Spencer P. Jones passes after cancer battle, “A very good rock guitarist but a greater personality”
New Zealand-born Australian-based guitarist Spencer P. Jones has passed, following a lengthy battle with cancer.
He had been in ill-health for three years and benefits were held around the country as he could not work.
In June it was revealed Jones had been diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer three months before.
The news of his passing was announced by his wife Angie Louise Jones who wrote that he “passed away peacefully holding my hand after being sung a beautiful song by Angela Howard.
“It was truely (sic) beautiful & he is now at peace with his brothers in arms Brian H. Hooper & Ashley Morgan Jones.”
Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1956, Jones taught himself guitar at 14 and moved to Australia in 1976.
He quickly made a name for himself in Cuban Heels, North 2 Alaskans and Beats Working.
But he came to the fore with The Johnnys and The Beasts of Bourbon, two of the best guitar bands to emerge from this country in the way they dug into the goldmine of roots and rock and played with an abandon that reflected his lifestyle.
Jones explained their appeal more simply: “They were the sort of bands that I always wanted to play in.”
In 1984, The Johnnys won the hardest working band in Australia tag, with Jones proudly acclaiming, “We dethroned The Radiators by four gigs.”
Music industry veteran Roger Grierson, who managed The Johnnys and ran the Green and Festival labels, told TMN this morning, “What was it about him which made him a great musician? He was a very good rock guitarist for sure, but a greater personality.”
At his solo shows (he made ten solo records) Jones would endear himself to his audiences, laconically talk about his life, philosophies and inspirations behind his music.
In March 2018, both he and Brian Hooper were ill. But they played a Beasts of Bourbon show which radiated sheer ferocity. Hooper died a week later.
Jones also contributed his guitar style to Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls, Hell To Play, The Butcher Shop, Chris Bailey and The General Dog, Olympic Sideburns, Maurice Frawley and The Working Class Ringos, Sacred Cowboys and The Escape Committee.