This is a fitting follow-up to our look on the German acoustic guitar scene in the last post, since for many years in the 1970s, Wizz found more work in Germany than his native Britain. I have no clue if he ever giged with Klaus Weiland or Ray Austin, but it seems almost inevitable. The 1980s, however, were a dry period for practically everyone playing acoustic folk and blues. Jones' only albums from this period are his collaboration with German picker Werner Lämmerhirt ("Roll On River" from 1981) and today's feature.
"The Grapes Of Life" was recorded at a time when Wizz had to earn his money as a truck driver. Given that the album was done for Run River Records, the label owned by Wizz' former protegé Steve Tilston (already featured here on the Hideaway), we can asume that it was Tilston's attempt to re-establish his old friend as a recording artist.
Repertoire-wise it's a typical Jones album, with a few originals mixed with covers of blues/folk classics and songs of friends and contemporaries - just the same mixture Jones would play in concert. You wouldn't guess that he hadn't recorded in six years - his picking is as intricate as ever, his mellow voice had hardly aged. And since Jones obviously didn't feel any need to adapt to changing times, "The Grapes Of Life" stands closely next to his classic albums of the 1970s. But unlike these, who have all been reissued on cd and/or vinyl, "Grapes" has yet to see new life in the digital age.
Wizz Jones: The Grapes Of Life
Run River Records RR A005, UK, 1987
A1 The Grapes Of Life (Alan Tunbridge)
A2 Happiness Was Free (Wizz Jones)
A3 Corrinne (Blind Boy Fuller)
A4 Touch Has A Memory (Clive James, Pete Atkin)
A5 Moving On Song (Ewan MacColl)
A6 Needle Of Death (Bert Jansch)
B1 First Girl I Loved (Robin Williamson)
B2 Do What You Please (Steve Tilston)
B3 About A Spoonfull (Mance Lipscomb)
B4 Letter Fom West Germany (Wizz Jones)
B5 Dark-eyed Gypsies (Traditional)
B6 Planet Without A Plan (Wizz Jones)
Wizz Jones (voc, g, bjo)
This is Jones playing "Corrinne". A good example why they say that Wizz' right hand is "worthy of Broonzy":
And here's one of my fav clips, a 1960 news clip showing Jones with remarkably long hair for 1960:
