Lloyd Watson (19 October 1949 – 19 November 2019) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

rock and blues

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Life and career

Born to a Jamaican father and an English mother in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England, Watson's early influences covered the whole spectrum of both black and white music. From an early age he showed a musical talent, initially for the piano, but then for the guitar and astounded fellow schoolmates at Deacon's Grammar School with his performance in the Annual House Competitions. Self-taught on guitar, Watson quickly emerged as a talented and enthusiastic performer on the circuit in and around the Cambridgeshire town of Peterborough with his band, Lloyd Watson and the Soul Mates. Watson was an early adopter of the

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The p ...

and one Saturday afternoon, in the late 1960s, the Soul Mates brought Peterborough traffic to a halt playing

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

's "

Sunshine of Your Love "Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock, psychedelia, and pop, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive b ...

" and various Hendrix numbers on the steps of Peterborough's ancient Guild Hall in Cathedral Square. In 1972, Watson won the solo category of the coveted ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' Folk/Rock competition and two days later appeared on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

's ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

''. Following his success, he went on to open shows for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and did two British tours, one supporting

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

and the other one for

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...

. A European tour for Roxy Music then followed. Asked by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

to play on ''

Here Come The Warm Jets ''Here Come the Warm Jets'' is the debut solo album by British musician Brian Eno, released on Island Records in January 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with ...

'', Watson then played the majority of the guitar parts for Roxy Music's sax player

Andy Mackay Andrew Mackay (born 23 July 1946) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member (playing oboe and saxophone) of the art rock group Roxy Music. In addition, he has taught music and provided scores for television, while his ...

's solo album '' In Search of Eddie Riff''. The Roxy Music connection continued when Watson joined the

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Su ...

spin off group 801, who released the live album '' 801 Live''.

References

External links

Official site
* 1949 births 2019 deaths English rock guitarists English blues guitarists English male guitarists English people of Jamaican descent People from Peterborough Musicians from Cambridgeshire 801 (band) members {{UK-guitarist-stub