John Rostill
| John Rostill | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Henry Rostill |
| Born |
16 June 1942 Birmingham, England |
| Died | 26 November 1973 (aged 31) Radlett, Hertfordshire |
| Genres | Rock and roll, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Bassist, musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1962–1973 |
| Labels | Columbia |
| Associated acts | The Shadows, The Interns (band) |
John Henry Rostill (16 June 1942 – 26 November 1973) was an English bassist and composer, recruited by The Shadows to replace Brian Locking.
Born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, Rostill attended Rutlish School in south London (1953–59). He worked with several artists before joining the Shadows, including Bournemouth band the Interns – nowadays sometimes confused with Welsh band the Interns, who were based in London at this time signed with Tito Burns Agency; in fact, they were two different bands – the Flintstones and a stint as part of Zoot Money's early backing band. He also played in the bands recruited to back such visiting artists as the Everly Brothers and Tommy Roe.
Stylistically, Rostill combined the solidity of Brian Locking and the adventurousness of Jet Harris. Many of his bass lines were heavily syncopated and he developed a range of new sounds on the Burns bass during his time with the group, a longer period than Harris and Locking put together. To many players, Rostill was ahead of his time and included double-stopping in his technique. Unusually for that time, Rostill sometimes played bass finger-style as well as with a plectrum, depending on the sound he wanted.
After the Shadows' break-up at the end of the 1960s, Rostill toured with Tom Jones. Although he was not involved in the Marvin, Welch & Farrar project – he was with Tom Jones at the time (1970–72) – he would have been a part of subsequent Shadows projects had he not died in November 1973, when he was electrocuted in his home recording studio.
Rostill was a prolific songwriter, contributing to the Shadows' output from the start (both as a solo composer and as part of the mid-sixties "Marvin/Welch/Bennett/Rostill" team). This combination composed the hits "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt" (a UK no. 5, 1964) and “Genie with the Light Brown Lamp" (UK no. 17, 1965) as well as all the tunes on the 1964 Rhythm & Greens EP.
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