Wilfred Gibson

Wilfred Gibson (28 February 1942[1] – 21 October 2014[2]) was an English violinist, session musician, and early member of the Electric Light Orchestra.

This article is about the violinist. For the poet, see Wilfrid Wilson Gibson. For the police officer, see Wilford Gibson.

Wilfred Gibson
Born(1942-02-28)28 February 1942
Dilston, Northumberland, England
Died21 October 2014(2014-10-21) (aged 72)
GenresRock, classical
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Violin
LabelsHarvest, Zah Zah

Early life

Wilfred Gibson was born on 28 February 1942 in Dilston, Northumberland. He received his education at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he learned to play the violin and piano, and to conduct. He began performing in public from the age of eight and took part in regional tournaments in his teens. He began playing with symphony orchestras in his teen years, including the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He worked for a short time as a conductor and then broke into orchestral work as a player through the 1960s. Gibson played with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. His association with the London orchestras was lifelong and involved numerous recordings. [1]

Career

Early session work

Gibson thought that his first pop recording session might have been Delilah (Tom Jones song) in 1967. http://cherryblossomclinic.x10.mx/wilf.html In 1970, Gibson played lead violin on Centipede's 1970 album Septober Energy.[3] The following year, he gave multiple contributions to King Crimson's fourth studio album Islands. He played violin in a small orchestra which performed "Prelude - Song of the Gulls", of which he was practically the leader, due to the fact that band leader and composer of the track Robert Fripp was less than qualified as an orchestral conductor (even to the extent of using a pencil as the baton).[4] He also added violin in other places such as on the opening track "Formentera Lady". Despite his contributions, he went uncredited.[5]

With Electric Light Orchestra

In 1972, Gibson replaced original ELO violinist Steve Woolam[6] and performed in their first live concert at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey.[1][7][8] Gibson would later play violin on the ELO II album,[9] including on their cover of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven", which became a top ten hit in the UK in September 1973.[10]

However, by 1973, he had begun to be gradually replaced by Mik Kaminski, who played violin on much of the first side of ELO's 1973 LP On the Third Day. Still, Gibson was able to play on the tracks "Showdown", "Daybreaker", "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle", "Dreaming of 4000," and the band's cover of Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King", as well as the various interludes in between tracks.[11]

After this album, Gibson's time in ELO came to an end. After leaving the group, Gibson declined an invitation to join King Crimson as a replacement for violinist David Cross.[5]

Later session work, ELO Part II, and other projects

In 1989, he was the violinist in the BBC Radio 3 musical drama Notes from Janàcek's Diary.[12] He contributed to the Hothouse Flowers album Home (1990),[13] and to The Beloved's Happiness (1995) as well as appearing on the Oasis hit "Whatever".[1]

In 1991, Gibson was reunited with some of his old ELO bandmates when he played as part of the session orchestra for ELO Part II's self-titled album, though his contributions were uncredited. He would also join them on 1994's Moment of Truth, but this would mark the end of his involvement with any ELO-related groups.[1]

Later, Gibson played in Alan Gout's Berkeley Square Society Band, which played covers of songs from the 1920s and 1930s. The group released an album, Gershwin in London Town on the Zah Zah record label in 1998.[14]

Death

Gibson died in 2014 after a short illness.[7][2]

References
  1. Haines, Marc; Guttenbacher, Patrik; von Petersdorff, Alexander (26 February 2000). "Wilf Gibson". Face The Music Germany. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021.
  2. Cowley, Chris (21 October 2014). "Sifu Wilfred Gibson - Tai Chi". Taichi.grok.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  3. Kelman, John (6 November 2004). "Septober Energy". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
  4. Wilcox, Toyah; Fripp, Robert (31 October 2021). Toyah & Robert's Agony Aunts - Episode #15 - #Halloween 2020. YouTube. Event occurs at 6:52. Retrieved 3 November 2020. And I conducted a small chamber orchestra with a pencil. They ignored all my directions and followed the first violin.
  5. "Formentera Lady (Instrumental Edit)". Discipline Global Mobile. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021. Alongside Mel Collins' agile, melodic flute also heard here in the later sections is violinist Wilf Gibson., Wilf was also part of Keith Tippett's Centipede. Although his work on the album is uncredited Wilf, who would later become a member of ELO, was the leader for the small string orchestra that appeared on Prelude Of The Gulls. In 1974, Wilf was offered but declined the job as violinist in King Crimson replacing David Cross.
  6. Nielsen, Ken Stavensoe (20 November 2017). "Steve Woolam". 10538 Overture. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  7. Gibson, Wilf (October 2003). "The Wilf Gibson Interview". Cherry Blossom Clinic (Interview). Interviewed by Martin Kinch. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016. WG: [The first gig I did with ELO] was at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon. [...] Wilf passed away after a short illness in October 2014
  8. Bevan, Bev (1980). The Electric Light Orchestra Story. Mushroom Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 0907394000.
  9. ELO 2 (gatefold). Electric Light Orchestra. United Artists. 1973.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. Scherer, Doug (September 8, 1973). "MusicRadio Survey - September 8, 1973". Users.qwest.net. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
  11. On the Third Day (Media notes). Electric Light Orchestra. 2006.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. Steer, Mike. "Notes from Janàcek's Diary". Archived from the original on 22 January 2005. Retrieved 20 May 2005.
  13. "Home". Hothouse Flowers official website. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  14. Gout, Alan. "The Berkeley Square Society Band". Zah Zah. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2005.
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