John Du Cann
Encyclopedia
John William Cann later known by his stage name John Du Cann, was a British guitarist
primarily known through his work in the 1970s band
, Atomic Rooster
. His early bands included the Wiltshire
-based The Sonics (not to be confused with the 1960s US band of the same name) and London
-based The Attack
, which released "Hi Ho Silver Lining
" a few days prior to Jeff Beck
. He went on to lead a psychedelic
, progressive
, hard rock band called Andromeda
, before being asked to join Atomic Rooster
, featuring re-recorded guitar parts and vocals for their 1970 self-titled debut album, and the albums Death Walks Behind You
(1970) and In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
(1971).
Upon departing Atomic Rooster in 1971, he led Daemon, then Hard Stuff
, both of which were based more heavily on aggressive guitar work. In 1974 he was a temporary guitarist in Thin Lizzy
for a tour of Germany
. Sometime following this, his manager
suggested a name change for him from John Cann to John Du Cann.
As a result of being signed to the same management company, 1977 saw the pairing of Du Cann with Francis Rossi
of the British
rock
band Status Quo. Rossi was invited to produce Du Cann's proposed new album, The World's Not Big Enough, which remained unreleased until 1992. The session musician
s for this album included Rossi on guitar, Andy Bown
on keyboards, future Quo drummer Pete Kircher
and bassist John McCoy
. The album was described in Record Collector
magazine
at the time as sounding like "Quo mixed with the Sex Pistols".
In September 1979, Du Cann had a hit
on the UK Singles Chart
with "Don't Be A Dummy", a Gary Numan
-recorded (but unreleased) song from a Lee Cooper
Jeans television advertisement
from 1978. The single
reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart
.
In 1979, Cann and Crane re-formed Atomic Rooster with Preston Heyman on drums (with whom they recorded on their 1980 self-titled album). Following this, after a brief spell with former Cream drummer Ginger Baker (who was released after only three weeks), Paul Hammond
returned to his place on the drums, with two more singles on Polydor released, with minimal success. In late 1982, Cann had had enough of the non-success of the band and went AWOL at the Reading Festival; John McCoy filled in for him on bass while Crane took over on vocals.
In the ensuing years, he grew increasingly frustrated by the plethora of unofficial, poorly-mastered and badly-packaged Atomic Rooster compilations, largely consisting of latter-era Du Cann-penned material, and for which he received no royalties
.
In the late 1990s, he was introduced to the Angel Air
record label by John McCoy. He was later active cataloguing and remastering his personal tape archive and compiling reissues for the label, for which he received full credit and royalties.
Du Cann died on 21 September 2011 after a suspected heart attack.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
primarily known through his work in the 1970s band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
. His early bands included the Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
-based The Sonics (not to be confused with the 1960s US band of the same name) and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based The Attack
The Attack (band)
The Attack were a freakbeat/psychedelic rock band formed in 1966 around singer Richard Shirman . The first line-up featured drummer Alan Whitehead from Marmalade, guitarist David O'List and John Du Cann . Their first single "Try It" had also been recorded by The Standells and Ohio Express...
, which released "Hi Ho Silver Lining
Hi Ho Silver Lining
"Hi Ho Silver Lining" is a rock song, written by American songwriters Scott English and Larry Weiss and first released as a single in March 1967 by The Attack, followed a few days later by Jeff Beck. Because the Beck version charted first, the song is most often associated with him...
" a few days prior to Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
. He went on to lead a psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
, progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, hard rock band called Andromeda
Andromeda (British band)
Andromeda were an English hard, progressive and psychedelic rock group, that formed in 1968 out of The Attack. However, soon after formation, the band changed lineup, and led by John Du Cann a new line-up recorded their eponymous album in 1969 with backing vocals by Eddie Dyche.The group split...
, before being asked to join Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
, featuring re-recorded guitar parts and vocals for their 1970 self-titled debut album, and the albums Death Walks Behind You
Death Walks Behind You
Death Walks Behind You is the second studio album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. It was their first album to receive US release, albeit in a different sleeve. It is commonly thought of as the archetypal Atomic Rooster album, recorded by the 'classic' line-up of Vincent Crane, John Du Cann and...
(1970) and In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
In Hearing of is the third album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. Although not included on the album, "The Devil's Answer" single was released just prior to it, becoming the band's highest chart success at number 4 in the UK...
(1971).
Upon departing Atomic Rooster in 1971, he led Daemon, then Hard Stuff
Hard Stuff
Hard Stuff was an English hard rock group, which included John Du Cann and Paul Hammond, formerly of Atomic Rooster...
, both of which were based more heavily on aggressive guitar work. In 1974 he was a temporary guitarist in Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
for a tour of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Sometime following this, his manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
suggested a name change for him from John Cann to John Du Cann.
As a result of being signed to the same management company, 1977 saw the pairing of Du Cann with Francis Rossi
Francis Rossi
Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, OBE is a British musician best known for being a co-founder of the English rock band Status Quo, in which he sings lead vocals and plays lead guitar.- Career :...
of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Status Quo. Rossi was invited to produce Du Cann's proposed new album, The World's Not Big Enough, which remained unreleased until 1992. The session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s for this album included Rossi on guitar, Andy Bown
Andy Bown
Andy Bown is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo.-Career:...
on keyboards, future Quo drummer Pete Kircher
Pete Kircher
Peter Derek Kircher , is a retired English rock/pop drummer.He played between 1982 to 1985 in the rock band Status Quo...
and bassist John McCoy
John McCoy (musician)
John McCoy is a British bass guitarist who is best known for his work with Ian Gillan and Mammoth as well as numerous other bands and sessions since the late 1960s. He currently plays in British rock trio Guy McCoy Torme with former Gillan/Ozzy guitarist Bernie Torme and Bruce Dickinson/Sack Trick...
. The album was described in Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
at the time as sounding like "Quo mixed with the Sex Pistols".
In September 1979, Du Cann had a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
with "Don't Be A Dummy", a Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
-recorded (but unreleased) song from a Lee Cooper
Lee (Jeans)
Lee is a brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by VF Corporation, the largest apparel company in the world. Its headquarters is currently in Merriam, Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri...
Jeans television advertisement
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
from 1978. The single
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...
reached number 33 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
In 1979, Cann and Crane re-formed Atomic Rooster with Preston Heyman on drums (with whom they recorded on their 1980 self-titled album). Following this, after a brief spell with former Cream drummer Ginger Baker (who was released after only three weeks), Paul Hammond
Paul Hammond (musician)
Paul Hammond was an English rock drummer, best known for his time with the progressive rock band Atomic Rooster.-Career:Born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Hammond began playing drums aged 12, and joined his first band, The Farm, after winning a competition in the Melody Maker music newspaper...
returned to his place on the drums, with two more singles on Polydor released, with minimal success. In late 1982, Cann had had enough of the non-success of the band and went AWOL at the Reading Festival; John McCoy filled in for him on bass while Crane took over on vocals.
In the ensuing years, he grew increasingly frustrated by the plethora of unofficial, poorly-mastered and badly-packaged Atomic Rooster compilations, largely consisting of latter-era Du Cann-penned material, and for which he received no royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
.
In the late 1990s, he was introduced to the Angel Air
Angel Air Records
Angel Air Records is an English independent record label established in February 1997, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 70s and latterly new albums from known artists up to the 21st century, formed by Peter and Shirley Purnell...
record label by John McCoy. He was later active cataloguing and remastering his personal tape archive and compiling reissues for the label, for which he received full credit and royalties.
Du Cann died on 21 September 2011 after a suspected heart attack.