Jay Jay French
| Jay Jay French | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John French Segall |
| Born |
July 20, 1952 , New York City, New York |
| Genres | Heavy metal |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Associated acts | Twisted Sister |
| Website | http://www.twistedsister.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Jay Jay French (born John French Segall, July 20, 1952), is an American guitarist, manager and producer.
French is most famous for his role as the founding member and one of the guitarists of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. Since his first performances with Twisted Sister, French has played more than 9000 concert performances. Being an avid runner, French has also completed two New York Marathons, in 1981 and 1986.
Born in New York City, French grew up on Manhattan. His father, Lou Segall, was a jewelry salesman. His mother, Evaline French Segall, was a political consultant for the Democratic Party in New York, and worked for the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. Evaline also ran the successful election campaign of the first black woman, New York state senator Constance Baker Motley.
French has one older brother, Jeff Segall.
French was an anti-Vietnam war and civil rights activist. In the summer of 1967, he attended the Shaker Village summer program, and was a bunkmate of Ben Chaney, brother of James Chaney, one of the three murdered civil rights workers who died on a voting registration drive in Mississippi in 1964. These events were later portrayed in Alan Parker's movie Mississippi Burning in 1988.
The seeds for French's musical life were planted in 1963, when he attended his first concert, seeing the legendary folk group The Weavers in Carnegie Hall.
Even though he didn't own his own guitar yet, French started his first band, "Lost 6", on the night of November 5, 1965, the night of the big East Coast Blackout. The name of the band was chosen due to the fact that the boys were wandering around the neighborhood in the dark after rehearsal.
In December the same year, he got his first guitar, a Hagström bass, and the following winter, he jointed the big local band "The Bats".
Shortly after, French joined The Prophets. Their rehearsal place was the legendary Nite Owl Café in Greenwich Village, where The Blues Magoos were the house band at the time. As payment for the rehearsal place, the band had to clean the bar on weekend mornings.
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