Jess Roden


 * The British singer Jess Roden (b.1947) enjoyed a career which ran from the 1960s into the 1980s, fronting well-known bands, performing extensively, winning the respect of his peers, but never gaining major commercial success. He first became known in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Alan Bown Set, a popular live soul band whose performances won them a following comparable to thier contemporaries Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. In 1967 the band, now called The Alan Bown!, changed to a more "psychedelic" style. Roden left them in 1969 and formed the band Bronco, who recorded two albums for Island Records, then in 1973 joined The Butts Band, which also featured ex-Doors members Robby Krieger and John Densmore but only managed one album before splitting up. He then formed The Jess Roden Band, continuing to record for Island Records during the 1970s, but after 1980 his recording career declined and he spent much of the ensuing years working as a graphic designer. In 2011 a revival of interest in Jess Roden was signalled by the appearance of a website devoted to his work.

Links to Peel
Jess Roden was one of those listeners who were inspired by John Peel's Perfumed Garden show on Radio London. Roden wrote to the programme to express his appreciation and Peel responded by playing the Alan Bown Set's single, "Gonna Fix You Good", not a psychedelic record but a cover of a US soul hit, on his programme. The Alan Bown!'s first single, "Toyland", was a change of style, its 1967 nursery-rhyme pop psychedelia reflecting the influence of British hippiedom. Peel played it on Top Gear and The Alan Bown! did sessions for the programme - as did Roden's subsequent bands, Bronco and the Jess Roden Band.

After Peel's death in 2004, Jess Roden was among those who posted tributes on the memorial web page put up by the BBC.

Sessions

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Other Shows Played
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 * DD Month YYYY: Song (single/album) Label