Mickey Jupp Explained

Mickey Jupp
Birth Name:Michael Graham Jupp
Background:solo_singer
Birth Date:6 March 1944
Birth Place:Worthing, Sussex, England
Instrument:Guitar, piano
Genre:Rock, pub rock, rhythm and blues
Occupation:Musician, guitarist, songwriter
Years Active:1963–present
Label:Bell Records, Vertigo, Stiff Conquest Music
Associated Acts:The Orioles, Legend,
Mickey Jupp Band
Website:www.MickeyJupp.com

Michael Graham "Mickey" Jupp (born 6 March 1944, in Worthing, Sussex, England) is an English musician and songwriter, mainly associated with the Southend music scene.

Career

Jupp played in several Southend bands after leaving art college in 1962 and was in the R&B group the Orioles (1963 to late 1965), which included Mo Witham (guitar, vocals) and Bob Clouter (drums), but the band were never recorded.

After a break from music, Jupp formed Legend in 1968, who were signed to Bell Records. They released an eponymous album Legend, playing a mix of pop, rockabilly and blues rock styles using no electric instruments. The original band: Nigel Dunbar (drums), Chris East (guitar, vocals and harmonica) and Steve Geere (string bass and vocals), who recorded this album with Jupp (guitar, piano and vocals), split soon afterwards, so Jupp assembled a new line-up, with Mo Witham on guitar, John Bobin on bass and Bill Fifield on drums. A recording deal with Vertigo produced a second album, in 1970, using the same line-up. Confusingly, this album was also called Legend, but is usually referred to as the "Red Boot" album, after the cover picture. Fifield left to join T.Rex (where he was renamed Bill Legend, after the band he had left, by Marc Bolan), and was replaced on drums by Bob Clouter who had played with Jupp in the Orioles. This line-up recorded the second Vertigo album Moonshine issued in 1972 (and re-released on CD in 2007), after which the band broke up.[1]

Returning to Southend, Jupp pursued a low-key existence until the pub-rock revolution (spearheaded by local bands such as Dr. Feelgood, for whom he wrote the hit single "Down at the Doctors") created a fresh interest in rock and roll. He signed to Stiff Records in 1978, and they initially released a compilation album of the first three Legend albums, which was also called Legend, giving three albums with this title. This was followed by his first solo album, Juppanese, an album in two different styles. The first half was recorded with Rockpile and produced by Nick Lowe, and is in a simple raw style, whereas the second half, produced by Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, was slicker.[2] The album had a cover photo of Jupp sitting at a table of oriental food, pulling at the corners of his eyes. Jupp had a long-standing connection with Procol Harum; Brooker, then with R&B group the Paramounts, was one of his early idols. When Procol's bassist David Knights went into management, Legend were his first act. He also produced their final album Moonshine. Robin Trower also produced Legend's second single "Georgia George Part 1"[3] which was actually Jupp backed by Mo Witham and Procol's Matthew Fisher and B.J. Wilson.[4]

The follow-up album Long Distance Romancer (1979),[5] was produced by Godley and Creme, and has a slick, highly produced, sound, which was generally seen as less successful.[6]

Jupp went on to release a further seven solo albums, some appearing on Swedish and German labels. His songs have been recorded by Rick Nelson, Elkie Brooks, the Judds, Chris Farlowe, Delbert McClinton, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Gary Brooker, the Hamsters, Dr. Feelgood, Roger Chapman, and the Searchers.

At one time the Mickey Jupp Band had Joy Sarney as its vocalist.[7]

In February 2009, the early Legend line-up of Chris East, Mo Witham, John Bobin, Bob Clouter and Mickey Jupp self-released a new album, Never Too Old To Rock, featuring a selection of Jupp–East songs written over the previous twenty years.[8]

In 2021, Jupp signed to Conquest Music, with a view to releasing a series of albums containing songs he wrote and recorded at his home in Boot, Eskdale, Cumbria, England.The series of albums is "the Boot Legacy". Conquest Music subsequently announced that the first album in the series Up Snakes, Down Ladders would be released on 5 August 2022, preceded by a five track digital only sampler the "I'd Love to Boogie" EP and that the second album in the series would be released before Christmas.[9]

Appreciation

On 6 February 2015, most of a two-hour edition of the Belgian radio show Dr Boogie on Classic 21 was dedicated to Jupp[10] who was described (in French) as a 'hidden treasure of rock',[11] a 'white Chuck Berry'.[12] and a musician 'almost without ego'.[12]

In August 2015, an authorised biography of Mickey Jupp, entitled Hole in my Pocket: the true legend of Mickey Jupp, the rock and roll genius who declined to be a star, written by Mike Wade, was published by Amazon/South Wing Books.

Recordings

(Album titles in italics, singles are 7" 45rpm versions unless noted)

With Legend

1969
1970
1971
1972
1978
2008
2012

Solo releases

1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1987Oddities CD only, Line LICD-9.00464 (Germany) (CD compilation of BBC sessions, singles, and unreleased tracks)
  • 1988
    • 1991
    1992
    2004
    2005
    2009
    2010
    2011
    2012
    2013
    2014
    2022

    Appearance on other albums

    1971
    1978
    1979
    1981
    1982
    1983
    1984
    1985
    1986
    1987
    1988
    1991
    1992
    1993
    1994
    1996Southend Rock 2 The Lunch Label 01702-001, CD compilation with "Standing At The Crossroads Again" (UK)
  • 1999Some Sides Of Line: 20th Anniversary Line LMS-9.01356, CD compilation with "Poison Girls" (Germany)

    • The Greatest Pop Ballads Repertoire Records RR-4763, 2CD compilation with "Pilot" (Germany)

    2001
    2007
    2008
    2010
    2011

    Further reading

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Mickey Jupp | Biography & History . . 1944-03-06 . 2016-02-07.
    2. Web site: Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Juppanese - Mickey Jupp | Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 2016-02-07.
    3. Web site: Legend - Georgia George Part 1 / July - Bell - UK - BLL 1082 . 45cat.com . 2016-02-07.
    4. Liner notes to Repertoire Records Legend CD
    5. Book: The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Colin Larkin. Guinness Publishing. 1992. First. 0-85112-939-0. 1331.
    6. Web site: Stephen Thomas Erlewine . Long Distance Romancer - Mickey Jupp | Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 2016-02-07.
    7. Web site: Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music - JUPP, Mickey . Donaldclarkemusicbox.com . 2016-02-07.
    8. Web site: Mickey Jupp Homepage . Mickeyjupp.com . 2007-04-27 . 2016-02-07.
    9. Web site: 2022-07-26 . Conquest Music announce: I'd Love To Boogie With Mickey Jupp – Lyric Video Released in Advance of New Album. . 2022-08-02 . Rocknloadmag.com . en-GB.
    10. Web site: La playlist du vendredi 6 février . Rtbf.be . 2016-02-07.
    11. Web site: Dr Boogie, spéciale Mickey Jupp . Rtbf.be . 2016-02-07.
    12. Web site: MP3 file. https://web.archive.org/web/20150209222836/http://podaudio.rtbf.be/pod/c21-dr_dr_boogie_062f022f15_20596983.mp3. 2021-07-02. 9 February 2015.
    13. Web site: Mickey Jupp - Kiss Me Quick Squeeze Me Slow (CD) . Discogs.com . 1994-12-22 . 2016-02-07.

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