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1960's
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John began his
musical career in North Shields, UK, in the
early '60s with "The Deans",
a bunch of |
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"kids" who decided at random that John should be "singer". |
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He then
moved
on to "West One"
and later to
"Stonewall"
which included
John Miles, Vic Malcolm |
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(later Geordie) and Paul
Thompson (later Roxy Music). |
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After
"Stonewall"
finished a stint at the
"Top Ten Club"
in
Hamburg in
1969, John decided to stay |
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in Germany.
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1970's
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After
having been offered the "job" as singer with legendary German rock cult
band
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"Lucifer's
Friend"
('69-'76 & '79 -'95)
he records 9 studio
albums during his time with the band. |
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In the early '70s John also joined the Les Humphries Singers,
with whom he recorded more
than 20
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albums and
took part at the mid '70s Eurovision Song Contest ;-) |
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In
1976
John joined
Uriah Heep as their
front man, recording the
albums :"Innocent
Victim", |
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"Firefly",
"Fallen Angel"
and "Live '79" touring Europe and the USA until
Sept. '79. |
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The
ex - Uriah Heep
front man and vocalist with Lucifer's Friend
has built a reputation on his |
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powerful vocals and charismatic personality and is regarded as one of the best
singers around... |
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During his longstanding career John has worked with some big names of rock,
on various projects, |
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including Roger Glover's "Butterfly
Ball"
live in the Royal
Albert Hall in 1975, feat. David Coverdale, |
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Glenn Hughes,
Ian Gillan
and Twiggy. He sang on Eddie Hardin's "Wizard's Convention ll"
feat.
Chris |
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Farlowe, Dennie Lane, Paul Jones
and Tony Ashton. |
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1980's |
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John had the
privilege to have worked with some of the finest
record producers, including
Tony
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Clarke
(Moody Blues)
Jimmy
Miller
(Rolling Stones)
and
Harold
Faltermayer (Pet Shop Boys),
who
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produced
the
titles John sang on the Lenny McDowell
Project "Lost
Paradise"
and Robert Papst |
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( Still paying my
dues to the blues...) |
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In
late
1980
John
joined German
rock band
"Rebel" later known as
"Zar"
on
three albums, |
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including their
hit singles
"Line of Fire" & "Eagles Flight". |
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Moving on to Volker
Barber's
classical project "Excalibur" and
several German commercials, |
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including
the "Colgate Gel" TV
spots,
the
"Peter
Stuyvesant Travel" spots
the Stuyvesant single
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"Come
Together" and a
stint for Harley Davidson
Motorbikes.
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1990's |
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John briefly re-joined
Rebel,
by
now known as
"ZAR"
to record another album. |
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. |
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In
Jan. 1994,
John formed
GunHill,
later known as JLB - John Lawton Band,
touring the UK
and
Europe.
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They record
the studio album "Nightheat" followed in '99 by the live album "Live in
Germany '99" |
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. |
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In
1995
he
briefly re-joined Uriah Heep, for 2 weeks, to tour South Africa
with Deep Purple, |
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filling in
for
their singer Bernie, who was
suffering from voice problems at the time. |
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2000
- 2010 |
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In
August 2000,
inspired by German top
producer Robert Papst,
John recorded his solo CD
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"Still
Paying My Dues
to the blues.."
Produced by
Robert Papst,
it was released in Europe, UK and
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Scandinavia, by
"Hypertension Music"
Hamburg
and distributed through
"EDEL" Germany. This
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album has been hailed
as one of the "best
works " John has done...;-) |
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During the
4th Uriah Heep Annual Convention in London,
in
May 2000, plans were made for a |
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one-off concert by the
so-called
"Hensley/Lawton
Band".
John was joined by
former Heep
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keyboarder
Ken
Hensley,
for the first time 21
years after
John's departure from Heep in 1979! |
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With them were
Paul Newton (Heep's original bassist), and 2
members of John's
band, Reuben
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Kane on
lead guitar and Justin Shefford
on drums. They played a collection of old
Heep |
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classics and
some of Ken & John’s solo songs to an amazed
audience. The concert was recorded |
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for a CD release
"The Return".
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In
Feb. 2001
John teamed up with Ken Hensley to
form the Hensley
Lawton Band. After
extensive |
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touring, during spring and summer of 2001, culminating
with a concert in Hamburg, Germany,
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featuring a
full
orchestra
and a new rendition of Heep's old classic
"Salisbury",
both
Ken |
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and John return to their respective "solo" careers. |
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In
2001
the John Lawton Band - "JLB" is taken on by Classic Rock Productions , recording
the |
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acoustic CD "Steppin' It Up"
which features John & Steve Dunning.
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"One More Night" Live at the Mean Fiddler, CD & DVD, is recorded in
2002,
followed in |
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2003
by JLB's
"Sting In The
Tale"
CD, an original studio rock
album. |
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Later that year another Live CD & DVD
followed
:
"Shakin' The Tale".. |
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JLB have been touring extensively
with their last gig in Hamburg,
Sept
2004, when John |
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decided
to take an indefinite break. |
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In
May
2006
John joins
forces with Dutch guitarist Jan Dumee (ex-Focus) to form
"
OTR" ( On The
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Rocks ),
a
Project
featuring Brazilian musicians Ney Conceião on bass, Xande Figueiredo on drums,
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and
Marvio Ciribelli on keyboards. |
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John and
Jan have written some great material for an album that was recorded in Brazil in
2007. |
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OTR have signed a
record deal with
" Lion Music" , covering Europe and North America.
The new |
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album is named "Mamonama"
and was released on 10. October 2008.
In
spring 2009 the |
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album has also been released in Brazil
by "Dynamo Records" |
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John
is currently working with
Bulgarian
musicians to perform his Live Concert schedule.
Including
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legendary
Bulgarian rock band
BTR & Yassen Dimitrov's
band Nightheat. |
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During Dec. 2008
John entered the world of television by presenting the Bulgarian travel |
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documentary series
"John Lawton presents"
which also includes music from
the "Mamonama"
album. |
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Made by
Bulgarian TV company "Skat"
the films feature interesting historical
landmarks of |
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Bulgarian towns and cities, traditional festivities,
breathtaking scenery and interviews with the |
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city mayors and local people. |
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2010
- |
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In
March 2010, John made his acting
debut, having been offered a small part in the motion |
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picture
Love.net, filmed and produced by
Bulgarian film company Miramar Film. |
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Part of Johns scenes were shot at
Liscombe Park, UK
, with the remainder in Sofia,
featuring |
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also a guest
appearance by
Uriah Heep guitarist Mick Box.
The film was premiered in Sofia in
March 2011 |
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and released to
Bulgarian cinemas on
1. April 2011 |
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.. |
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John continues the filming of
his popular documentary series about Bulgaria:
"John Lawton presents..." |
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So
far
the series consists of
19 documentaries
, including the
Municipalities of Karnobat,
Sozopol,
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Tsarevo, Primorsko,
Bourgas winter, Bourgas summer, Smolyan winter,
Smolyan summer, Pamporovo |
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Varna,
Shumen, Popovo
winter, Popovo spring, Chepelare,
Velingrad , Lovech, Kavarna, Stara Zagora , Nedelino.. |
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More documentaries will
be filmed during this year.. |
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In November 2011
John teams up with
Legendary Bulgarian rock band
"Diana Express" to record
the album |
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"The Power of Mind"
written and composed by
Dr. Milen Vrabevski, . |
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Recorded in Pleven,
Bulgaria, during 2011 & Jan. 2012, the album was premiered live in
Bulgaria @ the |
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"Sofia Live Club"on 29. April 2012. |
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In May 2013 John toured with
Uriah Heep, again filling in for Bernie Shaw, who was recovering from a
routine medical |
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procedure. |
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Durinng 2013 John became a
Patron of the "Mothers for children
with autism" charity, in Sofia,
Bulgaria. |
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In
Sept. 2013
John was presented with the
"Eagle of the Danube", an award for
"Excellence
in the promotion of |
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Bulgarian history
and culture".
Presented by Stanislav Petrov
Blagov
, Mayor of Svishtov, Bulgaria. |
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October 2013
saw the recording of a new Album, " My Kind
of Lovin' " in collaboration with composer
Dr. Milen Vrabevski |
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at Intelligent Music. |
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The completed Album features
Simon Phillips
of TOTO
fame on drums, John Lawton on vocals and
Joseph Williams |
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of
TOTO , singing
guest vocals on 4 tracks. |
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. For
latest John Lawton
activities
see here |
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