Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2008 | Page 40

life

JOHN HANNAM

Jet Harris:
I'm a
different
person now
Many years of drinking
took its toll on Jet Harris,
however a move to the Isle
of Wight seemed to change
his views on life, he now says
that he would never move
back to the mainland.
By: John Hannam

J

et Harris has a sensational
new album called The Journey.
Ironically, it was a permanent one
way journey to the Island in 2000 that
saved his turbulent life. If he had not
changed his lifestyle he would not have
been around to even record it. Now
he’s playing as well as at any time in
his fifty year career in pop music.
“I am so settled here now and have no
plans to move back over there. I’m now
a different kind of person and so many
nice Islanders have really helped me.
I’m also surrounded by wildlife, which
I love,” revealed a very contented Jet.
A wild life of a different kind had taken
its toll on one of Britain’s most successful
and influential bass players of all time.
“My drinking years were bad. In the
end my own body told me to stop. I
was on the way out if I hadn’t. My

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alcoholism certainly wasn’t planned.
I think it’s something in your genes.
“Gradually my life got back on an
even keel and I began to enjoy things
again an d started to make records.
The jigsaw finally came together.”
Back in the 60s thousands of young
men dreamed of playing in the Shadows
and Jet, alongside Hank Marvin,
Bruce Welch and Tony Meehan, was a
world icon. The famous blonde quiff
and his unique playing style made him
such an integral part of the group.
Over fifty years on from the 2i’s,
London’s famous rock ‘n’ roll coffee bar,
he is still revered in Japan, Uruguay,
Peru, Holland and so many other
countries. He’s a major draw at Shadows’
conventions all over the world.
As the most experienced bass player
in early British rock ‘n’ roll, having

had a background in jazz, he was in
constant demand and it was no surprise
when he joined Cliff Richard’s backing
band, the Drifters. Their early success
changed the face of home produced
pop music. Later when Apache came on
the scene, with their new name of the
Shadows, chosen by Jet, they became
as big an attraction as Cliff himself.
When Jet left to go solo he enjoyed
hit records of his own and then number
ones with another ex-Shadow, Tony
Meehan. His long-time drummer pal
died recently and on Jet’s new album is a
very moving track called Song for Tony,
written by the legendary former Radio
Solent presenter Richard Cartridge.
A car crash in 1963, when his girlfriend
of the time, singer Billie Davis, was also
a passenger, almost claimed his life. He
recovered but the after effects lasted for

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