{"id":25771,"date":"2023-08-12T05:30:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25771"},"modified":"2023-08-04T10:57:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:57:25","slug":"take-5-five-john-wetton-recordings-you-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/12\/take-5-five-john-wetton-recordings-you-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Take 5: Five John Wetton Recordings You Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John Wetton was best known as the lead singer and bassist with Asia. Between 1982 and 1990 the supergroup landed ten singles on the U.S. mainstream hit singles chart; half of those came from the band\u2019s self-titled debut album. Asia was indeed a bonafide supergroup, featuring musicians who had long since established themselves with other bands: guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (The Buggles), and drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson Lake and Palmer) joined Wetton to make some of the most commercially successful music of their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Wetton\u2019s musical pedigree was varied and impressive as well; in the years before launching Asia, he worked as a member of some of music\u2019s most innovative and groundbreaking (albeit not always commercially successful) groups. Sadly, he passed away in 2017. Just last week an all-star concert was staged in his memory and honor. Here are five notable tracks featuring the acclaimed bassist-vocalist.<\/p>\n<p><b>Mogul Thrash \u2013 \u201cSleeping in the Kitchen\u201d from <\/b><i><b>Mogul Thrash<\/b><\/i><b> (1970)<\/b><br \/>\nThis British progressive jazz-rock band released its debut single in 1970, followed by a self-titled album (produced by Brian Auger) a few months later. But despite a promising start, management woes led to the band\u2019s dissolution shortly thereafter. Today Mogul Thrash is chiefly remembered as an early proving ground for Wetton (who went on to join Family) and saxophonists Malcolm Duncan and Roger Ball, both of whom soon founded Average White Band. Wetton\u2019s assured basswork is a key to this song\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sPCozb1M-xw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Family \u2013 \u201cBetween Blue and Me\u201d from <\/b><i><b>Fearless<\/b><\/i><b> (1971)<\/b><br \/>\nDrawing equally from hard rock and English folk, Family was among the most promising of UK progressive acts of the late \u201860s and early 1970s. For the group\u2019s first two releases, Ric Grech (formerly of Blind Faith) played bass; he was replaced by John Weider (of the Animals) for the next two records. John Wetton joined Family for <i>Fearless<\/i>, the group\u2019s fifth long player, but left in short order to join King Crimson as bassist and lead vocalist.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kzHkaGyVV-c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>King Crimson \u2013 \u201cStarless\u201d from <\/b><i><b>Red<\/b><\/i><b> (1974)<\/b><br \/>\nQuite possibly the most emotionally resonant track from the varied and adventurous catalog of King Crimson, \u201cStarless\u201d showcases Wetton\u2019s thunderous bass work and the power and nuance of his singing. The song ranks among the most popular King Crimson track, and featured prominently in the group&#8217;s set list even in the years after Wetton was no longer in the band.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X_pDwv3tpug\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Uriah Heep \u2013 \u201cPrima Donna\u201d from <\/b><i><b>Return to Fantasy<\/b><\/i><b> (1975)<\/b><br \/>\nUriah Heep found its biggest successes with a pair of 1972 albums, <i>Demons and Wizards<\/i> and <i>The Magician\u2019s Birthday<\/i>, compelling hybrids of hard rock, lightly progressive textures and fantasy lyrics. Subsequent releases didn\u2019t scale the same heights, but were worthwhile nonetheless. During the time of 1975\u2019s <i>Return to Fantasy<\/i>, Wetton was bassist for the band, having just left Roxy Music. Wetton remained with the group through the making of its followup, 1976, <i>High and Mighty<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oLLyJM5dsVY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>U.K. \u2013 \u201cDanger Money\u201d from <\/b><i><b>Danger Money<\/b><\/i><b> (1979)<\/b><br \/>\nIn retrospect, U.K. looks a bit like a dress rehearsal for Asia; at its start, the band was a supergroup featuring Wetton, guitarist Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, Gong), drummer Bill Bruford (King Crimson) and keyboardist\/violinist Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music). The lineup quickly fractured, though, and by the time of <i>Danger Money<\/i>, U.K. was a guitar-less trio: Wetton, Jobson and drummer Terry Bozzio from Frank Zappa\u2019s band. The band\u2019s determinedly progressive approach helped propel <i>Danger Money<\/i> to the #45 spot on the U.S. album chart.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yEKARbhoRbk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Wetton was best known as the lead singer and bassist with Asia. Between 1982 and 1990 the supergroup landed ten singles on the U.S. mainstream hit singles chart; half [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,56],"tags":[808,1196,1250,5211,5210,2298],"class_list":["post-25771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-prog","tag-family","tag-john-wetton","tag-king-crimson","tag-mogul-thrash","tag-u-k","tag-uriah-heep","cat-27-id","cat-56-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25773,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25771\/revisions\/25773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}