Jon Camp obit

Jon Camp Passed Away

 

He was not on the list.

The great Jon Camp died on December 13th, my friend Jon, a soft-spoken man with an immense sound when it came to music. There was no one like Camp and never will be, because no one else could play bass like him and move so effortlessly from most delicate passages to aggressive rumble. Always associated with RENAISSANCE’s halcyon days, when he used to also sing – in duet and harmony with Annie Haslam and solo, so touchingly on “Only Angels Have Wings” which he wrote – and compose, steering the ensemble towards pop in the early ’80s, after enriching their repertoire by “Love Theme” on “Scheherazade And Other Stories” and other gems, best experienced on-stage, where his dynamics came to the fore, Jon left his mark on a few more remarkable collectives.

Still, though many Camp’s fans know about his stint with Roy Wood’s HELICOPTERS, not at lost of them may be aware of the bassist’s involvement with THE GROUNDHOGS, and while his work with CATHÉDRALE, whose "J2=B2" remains underrated – “These were some of my favorite times as it’s not very often that four individuals get together and gel musically from the first note” was how Jon described his project with John Young to this scribe seven years ago – only because their album didn’t see the light of day back in the day, is somewhat documented, the veteran’s latter-day contributions to various recordings are not. But without his playing such platters as Walter Holland’s "Storyteller" and "Petrichor" by BAND OF RAIN would lose a lot of footing. And then there was "Urgent Delivery" from MoJo, Camp’s joint effort with Maurice Douglas, the closest Jon ever came to delivering anything under hos own name.

We talked about him doing a solo album one day – and it’s a pity we never went for an all-encompassing interview the necessity of which we discussed often – but, unassuming as Jon was, that didn’t happen, and won’t happen now. Sail on, my friend.