John Dalton (The Kinks, Creation)

Behold the missing Kink!

 

Of the three official bassists who served Muswell Hill’s favorite musical sons, John Dalton is likely the one player whom American rock fans heard the most on FM radio by way of his commendable work on such hits and album tracks including “Lola,” “Victoria,” “20th Century Man,” and “Celluloid Heroes,” among many others from 1969 to 1976.

 

Prior to his tenure in The Kinks, John anchored The Mark Four, and The Creation.

 

John, who substituted for founding bassist Peter Quaife as early as 1966, was given to more harmonic extensions and upper register passages than his predecessor.

 

This was likely since the Davies brothers augmented their collective with keyboard player John Goslin around the time Dalton became a permanent member, thereby affording the bassist more freedom to explore his instrument. Years after Dalton resigned, he assembled The Kast Off Kinks – a fine pub rock ensemble comprised of ex-band members including founding drummer Mick Avory.

 

John’s weapon of choice with The Kinks was Fender Precision.

 

Ironically, when Dalton retired from the K.O.K. – he was replaced by bassist Jim Rodford, who took over for John after he departed the Kinks in the 1970s. As with Jim Rodford, who anchored the group for 18 years, John Dalton deserved to be enshrined in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame the founding members. Ditto Kinks’ plinkers Goslin and Ian Gibbons, who coincidentally replaced each other in the identical chronological order as Rodford and Dalton in both the Kinks and The Kast Off Kinks.

 

John Dalton Sound & Vision..

 

The Mark Four “I’m Leaving” https://youtu.be/YqualVmYG4g

 

The Kinks:

 

“Everybody’s A Star (Starmaker)” https://youtu.be/DsgICCvHBpM

 

 “Lola” https://youtu.be/NFwP2huyNzg

 

“Victoria” https://youtu.be/4o9vvXjhuaY

Jim Rodford (Argent, The Kinks, The Zombies)

By Thomas Semioli

In Memoriam: The axiom “don’t get too close to your heroes…” did not apply to my bass hero Jim Rodford. When we spoke on film at his local pub in St. Albans where The Kinks, Who, Beatles, and Stones, among others, all honed their craft back in the day, Jim shared insightful and untold stories about his career, the artists, and the era. As per my request, Jim was kind enough to dig his weathered Fender Mustang out of storage which can be heard on The Kinks and Argent classics. With my colleagues’ co-producer Mark Preston and cameraman Derek Hanlon, I bought Jim a pint or two to repay all those bass lessons from In Deep, Low Budget…. Godspeed to the great Jim Rodford!    

   

If you’ve ever grooved to “Hold Your Head Up,” “Give The People What They Want” “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” “Come Dancing,” “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman,” and “Destroyer” among other Argent and Kinks “Klassics,” please refer to James Walter Rodford, of St. Albans, Hertfordshire England. As a member of Mike Cotton Sound, Jim shared stages with The Beatles, The Who, The Animals, and The Kinks’ original line-up.

 

He was a founding member of the progressive pop powerhouse Argent (1969-76) and the longest tenured (1978-96) and most musically adept bassist The Kinks employed after the departure of Peter Quaife. With Argent, Rodford rendered adventurous counterpoint for the band’s legendary extended instrumental passages. With the Kinks, Jim underpinned Ray’s melodies and Dave’s riffs with inventive lines that facilitated the band’s commercial and artistic rebirth the moment he joined. Jim also appeared with The Kast-Off Kinks tribute band, wherein he replaced John Dalton whom he originally replaced in The Kinks back in the late 1970s!

 

The ageless Jim Rodford continued to ply his bass artistry on stage and on record with revamped line-ups of Argent, The Zombies, and the Colin Blunstone Band, among others until his passing in 2018.

 

Coda: I cited Jim Rodford (and John Dalton) in Eleven Bass Players Who Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Huffington Post in 2015:  http://huff.to/1WPHSp6

 

And Jim was also mentioned in my Huffington Post interview with Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent The Zombies Still Got That Hunger for New York City: http://huff.to/1JQbpWe

 

Dig Jim Rodford in Know Your Bass Player on Film Season One 2014 – filmed at The Horn, in St. Albans UK https://bit.ly/2QuX6E7