Extensive discography / Last updated 2001
The roots of the English folk scene are traceable to a few remarkable individuals. Paramount amongst them is Wizz Jones. Ask the greats of England's second generation of folk players to name the people who opened their eyes, and Wizz's name appears frequently. Bert Jansch says, "I think he's the most underrated guitarist, ever." "We all used to follow him around," says John Renbourn. "Him and Davey Graham. He's the great granddaddy, an excellent guitarist."
Inspired by American folk blues and wanderers in the Guthrie / Elliot / Kerouac tradition, Wizz began to play guitar seriously in the late 1950's. With his hair wreathed in a shoulder-length mane, his legs clad in patched and faded Levis, and his guitar held together with strips of leather, Jones represented an irresistible bohemian ideal to the young acolytes like Ralph McTell. Versed in the arcana of American blues lore, possessing a right hand worthy of Big Bill Broonzy, Jones was a legendary figure even in the pre-dawn of Britain's folk explosion.
In the early 60's, Wizz spent considerable time busking in France, often with Clive Palmer, before returning to England to raise a family with his wife, Sandy. Not long after his return, Wizz hooked up with a banjo player Pete Stanley to form a very popular bluegrass duo that lasted for several years, producing an extremely rare LP and single in the process. His partnership with Stanley dissolved in late `67, at which time Wizz began his solo career in earnest.
Although he never attained the popularity of some of his followers, the records that Wizz cut for United Artists, CBS, Village Thing, and Plant Life between 1968 and 1977 have long been hoarded by people who know a good thing when they hear it. During this period, Wizz played and recorded mostly with a small coterie of friends or a band called Lazy Farmer that he and Sandy formed with ex-C.O.B. flautist, Joe Bidwell. The sole album that Lazy Farmer cut under their group name was released in Germany, and that is where Wizz' career flourished from the mid-70's onward. He usually toured the German festival circuit several times a year, and his recordings were released there on a regular basis.
By The early 1990's, however, English music fans began to remember they had a collective folk heritage. Partly due to the BBC's "Acoustic Routes" documentary (in which Wizz is fantastic), partly due to the reissue of some of his long lost classics (and the promise of more on the way), Wizz Jones' presence again looms large in the English psyche. But now he's not seen as a beatnik pain-in-the-ass (as he was when BBC TV interviewed him in 1960). He's viewed as an elder statesman, whose groundbreaking work made it possible for subsequent generations to spring up in his wake. It is just gravy that his voice has become even richer with time and that his right hand still swings like god's.
Even if you've never heard him before, it's certain that as you listen to Wizz now, you'll hear
elements of phrasing and style and soul that have been absorbed
and transmuted by the hundreds of people who've sucked at his
fumes over the years. Hope you can dig it.
WIZZ JONES DISCOGRAPHY (all UK unless noted)
78 - 1957 (?) (title?) (The Wranglers - Radio Luxembourg broadcast pressed to vinyl 78, early group featuring Wizz Jones)FOUR COPIES ONLY?
LP - 1962 or `63 (?) "Music For Moonshiners" Unissued
LP (as Wiseman, Stanley & Jones)
45 - 1965 "The Ballad Of Hollis Brown"/"Riff Minor"
Columbia DB 7776 (as Pete Stanley and Wizz Jones)(now reissued on CD "More Than Sixteen Tons Of Bluegrass And Other Fine Stuff" Roller Coaster RCCD 3036 (includes both A & B sides as bonus tracks)
LP - 1966 "Sixteen Tons Of Bluegrass" Columbia SX 6083 MONO
(as Pete Stanley and Wizz Jones) CD reissue 2000 (actually came out 2001) "More Than Sixteen Tons Of Bluegrass And Other Fine Stuff" Roller Coaster RCCD 3036 (exquisite digipack reissue, complete album plus 8 bonus tracks including 1965 Columbia single (The ballad of Hollis Brown / Riff Minor (b side) and outtakes Riff minor (Alternative version)/ Teapot blues / The cuckoo / Walk right in / Shuckin' sugar / Corinne)
LP - 1966 "Way Out West" Italy/Columbia (#?) MONO (same material as
"16 Tons Of Bluegrass", but alternate cover and title) (as Pete Stanley and Wizz Jones)
LP - 1969 "Wizz Jones" United Artists ULP 1029 MONO
LP - 1969 "Wizz Jones" United Artists (S)ULP 1029 STEREO
LP - 1970 "The Legendary Me" Village Thing VTS 4
LP - 1972 "Right Now" CBS 64809 (with John Renbourn
& others guesting) CD reissue 1998 (actually came out 1999) "Right Now" Columbia Rewind 493337-2 (exact reissue)
LP - 1973 "When I Leave Berlin" Village Thing VTS 24
(Lazy Farmer & Bert Jansch some cuts)
EP - 1974 "Winter Songs" Germany/Autogram ALP-189 (7" six
tracks/picture sleeve,recorded circa`72), also came as a bonus EP without picture sleeve with "Soloflight" LP
LP - 1975 "Lazy Farmer" Germany/Songbird C 062-31130
(released as Lazy Farmer - the band)
LP - 1976 "Happiness Was Free" Germany/Interchord-Xenophon
INT 161.013 (all but 2 songs included on the CD "Village Thing Tapes"
German/Wundertute 72.157 )
LP - 1977 "Magical Flight" Plant Life PLR009(also issued LP - 1978
Germany/Folk Freak FF4003-alternate cover art/remixed) CD reissue 1999 US/Scenescof SCOFCD 1006 (exact reissue with both English and German cover art reproduced)
LP - 197? "Folk And Western Songs" Germany/Joker ( #? ) (as Pete Stanley and Wizz Jones) (Presumably a reissue of Columbia 1966 "Sixteen Tons Of Bluegrass" LP? IF ANYONE HAS MORE INFORMATION on this please let me know!)
45 - 197? "Letter From West Germany"/"MovingTarget"
U.R.C.O. 005 (w/Sam Mitchell slide, other backing musicians unk.)
LP&EP - 1978(?) - "Soloflight" Germany/Autogram
FLLP-507 (full 12"LP plus "Winter Songs" 6 cut EP, tracks
recorded `70-74 )
LP - 1981 "Roll On River" Germany/FolkFreak FF 4006
(with Werner Lammerhirt)
LP - 1987 "The Grapes Of Life" Run River RR A005
TP - 1991 "Live In Dublin" Ireland/JPR Publications
JRC1(Cassette only album/recorded`89-90)
CD- 1992 "The Village Thing Tapes" Germany/Wundertute
TUT 72.157 (compilation of 70's material. Mostly tracks from "When I Leave Berlin" & "Happiness Was Free")
CD- 1993 "Late Nights & Long Days" Fellside FECD91
(w/Simeon Jones)
45 - 1994 "Easy Rider" Shagrat ORC-003 (1 sided 45/recorded 1969 w/Formerly Fat Harry)
CD- 1995 "Dazzling Stranger" USA/Scenescof SCOFCD 1001 (newly recorded career retrospective)
VIDEO- 1998 "Masters Of British Guitar" Sound Techniques Television RNS 004
75 minutes color pro-sho. PAL and NTSC. Interview segments by Richard Newman. Wizz plays approx. 15 songs complete and live in the studio.
CDR - 2001 - "Through The Fingers" Far Flung Island FFI CD 004 (subtitled "In Concert/Recorded Live at Bury Lawn, Milton Keynes 21st October 2000". Limited edition of 150 CDR's created for a newsgroup devoted to fans of Pete Atkin and Clive James. Printed tray card, booklet, liner notes, and printed CD face. Reasonable quality soundboard tape, average performance. 9 tracks/45 minutes)
CD/LP - 2001 - "Lucky The Man" USA/Scenescof SCOFCD1009 (NEW Wizz Jones studio album with many guest artists including John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Clive Palmer, Gerry Conway and others)
VARIOUS ARTIST COMPILATIONS & AMALGAMATIONS:
LP - 1965 "Folk Scene" Folkscene 001 (with "Billy
Grimes The Rover" - Wiseman, Stanley & Jones)
EP - 1970 "The Great White Dap" Village Thing VTSX 1000
giveaway EP (with "Beggarman" from "The Legendary Me" LP)
LP - 1972 "Us" Village Thing VT-SAM 15 (with "Beggarman"
from "The Legendary Me" LP)
LP - 1972 "Matchbox Days" Village Thing VT-SAM 16 (with
"Spoonful", same version than "Soloflight" recorded 8/70). Reissued on LP 1988 Rogue Records FMSL 2016 (same track list/new cover art). Reissued on CD 1997 Big Beat Records Folk Roots Classics CDWIKD 168 (expanded version deletes 2 tracks but adds 12 new ones, new cover art and extensive liner notes)
LP - 1975 "Acoustic Guitar Scene" Germany/Interchord-Xenophon
26559-5 (includes 3 non-LP Wizz Jones guitar instrumentals, including
1 cut with Werner Lammerhirt) 2LP set. Reissued on CD 1992
Germany/Bell BLR 84601 (only includes 2 of the Wizz Jones tracks). Most of 2 LP's on 1 CD.
LP - 1972 "Tracks Of Interfolk Vol.3" Germany/Autogram ALLP-172(2"Soloflight"cuts)
LP - 1979 "Folk Friends" Germany/FolkFreak FF 3001 (1978 folk
summit w/various artists & combinations. 8 unique tracks with Wizz
fronting & joining friends) 2LP set. CD reissue 1992 German/Wondertute
TUT CD 72.160 2LP's on 1CD
LP - 197? "Masters Of Folk Guitar" Germany/Autogram
ALLP-248 (2"Soloflight"LP cuts)
LP - 1981 "Folk Friends 2" Germany/FolkFreak FF 3003/4 (1980 folk
summit w/various artists & combinations. 4 unique tracks with Wizz
fronting & joining friends) 2LP set.. CD reissue 1990 German/Wundertute
TUT CD 72.150 2LP's on 1CD
CD- 1991 "Derroll Adams 65th Birthday Concert" Belgium/Waste
Productions WP 9101 (with live version of "Happiness Was Free"); and Wizz on backing vocals on "Portland Town")
CD- 1992 "Tanz & Folkfest Rudolstadt `91" Germany/He-Deck 67.22 (?) (with a live version of "When I Leave Berlin" with Simeon Jones)
CD- 1993 "Acoustic Routes" Code 90 NINETY 7 (TV Bert Jansch documentary soundtrack w/2 unique Wizz songs)
CD- 2000 "More Music, Less Parking / WFMU Live From Jersey City" USA/NO LABEL/#. WFMU-FM NJ Radio station ltd. promotional 2CD set. "Dazzling Stranger" live on the Stork Club Radio Show, WFMU Radio Studios 5/10/98.
CD - 2000 "People On The Highway: A Bert Jansch Enconium" Market Square MSMCD106 (2CD set - Jansch tribute compilation. Wizz one track "Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning" (previously issued on "Late Nights & Long Days" album).
GUESTING ON:
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MANY CD's & LP's by Wizz available, see main catalog listings.
LP - 1965 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "16 Big Folk Hits" Columbia 33SX1738 (Wizz Jones on guitar & Pete Stanley banjo
EP - 1965 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "Six Folk Hits" Columbia SEG8468 (Wizz Jones on guitar & Pete Stanley banjo on 2 of the 6 tracks, "Tom Dooley" & "Walk Right In"
45 - 1965 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "Don't Believe Them"/"Where Am I Goin'?" Columbia DB7595 (Wizz Jones on guitar <12 string on A-side> & Pete Stanley banjo on both tracks)
45 - 1966 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "The Most Of What Is Least"/"Don't Blame Me" Columbia DB7703(Wizz Jones on guitar & Pete Stanley banjo on both tracks)
45 - 1966 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "Don't Blame Me"/"The Most Of What Is Least" US/Bell Records 644(Wizz Jones on guitar & Pete Stanley banjo on both tracks)
LP - 1966 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "16 English Folk Songs" Columbia SX6082 (Wizz Jones on guitar & Pete Stanley banjo on 1 track, "The Most Of What Is Least"
LP - 1969 Clive Palmer "Banjoland" Unissued instrumental LP with Clive Palmer orchestra.(some tracks with Wizz on guitar)
LP - 1971 Accolade "Accolade 2" Regal Zonophone SLRZ
1024 (6 tracks with Wizz on guitar & vocals. Includes a version
of "If Only I'd Known" written by Wizz)
LP - 1972 Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas "Old, New, Borrowed and Blue" Joy Records (President Records subsidiary)JOYS241 (12 track LP with Wizz and Pete Stanley on 4 tracks, "Walk Right In", "Mummy Out The Light", "Freight Train", "Snowbird"
LP - 1974 Ralph McTell "Easy" Reprise K 54013 (Wizz
rhythm guitar on "Take It Easy")
Also released on cassette? And LP issued in other countries, Canada?
& ?.
45 - 1974 Ralph McTell "Take It Easy"/"Sweet Little
Mystery" Reprise K 14325 (Wizz on A-side)
LP - 1976. Chas McDevitt "It Takes You Back Don't It" Joy Records JOYS263 (Wizz & Pete Stanley on 3 tracks, "Walk Right In"
LP - 1984 Derroll Adams "Songs Of The Banjoman" GR/FolkFreak 404016 (compilation w/3 songs with Wizz on guitar from Village Thing "Feelin'Fine"LP) CD reissue 1998 GR/Wundertute TUTE 71.175
CD - 1997 Al Jones "Swimming Pool" PRIVATE PRESS (label/# ?)
(Wizz guests on guitar/vocal 1 track "Easy Life") CD reissue 1998 Weekend Beatnik WEBE 9033
Wizz description written by Byron Coley, discography compiled by Charles Reynolds.