John Helliwell

John Helliwell

Birth : 1945-02-15, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, UK

History

John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician, best known as the saxophonist, secondary keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional songwriter for the rock band Supertramp. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs. Helliwell played with The Alan Bown Set, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist Dougie Thomson, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with Mark Hart, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their eponymous debut album in 2005. In 1987 Helliwell played on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason; his name was misspelled as "Halliwell". This was after Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour had played on Supertramp's album Brother Where You Bound. Helliwell also played on French singer Jean-Jacques Goldman's 1985 album Positif, and clarinet on Sara Hickman's 1990 album Shortstop. During a professional lull in the 1990s, Helliwell began studying for a music degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, but he discontinued his studies to join Supertramp on tour when Some Things Never Change was released. In 2004 he contributed saxophone work on the Simon Apple album River to the Sea. Helliwell contributed clarinet to The Pineapple Thief's song "Fend For Yourself" from their Your Wilderness album which was released in 2016. Helliwell fronts the Super Big Tramp Band, which has a jazz big band line-up of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm section. It plays versions of Supertramp tunes, arranged by members of the band, with no vocals, but with Helliwell as the chief soloist. The band first played in Manchester in June 2013. In 2019 the band played at the Manchester Jazz Festival in May and was scheduled to play in Hull and Hamburg later in the year. In October 2020, Helliwell released Ever Open Door, a CD album of ballads with Helliwell on saxophone and clarinet, with a string quartet and Hammond organ. Source: Article "John Helliwell" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Profile

John Helliwell

Movies

ManDoki Soulmates: Wings Of Freedom
ManDoki Soulmates: Wings Of Freedom Live at Berlin, Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt 2017.
The Pineapple Thief: Your Wilderness
The acclaimed 2016 hit album from The Pineapple Thief with bonus tracks. For the first time, TPT brought in several guest performers for Your Wilderness, alongside Gavin Harrison: a four-piece choir, Geoffrey Richardson (Caravan), who arranged and recorded string sections, Darran Charles (Godsticks) contributed additional electric guitar work, and Supertramp’s John Helliwell performed some beautiful clarinet parts that bring the album to a poignant close. In 5.1 surround, from the Where We Stood Blu-Ray.
Mandoki Soulmates Budabest
Supertramp: Live in Paris '79
Self - Saxophone
Supertramp’s “Breakfast In America” was the biggest selling album in the world in 1979. It spawned several hit singles and went on to win two Grammy Awards and sell in excess of 20 million copies. Following the album’s release Supertramp embarked on a 10 month world tour which arrived in Paris at the end of November. This show from the Pavillon de Paris was both filmed and recorded. The audio went on to form the basis of the 1980 live album “Paris” but the film was never released. Now for the first time, transferred and restored to full HD from the original 16mm film, this footage is available to Supertramp’s legion of fans worldwide. The sound has been remixed by original sound engineer and co-producer Pete Henderson from the original multi-tracks and can now be heard in 5.1. This is a legendary show by a legendary band performing at their absolute peak and is a must for any Supertramp fan.
Pink Floyd: Whatever Happened to Pink Floyd? The Strange Case of Waters and Gilmour
This film traces the path Floyd took after the recording of the Animals album - an era when cracks in the band first started to show - and brings the strange story of the group and the intense relationship between Waters and Gilmour right up to date with the unexpected collaboration of these two maverick musicians at a 2010 charity event. Featuring numerous interviews.
Inside Supertramp 1974-1978
Self - Sax
Supertramp was one of the last major progressive-rock bands to enjoy an international commercial breakthrough; the band had cultivated a devoted following with their witty and intelligent music since their debut in 1970, but it was 1979's Breakfast in America album which made them a household name in America and Europe. Inside Supertramp 1974-1978 - A Critical Review features rare performance footage of the band along side a panel discussion in which musicians and music writers offer their insights on this especially fruitful period in the group's history
Supertramp - Live in Munich, Germany
Self - Saxophone, Vocals
Live in Munich, Bavaria Germany, 1983. Supertramp was started and bankrolled in 1969 by a wealthy Dutch industrialist with aspirations of forming the ulltimate "super rock group."
Supertramp - BBC in Concert
Self - saxophone, vocals
Over to London this weekend for a concert by 70′s legends Supertramp, recorded by the BBC as part of their Sight and Sound series on November 17, 1977. Forming in 1969, Supertramp quickly rose in popularity and established themselves as one of the most popular of the crossover Art-Rock/mainstream bands. They became a staple on FM and had a string of huge selling singles and albums. Their popularity began to fade in the 1980′s as musical tastes changed with Art-Rock falling out of favor with New Wave. The band eventually went on extended hiatus and reformed later with personnel changes. But there was a time in the mid-seventies where you couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing at least one, if not several Supertramp songs in one sitting; all of which you knew by heart.