John Matthew McCoy (born 9 March 1950, in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, England), is an English
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
ist, who is best known for his work with
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
and ''Mammoth'' as well as numerous other bands and
sessions since the late 1960s. He also played in
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
rock trio
Guy McCoy Tormé
Guy McCoy Tormé (also known by its initials, GMT) is a British rock band, formed by Robin Guy and former Gillan members John McCoy and Bernie Tormé.
Career
In 2005, Bernie Tormé and John McCoy are reunited again with the idea form a n ...
with former
Gillan/
Ozzy guitarist
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints wit ...
and
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...
/Sack Trick
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
Robin Guy. He is also an accomplished
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
,
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
, and
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
player. Nearly as well known as his music is his appearance: he is always pictured wearing sunglasses, with the striking contrast of bald head and robust chin beard. Along with guitarist
Vic Elmes and ZZebra colleague
Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Biography
Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi- ...
on drums, McCoy can also be heard playing in the intro and end titles theme of the 1970s cult TV series ''
Space: 1999''.
Early career
In the 1960s, when he was 13, whilst still at school, McCoy began playing as
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
ist with a working
beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
group, ''The Drovers''. In 1966 he responded to an advertisement in the
Yorkshire Post
''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...
newspaper for a guitarist to join a band called ''Mamas Little Children'' who were about to begin touring
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. McCoy went to audition only to find they had just given someone else the position, but still needed a bass player. He auditioned on a spare bass that was there and was given the job. In 1968 he was forced to resign from the band because he was working illegally underage. On his return to Britain, he went to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
where he found work as a
session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
with former
Drifters member
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pi ...
touring the
UK.
In 1974, McCoy was playing with London-based band ''Scrapyard'' when they recruited Irish-born lead guitarist
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints wit ...
. Although Tormé eventually left to form his own
punk rock band, the two were later reunited in former
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
's band.
On 18 July 2009, John McCoy performed at the Furnace in Swindon Wiltshire, England Performing in a group G.M.T with Bernie Tormé (guitar legend formerly with
Gillan, and
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
) Robin Guy (former drummer with Iron Maiden's
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...
and
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...
). More recently John has played with the Tyla Gang, appearing on a live album recorded in Sweden.
Career with Gillan
In July 1978, the
jazz-rock fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...
Ian Gillan Band
The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975.
History
After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business ventures ...
were altering direction, under the influence of
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
player
Colin Towns
Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...
in a return to Ian Gillan's
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
roots. Towns had begun writing new material, and Gillan gave him the task of recruiting the new line-up. Towns recruited session drummer
Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Biography
Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi- ...
, McCoy and guitarist Richard Brampton, who was replaced by Steve Byrd - a former colleague of McCoy's from ZZebra - almost immediately. Within a month of their formation the band had recorded their first album, ''
Gillan'', and they made their live debut at the
Reading Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
on 16 August 1978. They were originally listed there as the Ian Gillan Band but, in a move away from the jazz-rock connotations, they renamed the band, Gillan.
Gillan underwent a further three line-up changes, but McCoy remained as bass player until the band eventually split acrimoniously
in 1982.
Mammoth
Post-Gillan, McCoy recruited session drummer Vinnie "Tubby" Reed, guitarist "Big" Mac Baker and vocalist
Nicky Moore
Nicholas Charles Moore (21 June 1947 – 3 August 2022) was an English blues, rock and heavy metal singer, who was best known as a member of the British band Samson. He replaced Bruce Dickinson who left the band to join Iron Maiden in 1982. ...
to form a band initially called Dinosaur. The name was already in use by a
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
n band, so McCoy renamed his new band Mammoth. The name was also a
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
reference to the large size of the band members: McCoy weighed or 265 pounds, Reed or 309 pounds, Baker or 355 pounds, and Moore or 280 pounds.
The band toured with
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...
and
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...
and were well received by fans. They released three singles, "Fatman", "All The Days" and 'Can't Take The Hurt"; and two albums, ''Mammoth'' and ''Larger And Live''. In 1988, the entire band appeared in the film ''Just Ask For Diamond'', playing the
henchmen
A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies pri ...
. Musically, commercial success eluded them however and the band eventually split in 1989, with McCoy becoming an independent
producer.
Equipment
McCoy usually uses a traditional
four string fretted Fender Precision bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...
and predominantly
Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
amplification in various configurations. Although he has used
Trace Elliot
Trace Elliot is a United Kingdom-based bass amplification manufacturer, and has a sub-brand, Trace Acoustic, for acoustic instruments.
History
In 1979, a music shop in Romford, Essex, UK, called Soundwave was building and hiring out PA sys ...
, he has described it as "...a bit clean for my personal taste..."
[Planet Bass – The John McCoy Interview January 2006]
, URL accessed on 24 January 2007. Currently he uses a Marshall 200w integrated amp driving a 2x15
cab and a Marshall 100w lead amp driving
4x12 cabs.
His
playing style utilises both
pick and fingers, although he plays mostly with picks, preferring Fender
extra heavy large triangles "...for greater precision and attack."
List of bands and artists worked with
*The Drovers
*Mamas Little Children
*
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pi ...
*Welcome
*Curtiss Maldoon
*
Julie Felix
Julie Ann Felix (June 14, 1938 – March 22, 2020) was an American-British folk singer and recording artist who achieved success, particularly on British television, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later performed and released albums on h ...
*V.H.F.
*Scrapyard
*
Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
*
John Du Cann
John William Cann (2 June 1946 – 21 September 2011), later known by his stage name John Du Cann, was an English guitarist primarily known through his work in the 1970s band Atomic Rooster.
Life and career
His early bands included the Wilt ...
*
Riblja Čorba
Riblja Čorba ( sr-Cyrl, Рибља Чорба, pronounced ; translation: lit. ''Fish Stew'') is a Serbian and former Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1978. The band was one of the most popular and most influential acts of the Yugoslav ...
*
Francis Rossi
Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo.
Early life
Rossi was born o ...
*
Andy Bown
*
Pete Kircher
Peter Derek Kircher (born 21 January 1945, Folkestone, Kent) is a retired English rock/pop drummer. Between 1982 and 1985 he was a member of Status Quo, performing with the band at Live Aid and on the albums '' Live at the N.E.C.'' and '' Back ...
*
Neo
*
Mike Hugg
Michael John Hugg (born 11 August 1940) is a British musician who achieved fame as a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann.
Biography
Hugg was born in Gosport, Hampshire in 1940. His parents condoned his jazz drumming as long as he ...
*ZZebra
*McCoy
*Quadrant
*The Coolies
*
Curved Air
Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...
*
Atomic Rooster
*
Bernie Tormé
Bernie Tormé (born Bernard Joseph Tormey; 18 March 1952 – 17 March 2019) was an Irish rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, record label and recording studio owner. Tormé is best known for his work with Gillan, as well as his brief stints wit ...
*
Gillan
*
Colin Towns
Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948 in West Ham, London) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, telev ...
*Sledgehammer
*
U.K. Subs
U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...
*Mammoth
*Sun Red Sun
*
Joey Belladonna
Joey Belladonna (born Joseph Bellardini; October 13, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the vocalist for thrash metal band Anthrax. He is also the vocalist and drummer of the cover band Chief Big Way. Belladonna has six Grammy Award no ...
*Rafi Weinstock
*The Split Knee Loons
*
Skintight Jaguars
*
G.M.T.
*
Twin Dragons
''Twin Dragons'' (also known as ''Shuang long hui'' and ''Brother vs. Brother'') is a 1992 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark, and starring Jackie Chan in a double role as identical twin brothers separated at birt ...
*Tyla Gang
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, John
English rock bass guitarists
Male bass guitarists
Living people
Musicians from Huddersfield
Atomic Rooster members
Samson (band) members
Gillan (band) members
1950 births