THE GUITAR MAN

BIG JIM SULLIVAN turned down a place in Led Zeppelin. But in a 50-year career he’s played with just about everyone else, from Marty Wilde to James Last, from Eddie Cochran to Tom Jones. He has also played on more than 1,000 hit records, but says: “I’ve never been wealthy”. Interview by John Collis.

I was born in 1941 and lived in Hillingdon (West London). But when I was two my mother died. I lived with my grandmother until I was 14 and from then until I was 21 with my aunt and uncle in Hounslow. I left school at 14 and went to work for a sheet-metal company. Then I went to Coty’s (perfume factory), picking up rubbish, and after a couple of months to the chemical manufacturers Parke Davis. That Christmas I did my first gig. We only knew four numbers – Lonnie Donegan’s Wreck Of The Old 97, Pick A Bale Of Cotton and Rock Island Line, and we also did Rip It Up.

My sister had a little Spanish guitar. One day I picked it up and started playing Zambesi. Learned it by ear. My grandfather suggested I buy the   guitar from my sister, but she’s pawned it for a pound. So my grandfather dug a pound note out of his tobacco tin and I got the guitar. Never let it go – even took it to the toilet!

My grandfather played melodeon and my mother had played piano and banjo, so there was something in the genes. I got a book and learned some chords. Then I told my dad I’d seen a guitar down Hounslow High Street, a Zenith Broadway I think, about £14. He bought it on the never-never.

We called ourselves the Jim Sullivan Skiffle Group, because I was the instigator. One of them, Brian Goodie, we’d been mates …

by John Collis
<< Back to Issue 320

You must be a subscriber to view the full article, subscribe now for full access to all online content.

Already a Magazine Subscriber? Register now for online access.