| Jet Harris |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT JET HARRIS | |
| 1939 births | |
| harris, jet | |
| living people | |
| english guitarists | |
| english bassists | |
| english bass guitarists | |
| bass guitarists | |
| rock bass guitarists | |
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Terence Harris was born on 6th July 1939 in Kingsbury , London , England . Although he learned to play Clarinet as a teenager, he made his own four string double bass to play in a jazz group and later graduated to a professionally-made Double Bass . In 1958, while playing in drummer Tony Crombie 's jazz group, Crombie suggested that Harris should try "this new guitar". Thus Harris was possibly the first person in Britain to own an electric bass guitar, and certainly the first to play one in a band. His original instrument was a Framus Star bass imported by Besson & Co from West Germany . He played in several groups including The Vipers and The Most Brothers before joining (in 1959) Cliff Richard's backing group The Drifters, who later changed their name to The Shadows (a name Jet thought up). The only member of the group who was old enough at the time to legally sign a contract, Jet was elected the leader of the group. In 1959 he was presented (by the importers) with one of the first Fender Precision Bass es which came to Britain from the United States. His playing was enterprising and of virtuoso standard. Most of the techniques used by 1970s players were being used by Harris as early as 1960. In 1962, he left the Shadows due to disagreements arising on tour (according to ''The Story Of The Shadows'', written by the group with Mike Read ). He released solo instrumental and vocal work with some success, but returned to top the UK Singles Chart with Tony Meehan with "Diamonds", released in January 1963. A motor car crash later that year, as well as personal problems, meant that this success did not last long. Jet attempted a solo comeback in 1966 and was briefly in the lineup of the Jeff Beck Group in 1967, but somewhat fell out of the music business. He then worked variously as a Labourer , Bricklayer , Porter in a hospital, Bus Driver , and as a seller of Cockle s on the beach in Jersey . Jet Harris still plays occasionally, with backing bands The Diamonds or as a guest with The Rapiers , and teamed up with Tony Meehan for support performances in Cliff Richard 's 1988 The Event concerts. In 1998 he was awarded a Fender Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in popularizing the bass guitar in Britain. Although overlooked nowadays when great bassists are mentioned, he inspired a whole generation of British bass guitarists, and still has many devoted admirers. Many techniques credited to other bass players, such as using the bass guitar as lead instrument and melodic basslines are techniques that were actually pioneered by Jet Harris. SELECTED SINGLES DISCOGRAPHY
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