Big Jim Sullivan - RIP

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 2 Oct 2012 7:57 am

A great guitar-player with whom Americans may be be familiar through his work with singer Tom Jones during the '70s, Jim was a kind and gracious human being who loved playing above all things.

Jim passed away this morning. My thoughts are with his family.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 2 Oct 2012 8:51 am

He was great guitar player indeed, I'm sad about this bad news.

Billy Murdoch · Post by **Billy Murdoch** » 2 Oct 2012 10:34 am

R.I.P. Big Jim, a wonderful player

Billy

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 2 Oct 2012 1:03 pm

Roger, I'm very sorry to hear about this. I always looked forward to his appearances on Tom Jones TV show. Do you know what his age was at his passing?..........JH in Va.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 2 Oct 2012 1:24 pm

Hi, Jerry

Jim was born in, I think, 1941 which made him seventy-two. No age, really.

I'd like to relate the story of how Jim once helped me on a session. I was seated next to him (I've forgotten what it was or who the date was for) and, all morning, all I'd had to deal with were rhythm charts. Jim had all the scary tadpoles.

Then I turned a page and was confronted with twelve measures of fairly intense-looking single-note stuff - and all a mile above the staff, too! Jim, sensing that I was a bit flustered, turned the volume of his guitar down and, without a word, played my part for me just audibly enough for me to hear. Once was enough and I nailed it fairly well.

The point was that he did it discreetly and without anyone else knowing there'd even been an issue. He brushed aside my profferred thanks later on, saying: "I've been there myself - don't mention it."

A great pro, a terrific sight-reader, and he played on dozens of #1 records in the '60s and '70s. As I've said, he was also a very nice human being.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 2 Oct 2012 2:37 pm

LOVED his playing...he was commercial like James Burton,funky like Jerry Reed,and could rock out with the best of'em...sad news.

Chuck S. Lettes · Post by **Chuck S. Lettes** » 3 Oct 2012 5:53 am

I'm also a fan of Big Jim. I loved his guitar work on Gilbert Sullivan's Alone Again, Naturally. A great player.
Chuck

Peter Freiberger · Post by **Peter Freiberger** » 4 Oct 2012 2:03 pm

Roger's Big Jim Sullivan story makes him sound to me like a British Tommy Tedesco, also renowned for his acts of kindness and humor (that means "humour", Roger) in the studio.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 4 Oct 2012 2:51 pm

Check out this video, I think the guitar player is Big Jim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P-v1BVQn8

That song was a hit during the Munich Olympics with the terrorist kidnappings and murder, it was a sad time and that song hit home so well and always reminds me of that time every time I hear it.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 9 Oct 2012 12:15 pm

Sad news Roger. Jim played a few years ago in a little pub near where I live. He knocked us out with his Chet stuff, but was just so versatile. He could play country as well as anyone I've heard. One of the best guitarists to come out of the UK, and was a very humble and modest person.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 11 Oct 2012 6:12 am

I've just returned from a quick visit to London and, inevitably, found myself drawn to Denmark Street and all the guitar emporiums therein. I saw many old friends that day and much of the talk was of Jim's sad death.

Yes, Ken - Jim's version of Chet's 'Trambone' was the first one I ever saw. That was in the old Lew Davis shop around the corner from Denmark Street and I was captivated by his mastery of the piece. He could, though play almost anything.

Craig: That is Jim Sullivan in that clip. What a fine song that is, by the way, and Sullivan played the perfect solo, didn't he?

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 13 Oct 2012 5:24 pm

Yes Roger, A great song, first note you hear it reminds you immediately of a past time. Few songs do that. Thanks for confirming that about Big Jim! I love the 70's

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 13 Oct 2012 5:55 pm

Roger, What ever became of Gilbert O'Sullivan and what was his real name? I assume it was a stage name.

That period of time with Monty Python must have been a blast. As a kid we waited for Sunday nights at 10:30 to watch the newest episode, my parents also watched and loved it. I own the whole series on DVD.

I love English Humour!

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 14 Oct 2012 4:36 am

Gilbert released a new album about a year ago.

More of Big Jim:
With Tom Jones http://youtu.be/bN8T7rsMoyQ

Jazz http://youtu.be/V0x877_n0BU

Bluze http://youtu.be/noq6guqeFZU

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 14 Oct 2012 4:45 am

Craig:

His real name was Ray (O'Sullivan); I remember him being quite shy and introverted and seeing clips of him singing makes me wonder how he got over that shyness.

I was in a band we called 'Compass' and, as a couple of us used to do sessions for manager Gordon Mills (he handled Tom Jones and Englebert as well as Ray), we had a connection with all of them.

Gordon was the archetypal pop manager and always had what he considered considered were revolutionary ideas about gimmicks and promotion. When he tried to launch us as a hit group (A challenge if there ever was one because none of us was what you'd consider 'teen idol material'!) he decided that I'd be dressed as 'John Bull'. He did, to his credit, get us a spot on BBC TV's 'Top Of The Pops' - hitherto unheard of for a new act: you were supposed to be in the chart already before you got on that show. Gordon wielded his power, though (his 'big three' artists were enormous at that time) and there we were, me resplendant in a top hat, tails and a Union Jack waistcoat and feeling like an idiot! Our record sank without trace....

(His odd notions would cause us all to roll our eyes but, in fairness, he was the one with a palatial home, private zoo and a fleet of Rolls-Royces!)

I tell that story to explain poor Ray's dilemma. He thought himself - justifiably - to be a serious songwriter yet Gordon gave him the silly name (a play on 'Gilbert & Sullivan', of course) and dressed him in depression-era cloth cap and making him look like something from a Lowry painting!

The good songs won through, I'm glad to say. You may recall his hit record 'Claire' - he wrote that about Gordon's daughter whom he often used to babysit in Mills' enormous mansion on the Weybridge St George's Hill Estate.

Big Jim Sullivan was Gordon's first-call guitarist (as he was for a number of producers in those days) and he went on the US tours with Tom Jones. (There's another trick of Gordon's - making a connection with the enormously successful Albert Finney movie of the time!) There was a fully-equipped studio on the grounds of the house ('Little Rhondda'!!! - GM and TJ were Welsh) and most of those huge singles were cut there. I did a lot in that studio - I even was on a couple of Tom's tracks - but never played with Ray. He would be an occasional and shadowy figure lurking in the gloom of the control-room.

I believe that he's still highly regarded and successful in the Japanese music scene. He famously took Gordon to court for non-payment of royalties and I believe he won a huge settlement - clearly you had to watch Mills!

Gordon died very young of a heart attack (around fifty, I think) but was the epitome of the self-made pop-millionaire. Now Ray's name is in my thoughts I'll be interested to see what he's done in his later years. I thought him very talented.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 14 Oct 2012 5:05 pm

Roger,

Thanks for the info, really great to hear the inside story to the songs and artists that define our lives.

I can still hear those songs today and the first 2 seconds I hear automatically puts me in a time long past.

You should really put your words down in print about the things you experienced during that period, it's very interesting.

On a side note, I am going to see the Who in December playing Quadrafenia in Newark, NJ should be good, have seen it before and is always a great show.

Tell Barry Wom I say Hello. and Dirk McQuickly

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 14 Oct 2012 5:41 pm

Well, Craig, I too have songs that transport me to another time - it's just that mine tend to be a bit older than the ones we're discussing.

I last saw 'Barry' and 'Dirk' back in 2008 on our Neil/Fatso/Rutles reunion tour - I keep hearing that the 'live' CD's release is 'imminent' but it's a good job I wasn't holding my breath!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 21 Oct 2012 6:09 am

Big Jim's passing is sad indeed. I never missed the TJ show in anticipation of seeing Jim play.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 21 Oct 2012 10:04 am

I'm a big fan of British Beat Music. He did play on hundreds of records from those days. Like in country there were no credentials written on the back cover. I often think that it must been him on certain records, like the incredibly tasteful fills on Cat Stevens' "The first cut is the deepest".

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 23 Oct 2012 5:16 am

Richie Blackmore stated in Guitarist magazine many years ago that the best two guitarists from the UK were Big Jim and Albert Lee. Arguable, but probably right if you take Julian Bream, Martin Taylor and Adrian Legg out of the equation.