japanese Tea Ceremony
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
.
Solo
- Microgroove (year unknown)
- Spic 'N' Span (year unknown)
- In Rhodt (1989)
- Das Geheimnis Des Golem (1991)
- Destination Everywhere (1995)
- Our Internal Monologue (1995)
- Shock of Contact (1996)
- Acrylic (1997)
- Map of Limbo (2008) (a free album available at Clinical Archives)
- Wabi Sabi 21© (2009)
As band member
With The VibratorsThe Vibrators
- Early career:The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his...
:
- Pure ManiaPure ManiaTrouser Press writer Ira Robbins described the album as a "treasure trove of memorable ditties". Allmusic's Mark Deming said the album "isn't purist's punk, but it's pure rock & roll, and there's nothing wrong with that." In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau...
(1977) - V2 (1978)
With The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
:
- Stranglers In the NightStranglers In the NightStranglers in the Night opened the recording career of the Stranglers MK II, with Paul Roberts on vocals and John Ellis on guitar. It was also the first release on the band's own record label, "Psycho", in 1992. The band returned to a purer, less "produced" sound; the horns have departed and the...
(1992) - About TimeAbout Time (The Stranglers album)About Time, released in 1995, is the twelfth studio album from The Stranglers and the second one from the Black, Burnel, Greenfield, Roberts and Ellis line-up....
(1995) - Written in RedWritten in RedWritten in Red is the thirteenth studio album recorded by The Stranglers. It was produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill.The media launch-party for "Written in Red" was held on 13 December 1996 at EuroDisney in Paris, and featured live performances of tracks from the effort...
(1997) - Coup de Grace (1998)
Collaborations
With Peter GabrielPeter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
:
- Peter Gabriel 4 (1982)
With Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
:
- Enter KEnter KEnter K is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on the Naive Records label in Oct 1982. The label was owned and operated by Gordian Troeller, the former manager of Hammill's band Van der Graaf Generator...
(1982) - Patience (1983)
- The Love Songs (1984)
- The MarginThe MarginThe Margin is a live album by Peter Hammill, documenting early nineteen-eighties concerts by his K Group. Hammill was K , Nic Potter was Mozart , Guy Evans was Brain , and John Ellis was Fury . The album was originally released as a double album on Foundry Records in 1985...
(live, 1985) - Out of WaterOut of WaterOut of Water is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Enigma Records in 1990 and subsequently re-released on Hammill's own Fie label...
(1990) (Ellis also painted the picture on the cover) - FireshipsFireships (album)Fireships is an album by English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill. Originally released in 1992, it was the first release on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. It was reissued in remastered form in 2006....
(1992) - The NoiseThe Noise (album)The Noise is an album by the English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill.As the title implies, the album is a collection of uptempo rock songs, in sharp contrast to Hammill's previous album, Fireships, which consisted mainly of ballads...
(1993)
With Nic Potter
Nic Potter
Nic Potter is a British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s.-Career:...
:
- Mountain Music (1983)
- New Europe-Rainbow Colours (1992)
With Judge Smith
Judge Smith
Christopher John Judge Smith , is a songwriter, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been known simply as Judge Smith since 1994.- Early years :In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge...
:
- Curly's AirshipsCurly's AirshipsCurly's Airships is a double CD by Judge Smith, released in October 2000. Smith regards the album as a new form of narrative rock music, which he calls "songstory". Curly's Airships tells about the R101 airship, crashing in France during its maiden overseas voyage in 1930...
(2000) - The Full English (2005)
- Live in Italy 2005 (live, DVD, 2006)
- The Light of the World (two-song CD single, 2007, as The Tribal Elders)
- Orfeas (2011)
External links
- Map of Limbo – official John Ellis website, includes biography and extensive discography
- official John Ellis MySpace page
- Chanoyu Records
- Luma Group
- Wabi-Sabi 21©
- John Ellis interviews for The Burning Up Times: Issue 2 'Second Coming' (re: stand-in for The Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell, Rainbow Theatre 1980) and Issue 4 'Ode To Joy' (re: Euroband member with The Stranglers' JJ Burnel as well as support band member of Rapid Eye Movement, Eurotour 1979) at www.strangled.co.uk