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John Joseph Maus made his arrival in the
world at Elizabeth
Hospital, New York on the 12th November 1943, weighing in at 7lb
14oz and measuring twenty and a half inches. His parents, John senior
and Regina already had a twenty two month old daughter Judy. Much of
John and Judy's childhood was spent together, in New York and
California, where the family moved to when John was four years old.
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After a further move to
Hermosa Beach, also in California, John
developed a love of the sea and surfing, which continues to this day.
His other passion was baseball, and he progressed to be a star
centre-field player until a knee injury at the age of eleven enforced
several weeks in plaster. During this time John's interest in music
grew as he taught himself acoustic guitar, saxophone, clarinet and
violin. Once John had decided that the guitar was the instrument for
him he took on several part-time jobs in order to buy his own electric
guitar.
Whilst at school John’s favourite subject was history, and
at one time he had thoughts of training to become either a history
teacher or a historian. Fortunately his future was to take him in a
very different direction, thanks to his many musical talents. John was
also a promising child actor and he attended auditions for parts in
various TV shows.
During one of these auditions John met Scott Engel
for the first time. Scott was asked by his friend John Stewart to
accompany him to the audition because he did not want to go alone. John
Stewart was not successful on this occasion but both John and
Scott were cast in the production. (John had a speaking part, whilst
Scott's was a walk-on part). The two then went their separate ways and
it was to be several years before they would meet again.
The
Maus family moved to Los Angeles when John was sixteen, and his mother
suggested that he put his musical talents to good use by forming a
dance band, which he duly did. The band had many formats over the
years, but always included both John and his sister Judy under various
names i.e. John and Judy, Judy and the Gents, and The John and Judy
Four. They made some demo records in the late 50s and early 60s, some
of them written by mother Regina. These recordings are now very
collectable, if they can be found.
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In its various guises John and Judy's band played regularly in the Los Angeles
area, whilst John also played guitar from time to time for various other bands.
Band line-ups changed regularly, and sometimes John and Scott (on bass guitar)
would find themselves appearing together. Over time, with the addition of Al
"Tiny" Schneider on drums, they developed into the Walker Brothers, making their
debut under that name at the Beverley Cavern Club on Beverley Boulevard. Around
this time John’s passion for cars began when he purchased his first Thunderbird.
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During one show with the new line-up, local club owner Ben Gazzari was
in the audience. He was very impressed with the group and immediately
offered them an engagement at his very own Gazzari’s Club on Sunset
Strip. This date proved to be a huge success and consequently they
were offered a residency there, which entailed playing for six nights
a week between 8pm and 2am. The club was a popular meeting place for many
musicians, including Gary Leeds who had recently returned from England
after a few months playing drums for P J Proby.
Gary persuaded John and
Scott to try their luck with him in the UK and, on a cold February
morning in 1965, the three of them arrived in England not knowing what
the future would hold in store. They arrived unannounced, but by the
end of the year The Walker Brothers, along with the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones, were one of the biggest groups in the UK.
Their
first two UK releases Pretty Girls Everywhere and Love Her had
been recorded in Los Angeles, and did not make much impact on the UK
charts. Although, thanks to a couple of appearances on the Ready Steady
Go TV show and some concert appearances around the country, Love Her
stayed in the lower regions of the charts for several weeks.
The first single recorded in the UK was the Burt
Bacharach and Hal David song Make It Easy On Yourself. This was to be
the group's first number one record in the UK charts. The follow up,
My Ship Is Coming In was a top five hit. The next single,
The Sun
Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore, topped the UK charts for four weeks in
1966. Subsequent singles did not repeat these successes, although
several made the UK Top 20.
After six months enforced absence from the
UK due to work permit difficulties, the group returned to the UK in the
spring of '67 and embarked on an extensive concert tour with Jimi
Hendrix, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck. When the tour
finished at the end of April, the group announced a few days later that
were parting to pursue solo careers. John went on to record several
solo singles and two albums during the late 60s and early 70s, whilst
also making a number of TV, radio and concert appearances.
In 1975 The Walker Brothers reunited for a few years,
releasing the
classic Tom Rush song No Regrets as
a single, together with an album
of the same name. This single made the UK Top 10, and a further
two albums were released before the group went their own ways
again.
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John eventually returned to California and, because nothing
was heard of him for some time, it was assumed that he had left the
music industry to pursue other interests. However, nothing could have
been further from the truth for he had decided to con-centrate on the
technical side of recording instead.
He built his own studio and spent
the next few years learning to be a recording engineer. John persevered
with this, finding that having previously worked with some of the best
engineers in the finest available studios gave him an advantage in
understanding the recording process.
In the late 90s John once
again began writing and composing material, mainly for other artists,
and consequently formed his own publishing company, Arena Artistes
Association. At this point John had no plans for an album of his own,
and although he had made some experimental recordings, they were more of
an exercise in recording technique than a serious attempt at making
records.
The idea of his own CD came about gradually after he had
completed more songs and more recordings – John was beginning to realise
that this was the beginning of yet another venture which would prove to
be a challenging experience for him.
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His first CD You was released in 2000, the result
of a lot of hard work and many hours of patience. John personally
played guitar, keyboard and all other instrumental parts with the
exception of bass and drums. Regarding the material content of the CD
John says,“ I can only write what I feel and attempt to convey that
feeling in my lyrics and music. If I have managed to achieve that, then
the work is as complete as it can be at this point in my ilfe”.
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The
release of the You CD brought John critical acclaim, and resulted in
renewed interest in his career along with invitations to appear once
more in the UK. In the spring of 2004 John embarked on his first UK
tour for many years.
Together with Peter Noone, Brian Hyland, Wayne
Fontana and The Dakotas, this took the form of the “Solid
Silver Sixties 2004 Tour” which covered 56 dates in England, Scotland
and Wales – not exactly a gentle re-introduction to touring, but one
that John thoroughly enjoyed and excelled in.
Before commencing
this tour John had recorded his Silver Sixties Tour 2004 CD, which
included his set list for the tour, five new self-penned songs, and
some of the best songs from the You CD. He was joined in the
recording by Al “Tiny” Schneider on drums and background vocals, his
sister Judy also on background vocals, his wife Cynthia on keyboard
and vocals, and his good friend Ali Lester on bass guitar. This CD
combines some of the old Walker Brothers’ hits beautifully adapted by
John, together with his new material.
The tour itself resulted in many standing ovations for John all
over
the UK, showing him that the fans had never forgotten him despite his
long absence, and that he had always been considered a “star” in the
UK.
This point was aptly proven when the BBC invited him along for a
guest interview
on breakfast television in April 2004.
During his interview John
was able to express his feelings regarding his long overdue return
to touring. “The thing that I find most exciting is the reaction that
I’m getting from the audience because it's been so long for me. It
makes me feel unbelievably welcome. It’s like the audience and myself
are re-living some memories, and it’s very uplifting. I’m really
enjoying myself”.
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John returned to his California home at the end
of the tour, after a short and belated honeymoon in Europe with his new
wife Cynthia. At the time of writing John is currently working on his
next CD. The new release will combine John’s writing talents on
some fantastic new material, plus songs from other writers whom he
admires. John is also working on a DVD project, which will combine
footage of the 2004 tour with archive video material.
News of John's
next concert tour is anxiously awaited.
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