Jo Jo Gunne

Jo Jo Gunne was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes after they had left the rock band Spirit.<ref name="LarkinHR">Template:Cite book</ref> The band was named after the Chuck Berry song "Jo Jo Gunne". The band released their eponymous debut album in 1972 and had a top 10 hit song, "Run Run Run", in the UK. They released three further albums before disbanding in 1974. They reunited in 2005 for a time to record a fifth album, Big Chain.

Career

Jo Jo Gunne was formed by Jay Ferguson (keyboards, vocals and guitar) and brothers Mark (bass and vocals) and Matt Andes (born February 6, 1949; guitar, vocals), along with William "Curly" Smith (born January 31, 1952, Wolf Point, Montana; drums, vocals, and harp) in 1971.<ref name=encyc>Template:Cite book</ref> Ferguson chose the group's name, "Jo Jo Gunne", from a 1958 Chuck Berry song about a monkey of that name that caused a fight between a lion and an elephant.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They performed their first major show in Los Angeles in May 1971 before they were signed to Asylum Records.<ref name="LarkinHR"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The band's first album, Jo Jo Gunne, was released in 1972 and the album reached number 57 on Billboard's Top 100 Albums. The band had a number 6 hit in the UK Singles Chart in April 1972 with a song, "Run Run Run",<ref name="LarkinHR"/> taken from the album. It also received airplay on U.S. album-oriented rock FM radio stations.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> The song reached number 30 in Canada.<ref name=canadachart>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Their second album, Bite Down Hard, was a minor success, peaking on the Billboard Top 200 chart at number 75. Due to the lack of a breakout single, this album sold more poorly than their 1971 introductory effort. The album was produced by Bill Szymczyk, who was best known at the time for his production work on Joe Walsh's Barnstorm and B.B. King's Completely Well.<ref name="allmusic1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The band's third album, Jumpin' the Gunne, featuring an obese naked woman on the cover, failed to rise any higher than number 169 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The band's fourth album, So...Where's the Show?, featured new guitarist John Staehely (a former member of Spirit), whose harder-edged sound complemented Ferguson's songs, giving the band a much harder rock sound than on their previous efforts.<ref name="allmusic1"/> The group did not maintain the commercial momentum of their first release.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> They broke up in 1974.<ref name="LarkinHR"/>

Personnel changes

Following the first album, Mark Andes left the band after a falling out with his brother Matt and Ferguson, and was replaced by Jimmie Randall.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> Randall introduced a brighter bass sound and helped increase the band's overall volume.Template:Citation needed

Matt Andes left after Jumpin' the Gunne, and was briefly replaced by Starr Donaldson (born September 23, 1950) in 1974. A replacement was soon found in John Staehely (born 25 January 1952, Austin, Texas),<ref name=encyc /> who had played on Feedback, the Spirit album that followed Ferguson and Andes's departure. Staehely's overdriven guitar was a significant change from Matt Andes's Ry Cooder–style slide guitar.Template:Citation needed

After the band broke up, Ferguson recorded several solo albums,<ref name=encyc /> which yielded the hit singles "Thunder Island" and "Shakedown Cruise". He then scored TV shows and several movies. Mark Andes joined Firefall and then Heart. Smith went on to have a career as a session drummer, and played with Spirit in the 1980s, and Boston from 1994 to 2000.

Reunion

The original line-up temporarily got back together around 1992. In a July 1995 interview in Vintage Guitar Magazine, Mark Andes recalls: "Curly Smith called me up and noted that it was the twentieth anniversary of when that band had formed; Steve Lukather took us into the studio and we recorded a lot of new material, but it didn't go anywhere".Template:Citation needed

They began recording again in 2005 in Santa Barbara at Jay Ferguson's studio. The 2005 recordings were eventually put out as an album, Big Chain, on Blue Hand Records.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The music was co-produced by the band and engineered by Ferguson.

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US <ref name="BB200">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	AUS <ref name=aus>Template:Cite book</ref>	CAN <ref name="CAN albums">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Jo Jo Gunne	Release date: February 7, 1972 Label: Asylum Records	57	18	55
Bite Down Hard	Release date: March 5, 1973 Label: Asylum	75	—	—
Jumpin' the Gunne	Release date: December 10, 1973 Label: Asylum	169	—	—
"So...Where's the Show?"	Release date: November 12, 1974 Label: Asylum	198	—	—
Big Chain	Release date: 2005 Label: Blue Hand Records	—	—	—

Singles

• "Run Run Run" - No. 27 (US),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> No. 30 (Canada),<ref name=canadachart /> No. 42 (Germany),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> No. 6 (UK)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "Shake that Fat"
• "Ready Freddy"
• "Rock Around The Symbol"
• "I Wanna Love You"
• "Where Is The Show"
• "Take Me Down Easy"
• "Big, Busted Bombshell From Bermuda"

See also

• List of Asylum Records artists
• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
• One-hit wonders in the UK

External links

• Official homepage
• {{#if:Jo Jo Gunne|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}
• Template:YouTube