Wizz Jones

British Folk Hero Wizz Jones Has Died

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British folk great Wizz Jones has died.

By Robin Murray

The news was confirmed overnight (April 27th) in a statement on the songwriter’s social media channels, penned by his son, Simeon Jones. Wizz Jones had been in poor health for some time, and passed away in a hospice two days after his 86th birthday

Born and brought up in Surrey, Wizz Jones became fascinated with the guitar following the impact of the skiffle movement. Drawn to American influences, he grew his hair long after seeing pictures of Woozy Guthrie and members of the Beat Generation – his mother gave him the long-standing nickname, inspired by Beano character Wizzy the Wuz.

A forward-thinking acoustic guitarist, Wizz Jones soon became a key fixture of the London folk scene, influencing those around him. Finally releasing his solo debut in 1969, he balanced a singular career with a long-standing passion for collaboration.

Writing, recording, and touring across the decades, the 21st century seemed to allow this perennially underrated figure to take a bit more of the limelight. Touring until the end, Wizz Jones played his final show at London’s Ivy House earlier this year.

In the note from his family, son Simeon Jones writes:

With an extremely heavy heart, I’m letting you all know that my beloved father, the great Wizz Jones, passed away early this morning, two days after his 86th birthday.

His loss has left a huge hole in the lives of our family and has robbed the music world of one of its precious treasures.

His health declined rapidly this year and we thank Trinity Hospice for making his last few days as comfortable as possible.

Always a humble man, these were his closing words at the end of his last ever gig earlier this year, February 28th 2025:

“Thanks to all the people – all over the world in fact – that heard my songs and my guitar playing, and came to my gigs for all those years. Thank you very much.”

Here’s a song from that gig, written by his life-long dear friend Alan Tunbridge.

Wizz was worried about disappointing the audience with his now weak singing voice, but even more worried about letting them down by not showing up…

Spoiler alert – it’s a bit of a tear-jerker.

I hope his wonderful music will live on and continue to make the world a richer place.

Thank you for all the love you’ve given him through the years.

– Simeon

Source: British Folk Hero Wizz Jones Has Died | News | Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews

Wizz Jones final gig February 2025

The Story of Les Cousins: Hear interviews, music and the history of this amazing folk club

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By Johnny Fewings

This weeks Jazz, Blues & Beyond (vol128) is a special dedicated to the 1960’s Soho, Folk and Blues club…Les Cousins. I am joined by Diana Matheou, Bridget St John, Beverley Martyn, Steve Tilston, Wizz Jones and Ian Anderson. They all played at the Cousins back in the day, and here they tell their fabulous stories of those times. Ian has recently curated a three disc box set for Cherry Red Records featuring over 70 artists that performed there and this show features 14 tracks from that album.

Review: “Les Cousins” – The Soundtrack Of Soho’s Legendary Folk & Blues Club

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By Dave Thompson

Les Cousins: The Soundtrack Of Soho’s Legendary Folk & Blues Club

Cherry Red (3-CD set)

Talk about the British folk scene of the 1960s and, sooner rather than later, the name Les Cousins will come up — no, not another of the unheard legends that bestrode that era like an arran-sweatered colossus (although there were plenty of those around at the time), but the venue wherein said colossi strutted their stuff.

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An unprepossessing Greek Street restaurant, where the young Al Stewart shepherded the evening’s acts on and off the stage; where Sandy Denny and Paul Simon were as likely to appear as a toothless Irishman singing “Danny Boy”; where both the folk boom of the mid-1960s, and the variants that followed in its footsteps were born.

Les Cousins Club Continental opened in October 1964, in a space that once had held the Skiffle Cellar. A failure in that form, it reopened, sans the last two words, in April 1965, with a solid diet of folk music, and remained in action for the next seven years. During which time, more or less every British (and many American) folk artist of note either played there, or at least stopped by.

This box set — amazingly, the first to truly focus upon Les Cousins alone, as opposed to the overall scene of the day — merely scratches the surface of the club’s renown. Three discs of (many of) the venue’s best known guests could probably be followed by 30 stuffed with lesser known talents, and 300 of complete unknowns. If only anyone had recorded their performances…

Unfortunately, if there are any unknown live-at-Les Cousins tapes circulating… well, they’re still unknown. The 71 tracks spread across three discs here are universally taken from studio albums, although so many of them are hard (if not impossible) to find these days that that is nothing to sniff at.

Neither is the roll call of talents. Bert Jansch, Sandy Denny, Al Stewart, the Young Tradition, the Incredible String Band, Donovan, Julie Felix, Wizz Jones, the Third Ear Band, Plainsong, Bridget St John… Anne Briggs, who is due for the super deluxe treatment later this year, shares space with the immortal Nadia Cattouse; Hamish Imlach with Mudge & Clutterbuck; Paul Simon with Shirley Collins. And while the song selection is not as adventurous as some browsers might demand, it is certainly representative of the artists involved.

Of course, for a true impression of what a night at Les Cousins might have sounded like, the BBC would need to uncork the long mothballed London Folk Club Cellar tapes, the corporation’s own approximation of a venue such as this in the mid-late 1960s. A taste of that is, in fact, on tap in a forthcoming Martin Carthy BBC sessions box set, and we can only hope that more is in the pipeline, while anyone who actually remembers the show is still around to appreciate it.

In the meantime, however, let Les Cousins be your guide to a unique period in British folk, and the unique venue that catered for its admirers.

 

Dave Thompson is a contributing editor at Goldmine, contributing the Spin Cycle vinyl and reissues column and more besides. A much published author, his latest book An Evolving Tradition: The Child Ballads in Modern Folk and Rock was released in July 2023. He has co-written autobiographies by Eddie and Brian Holland, New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain and Walter Lure of Johnny Thunder’s Heartbreakers. His memoir The Grunge Diaries is in the Goldmine Store.