Education
Born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, Rostill attended Rutlish School in south London (1953-1959).
Born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, Rostill attended Rutlish School in south London (1953-1959).
He worked with several artists before joining the Shadows, including Bournemouth band the Interns – nowadays sometimes confused with Welsh band the Interns, who were based in London at this time signed with Tito Burns Agency. In fact, they were two different bands – the Flintstones and a stint as part of Zoot Money"s early backing band. He also played in the bands recruited to back such visiting artists as the Everly Brothers and Tommy Roe.
Stylistically, Rostill combined the solidity of Brian Locking and the adventurousness of Jet Harris.
Many of his bass lines were heavily syncopated and he developed a range of new sounds on the Burns bass during his time with the group, a longer period than Harris and Locking put together. To many players, Rostill was ahead of his time and included double-stopping in his technique.
Unusually for that time, Rostill sometimes played bass finger-style as well as with a plectrum, depending on the sound he wanted. After the Shadows" break-up at the end of the 1960s, Rostill toured with Tom Jones.
Although he was not involved in the Marvin, Welch & Farrar project – he was with Tom Jones at the time (1970-1972) – he would have been a part of subsequent Shadows projects had he not died in November 1973, when he was electrocuted in his home recording studio.
Rostill was a prolific songwriter, contributing to the Shadows" output from the start (both as a solo composer and as part of the mid-sixties "Marvin/Welch/Bennett/Rostill" team). This combination composed the hits "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt" (a United Kingdom no 5, 1964) and “Genie with the Light Brown Lamp" (United Kingdom no 17, 1965). They also wrote the Cliff Richard and the Shadows hits, "I Could Easily Fall (In Love with You)" (United Kingdom no 6, 1964), "Time Drags By" (United Kingdom no 10, 1966) and "In the Country" (United Kingdom no 6, 1967).
He later went on to write for other artists such as Elvis Presley and Olivia Newton-John ("Let Maine Be There" (United States no 6, 1973), "If You Love Maine, Let Maine Know" (United States no 5, 1974) and "Please Mr.
Please" (United States no 3, 1975), the latter co-written with Bruce Welch). As a Shadow, Rostill played a prototype Burns "Shadows" bass guitar which differed from the production model that followed.
A replica of his bass was produced by Burns London in late 2006. His personal favourite instrument was a Fender Jazz bass, which he played in both the Terry Young Band and in Bournemouth band, the Interns.
He also used it with the Shadows towards the end when the Burns instrument began to wear out.
John Rostill died in Radlett, Hertfordshire, England, on 26 November 1973. He was electrocuted by his guitar owing to faulty or incorrectly earthed electrical equipment. His body was found by Bruce Welch.
Early career
1963 – Zoot Money Quartet
Zoot Money (keyboards).
Andy Summers (guitar). Jimmy Shipstone (guitar).
John Rostill (bass). Colin Allen (drums)
1964 – The Interns
Aladdin (appeared with Cliff Richard)
Cinderella (appeared with Cliff Richard).