Brian Godding
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image =
| name = Brian Godding
| image_size =
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1945|08|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|11|25|1945|8|19|df=y}}
| death_place =
| origin =
| instrument = Guitar
| genre = Pop music, rock, jazz rock
| occupation = Musician, session musician, composer
| years_active = 1964–2023
| label =
| past_member_of = The Grave Diggers, The Ingoes, Blossom Toes, B. B. Blunder, Solid Gold Cadillac, Kevin Coyne, Magma, Mike Westbrook Orchestra, Centipede
| website = [http://www.lotsawatts.co.uk lotsawatts.co.uk]
| module = {{Audio sample
| type = other
| file = Blue Sun clip.ogg
| description = "Blue Sun" from Slaughter on Shaftesbury Avenue
}}
}}
Brian Godding (19 August 1945 – 25 November 2023) was a Welsh pop, rock and jazz rock guitarist. He was a founding member of the psychedelic rock band Blossom Toes and was also a member of the jazz rock big band Centipede.
Biography
Godding was born on 19 August 1945 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, South Wales.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=986}} He died on 25 November 2023, at the age of 78.{{Cite web|url=https://dmme.net/goodbye-brian-godding/|title=Goodbye, Brian Godding|website=DMME.net}} He was a brother-in-law of English singer and actress Julie Driscoll.
Work
In the early 1980s Godding contributed to three albums by Kevin Coyne: Bursting Bubbles (1980), Sanity Stomp (1980) and Pointing the Finger (1981).{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bursting-bubbles-mw0000838694 |title=Bursting Bubbles - Kevin Coyne |via=www.allmusic.com}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sanity-stomp-mw0000839909|title=Sanity Stomp - Kevin Coyne |via=www.allmusic.com}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pointing-the-finger-mw0001878741 |title=Pointing the Finger - Kevin Coyne |via=www.allmusic.com}}
Regarding his 1988 solo album Slaughter on Shaftesbury Avenue, Dave Wayne in the New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock, said:
{{blockquote|Intense jazz-rock fusion of the highest quality. Godding's guitar playing should please fans of McLaughlin and Holdsworth to no end. Heartily recommended to all fusion fans.{{cite web|url=http://www.gepr.net/gi.html|title=New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock GI-GO|website=www.gepr.net|accessdate=30 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901193427/http://www.gepr.net/gi.html|archive-date=1 September 2019|url-status=dead}}}}
Reviewing the same album for the Dorset Echo, Marco Rossi said:
{{blockquote|Fans of Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge and John McLaughlin had best be sitting down with a fortifying cuppa when they hear, by way of example, "Blue Sun" from Godding's 1988 album Slaughter on Shaftesbury Avenue - a warm-toned, hugely imaginative and wholly involving sound picture on which Godding conjures forth such a powerfully hypnotic extended intro that I actually jumped out of my seat when the drums came in.{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/1149605.Singular_talents/|title=Singular talents|website=Dorset Echo|date=26 January 2007 |accessdate=30 June 2018}}}}
Godding was featured in 'Crossing Bridges', a 1983 music programme based around jazz guitar improvisation, and broadcast by Channel 4.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bright-thoughts.co.uk/crossing-bridges.html|title=Crossing Bridges|website=BRIGHT THOUGHTS}}
Writing for dmme.net after his death in 2023, H.-Peter Pfeufer said:
{{blockquote|Universally praised as a jazz player, Brian Godding, who passed away on November 25th at the age of 78, has always been, in fact, held in high esteem as half of a musical unit that influenced most of the classic rock twin-guitar pairs, a part, together with Jim Cregan, of the legendary BLOSSOM TOES. Their two albums, 1967's We Are Ever So Clean and If Only for a Moment from 1969, both overseen by Giorgio Gomelsky, are considered cult treasures now, but Brian felt his horizons were limited by what the band did, and a one-off gig with Julie Driscoll in 1969 presented Godding with a chance to move forward and expand his outlook in more than one way, thus targeting genuine greatness.}}
Discography
=As leader=
- Slaughter on Shaftesbury Avenue (Reckless Records: RECK16, 1988)
=As sideman=
With Blossom Toes
- We Are Ever So Clean (Marmalade, 1967)
- If Only for a Moment (Marmalade, 1969)
With Centipede
- Septober Energy, (Neon: NE 9, 1971)
With Full Monte
- Spark In The Dark (Slam, 2013){{cite book |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OhEwAQAAIAAJ |first1=Richard |last1=Cook |first2=Brian |last2=Morton |year=1994 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0140-1794-91 |page=468 }}
With Magma
- Köhntarkösz (Vertigo, A&M, Seventh Day, 1974)
With Kevin Coyne
- Bursting Bubbles (Virgin Records, 1980)
- Sanity Stomp (Virgin Records, 1980)
- Pointing the Finger (Cherry Red Records, 1981)
With Mike Westbrook
- Citadel/Room 315 (RCA, 1975)
- Love/Dream And Variations (Transatlantic, 1976)
- The Cortège (Original Records, 1982)
- On Duke's Birthday (Hat ART, 1985)
- Pierides (Jazzprint, 1986)
- The Dance Band (Core, 1987)
- London Bridge Is Broken Down (Virgin Venture, 1988)
With Mirage
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.lotsawatts.co.uk Brian Godding's official website]
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026201950/http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/2674/godding_brian_a.htm |date=October 26, 2009 |title=The Musician's Olympus }}
- [http://www.olliehalsall.co.uk/briangodding.htm Godding @ Olliehalsall.co.uk]
- {{discogs artist|Brian Godding}}
- {{IMDb name|11552701}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godding, Brian}}
Category:Welsh jazz guitarists
Category:Welsh male songwriters
Category:Welsh rock guitarists
Category:British male guitarists
Category:People from Monmouth, Wales
Category:Centipede (band) members
Category:British male jazz musicians