. |
John Lawton
-
vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica,
TV presenter & actor ;-)) |
. |
1960s |
John began his
musical career in North Shields, UK, in the
early '60s with |
"The
Deans",who decided at random that John should be "singer". |
He then
moved on to "West One" and later to
"Stonewall"
which included
|
John Miles,
Vic
Malcolm (later
Geordie) and
Paul Thompson
(later Roxy Music). |
After "Stonewall" finished a stint at
the "Top Ten Club"
in
Hamburg in
1969, |
John decided to
stay in Germany. |
T |
1970s |
After
having been offered the "job" as singer with legendary German rock
cult
|
band
"Lucifer's
Friend"
('69-'76 & '79 -'95)
he records
9 studio
albums during |
his time with the band.
|
In the early '70s John also
joined the Les Humphries Singers,
with whom he
|
recorded more than 20
albums incl. taking part at 1975
Eurovision Song Contest. |
. |
In
1976
John joined
Uriah Heep
as their front man, recording the albums : |
"Innocent
Victim", "Firefly",
"Fallen Angel"
and
"Live '79"
|
touring Europe and the USA until Sept. '79. |
The ex -
Uriah Heep front man and vocalist with Lucifer's Friend has built a
|
reputation
for his powerful vocals and charismatic
personality and is regarded
|
as one of
the
best singers around... |
During his longstanding career John has worked with some big names of
rock, |
on various
projects, including
Roger Glover's "Butterfly Ball"
live @ the Royal
|
Albert
Hall in 1975, feat.
David
Coverdale,
Glenn Hughes,
Ian Gillan
and
Twiggy.
|
He
sang on
Eddie Hardin's
Wizard's
Convention II
feat.
Chris
Farlowe, |
Dennie Lane,
Paul Jones
and
Tony Ashton. |
.. |
1980s |
John had the privilege to have worked with some of the finest
record producers,
|
including Tony Clarke
(Moody
Blues)
Jimmy
Miller
(Rolling Stones)
and
|
Harold Faltermayer (Pet Shop Boys),
who produced
the
titles John sang on the
|
Lenny McDowell
Project
"Lost Paradise"
and Robert Papst |
"Still paying my dues to the blues" |
. |
In
late
1980
John
joined German rock band
"Rebel" later known as
"Zar"
on
|
three
albums, including their hit singles
"Line
of Fire" & "Eagles Flight". |
Moving on to
Volker Barber's classical project
"Excalibur" and
several German |
commercials,
including
the
"Colgate Gel"
TV
spots,
the
"Peter Stuyvesant
Travel"
|
single
"Come
Together"
and a stint for Harley Davidson Motorbikes.
|
. |
1990s |
John
briefly re-joined
Rebel, by now known as
"ZAR" to record another
album. |
Jan.
1994,
John formed
GunHill,
later known as JLB - John Lawton Band, |
touring
UK & Europe. |
In
1995
he briefly
re-joined Uriah Heep, for 2 weeks, to tour
South Africa
with |
Deep
Purple, filling in for their singer Bernie, who was suffering from
voice problems. |
. |
2000
- 2010 |
In
August 2000,
inspired by German top producer
Robert Papst,
John recorded |
his
solo CD
"Still Paying My
Dues to the blues.."
Produced by
Robert Papst,
it |
was released in Europe, UK and Scandinavia,
by
"Hypertension
Music"
Hamburg |
and
distributed through
"EDEL"
Germany. |
This album
has been hailed
as one of the "best
works " John has done...;-) |
. |
In
May 2000
during the
4th
Uriah Heep Annual Convention
in London,
plans |
were made
for a one-off concert by the
so-called
"Hensley/Lawton Band".
|
John was
joined by
former Heep
keyboarder
Ken
Hensley,
for the first time 21
|
years after
John's departure from Heep in 1979! |
With them were
Paul Newton
(Heep's original bassist), and 2
members of John's
|
band,
Reuben Kane on
lead guitar and Justin
Shefford on drums.
|
They played a
collection of old
Heep classics and
some of Ken & John’s solo
|
songs to an amazed
audience.
|
The
concert was recorded for a CD release
"The Return" |
In
Feb. 2001
John teamed
up with
Ken to
form the
Hensley Lawton Band. |
After
extensive touring, during spring and summer of 2001, culminating
with |
a concert
in Hamburg, featuring a full
orchestra
and a new rendition of Heep's |
old
classic
"Salisbury",
both Ken and John return to their respective "solo" careers. |
. |
In
2001
the John Lawton Band - "JLB"
is taken on by Classic Rock Productions, |
recording
the acoustic CD "Steppin' It Up"
which features John & Steve Dunning.
|
"One
More Night"
Live at the Mean Fiddler, CD & DVD, is
recorded in
2002,
|
followed in
2003
by
JLB's
"Sting In The
Tale"
CD, an original studio rock album. |
Later that
year another Live CD & DVD
followed
:
"Shakin' The Tale"..
|
. |
JLB
have been touring extensively with their last gig in Hamburg,
Sept 2004, |
when
John .decided
to take an indefinite break. |
. |
In
May
2006
John joins forces with Dutch guitarist
Jan Dumee (ex-Focus)
|
to form
"OTR"
( On The Rocks ),
a
Project
featuring Brazilian musicians
|
Ney Conceião on bass, Xande Figueiredo on drums,
and
Marvio Ciribelli
on |
keyboards. |
John & Jan
have written material for an album recorded
in Brazil in
2007. |
OTR
have signed a record deal with
" Lion Music"
, covering Europe and North
|
America.
The new album is named "Mamonama"
and was released on |
10.
October 2008 |
In 2009
the
album was
also released in
Brazil
by "Dynamo Records" |
. |
John is still working with
Bulgarian musicians
to perform his Live Concert
|
schedule, including
legendary
Bulgarian
rock band BTR
&
Yassen Dimitrov's
|
band
Nightheat. |
. |
During Dec.
2008
John
entered the world of television by filming, directing |
and
presenting the
Bulgarian travel
documentary
series |
"John Lawton presents" which also
|
includes
music from
the
"Mamonama"
album. |
Made by Bulgarian TV
company "Skat"
the films feature interesting
historical
|
landmarks of
Bulgarian towns and cities, traditional
festivities,
breathtaking |
scenery and interviews with the city mayors and
local people. |
. |
2010 - |
In
March 2010
John made his acting debut, having been offered a small part |
in the
motionpicture
Love.net
filmed and produced by
Bulgarian
film company
|
Miramar Film.
Part of Johns scenes were shot at
Liscombe Park,
UK ,
|
with the
remainder in Sofia, featuring a guest
appearance |
by Uriah Heep guitarist
Mick Box.
|
The film was premiered in
Sofia in
March 2011
and released to |
Bulgarian cinemas on 1. April
2011 |
. |
John
continues the filming of his documentary series about Bulgaria:
|
So
far
the series consists of
19 documentaries
, shot all over Bulgaria. |
. |
In
November 2011
John teams up with Bulgarian rock band
"Diana Express" |
to record the
album
"The Power of
Mind"
written and
composed by
|
Dr. Milen Vrabevski. |
Recorded
in Pleven, Bulgaria, during 2011 & Jan. 2012, the album was |
premiered
live
in
Bulgaria @ the
"Sofia
Live Club"on 29.
April 2012. |
. |
In
May 2013
John toured with
Uriah Heep,
again
filling in for
Bernie Shaw,
who |
was
recovering from a routine
medical procedure. |
. |
Durinng 2013 John became a
Patron of the Bulgarian
charity, |
"Mothers for children with
autism".in
Sofia. |
In
Sept. 2013
John was presented with the
"Eagle of the Danube"
an award for
|
"Excellence
in the promotion of Bulgarian history and culture". |
Presented by
Stanislav Petrov, Mayor of Svishtov, Bulgaria |
. |
October 2013
saw the
recording of a new Album,
"My Kind of
Lovin' "
in |
collaboration with composer Dr. Milen Vrabevsky of Intelligent Music. |
The Album
features
Simon
Phillips
of TOTO fame on drums,
John Lawton
on |
vocals and
Joseph Williams
of TOTO, singing guest vocals on 4 tracks. |
. |
By the end
of
2014
Lucifer's Friend
was in the
process of reforming... |
Debuting
at
Sweden Rock Festival 2015
and
releasing a Live CD from that show |
. |
In
May
2017
John was
invited by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov |
to the
houses of Parliament in Sofia, due to his devotion to Bulgaria &
various |
initiatives contributing to the promotion of Bulgarian traditions,
culture and history. |
.. |
In
July 2019
John was
invited by Uriah Heep to guest with them, |
Paul
Newton & Lee Kerslake at the Masters of Rock festival in
Czech Republic |
2019
was also the year John decided to retire |
. |
****** |
. |
On
29. June 2021,
John sadly and very unexpectedly passed away. |
. |
****** |
. |
Read more
about the history of
Lucifer's Friend
here |
. |