RIP John Giblin :(

[Conan]

One of my all time favourites. A huge influence and a huge loss 😱😢

Edited May 16, 2023 by Conan

[jimmyb625]

8 hours ago, Rich said:

Properly upset by this. For me he was the definitive voice of modern fretless bass; his work with Brand X, Kate Bush, Judie Tzuke, John Martyn and so many others moulded my own approach to the fretless instrument in a big way. For many people, Jaco was the ultimate fretless master; for me, it was this guy. Check out the mid part of this song, beginning at 2:22, and you'll see what I mean. Those fills give me goosebumps.
Rest in peace, maestro.

 

 

I loved his work on Vigil. "State of mind" is one of my all time favourites.

[silverfoxnik]

Very sad news indeed, and I echo all the comments made so for - John was such a creative and musical bass player... 

 

I saw him performing with Kate Bush in London in 2014 - his work with Omar Hakim on those 'Before The Dawn' shows was truly, truly exceptional. 

 

RIP. 😔

[Bassassin]

Terrible news - one of my influences I tend to overlook, probably because I don't play fretless as much as I should. His playing on Never For Ever was my motivation to rip the frets out of my first bass & rescue it from gathering dust in the corner - and obviously his lines were the first fretless parts I learned. I also loved his playing on Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors alongside Mark Brzezicki.

 

A massive loss - RIP.

[NikNik]

Just saw an RIP on Talkbass.......😞

[neepheid]

 

[diskwave]

Very tasty musician indeed. Never a huge Brand X fan but I do remember hearing Phil Collins Cannot Believe It's True for the first time, and the smoothness and sublety of the bass part really struck me.... 

Edited May 26, 2023 by greavesbass

[toneknob]

I've been rummaging through the archives and existing recordings to hear some of the amazing playing we remember from JG. Thanks for the suggestion of the John Martyn album Grace & Danger - I'd not heard this before, not my usual cup of tea but of course much to enjoy from the Giblin/Collins rhythm section.

 

One of my first big outdoor gigs was Simple Minds at Milton Keynes Bowl on the Once Upon A Time tour, an amazing show (support from The Cult, the Waterboys and the Bangles - wow) so revisiting that era of Simple Minds has been a treat. I remember Alive In Rotterdam from The Tube, I probably still have it on VHS somewhere but here's the up to date equivalent.

 

 

[toneknob]

Also here's the Simple Minds set from the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday show in 1988. Some clunkers but it includes Biko with Peter Gabriel. I remember the NME review of the day, who uncharacteristically for them shed a positive light on it, and I recall them saying something like "Peter Gabriel joined the band for Biko and the hairs stood up on the backs of 70,000 necks". 

 

[Linus27]

37 minutes ago, toneknob said:

I've been rummaging through the archives and existing recordings to hear some of the amazing playing we remember from JG. Thanks for the suggestion of the John Martyn album Grace & Danger - I'd not heard this before, not my usual cup of tea but of course much to enjoy from the Giblin/Collins rhythm section.

 

One of my first big outdoor gigs was Simple Minds at Milton Keynes Bowl on the Once Upon A Time tour, an amazing show (support from The Cult, the Waterboys and the Bangles - wow) so revisiting that era of Simple Minds has been a treat. I remember Alive In Rotterdam from The Tube, I probably still have it on VHS somewhere but here's the up to date equivalent.

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these, I have this and have probably watched it a million times and my first introduction to John Giblin. Not watched it for a few years now but I shall tonight. Such a fantastic era of Simple Minds.

[toneknob]

13 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

 

Thank you for posting these, I have this and have probably watched it a million times and my first introduction to John Giblin. Not watched it for a few years now but I shall tonight. Such a fantastic era of Simple Minds.

No problem, I'll be doing similar with others as I revisit my favourites. (including Live In The City of Light, which I've not heard in ages) 

[YeastieB]

Very sad news, what a inspirational player.

[toneknob]

Kate Bush has posted about John Giblin on her website (https://www.katebush.com/news/john)

Likewise from Jim Kerr on the Simple Minds facebook (remembering seeing JG at the Before The Dawn shows - also a hint at why he left Simple Minds) https://www.facebook.com/simpleminds/posts/pfbid02Ts2yZYGSY1h7rzKBsFrTQbSsme5EDqDdtPhw6u9a3iA2Q5w8vHc6k3MsnSdSxfL8l

 

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by toneknob

[Bassassin]

To lighten the mood a little - knowing what I do of the man, he was probably amused to have (sort of) lent his name to much-missed Edinburgh punk scene stalwarts, The Gin Goblins.

[NikNik]

15 hours ago, Bassassin said:

To lighten the mood a little - knowing what I do of the man, he was probably amused to have (sort of) lent his name to much-missed Edinburgh punk scene stalwarts, The Gin Goblins.

They had an off-shoot called Gargleblud

Edited May 19, 2023 by NikNik

[Misdee]

I've been aware of John Giblin's playing for almost as long as I've been playing bass. My first bass teacher was a big fan of his playing with Brand X, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush ect and used to play me records( it was back in the olden days) featuring John's playing to inspire me. 

 

If you look at who he played with over the years it's a pretty dazzling array of artists. Seems like he was always amongst the elite of British bass players, and quite rightly so. RIP John Giblin. I like to think that somewhere beyond the Milky Way he is still ripping it up on his fretless Wal and being more interesting than most other bass players could ever hope to be.

[molan]

So sad to hear this, one of my absolute favourite bassists. 
 

Always seemed to be able to get so much heartfelt emotion to even the simplest of parts. 
 

I adore his playing on this from John Martyn:

 

 

[Foxx]

His work was the main reason i started playing the fretless, a sound and style unique. Sheer musical magic.

To echo others, i'm  proper upset to hear the sad news.

[E sharp]

Just seen on Facebook, that he was Robin Malarkey’s father. 
He’s another awesome player 

[toneknob]

A bit more gold from some digging I've been doing with the aid of the excellent fan site http://simpleminds.org/

If you look on Spotify for Simple Minds' collections of B-sides and rarities called "Themes", on volumes 3 and 4 you'll find the following from the mid/late 80s all featuring John Giblin on bass: the set mentioned above from Mandela 70 at Wembley, plus live versions of Big Sleep, Love Song, Street Hassle, Don't You Forget About Me, Glittering Prize and Celebrate.

 

album links:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6cKFO2yBr7H30iYq5U9paP?si=f3BxA09DSja7eyTWp8I5ig

https://open.spotify.com/album/16O1Tyl1qsmf26bEj3N6y3?si=pXbo0jnDQ6Om_z7uNyUvzw