English singer Jackie Lomax, who was an early artist on the Beatles’ Apple label, died on Sunday while in England for the wedding of one of his children. He was 69.
Lomax began his career in the Liverpool area first with the band Dee and the Dynamites followed by The Undertakers. The group followed the Beatles to Hamburg, Germany and were signed by Pye Records which released four singles, only one of which charted (Just a Little Bit).
Brian Epstein signed his next group, The Lomax Alliance, shortly before his death and got them a deal at CBS but two singles from the group and one solo disc did not chart. Still, George Harrison and Apple Records took notice and signed Lomax to the label with Harrison taking a major role in Jackie’s production.
During the short time that Apple was a working entity, Lomax released three singles and the album Is This What You Want? to little commercial success despite having a studio band that included Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Nicky Hopkins. Post-Apple, Lomax joined the group Heavy Jelly who recorded a full album of Jackie’s songs but was never commercially released.
The 70’s were spent split between the U.S. and Britain with stints at Warner Brothers, Epic and Capitol, recording albums at all three labels but not finding success. His last album for a major label was 1977’s Did You Ever Have That Feeling?
In 1978, Lomax settled in the U.S., playing bass in the touring bands of such groups as the Drifters, the Coasters and the Diamonds along with a number of local Los Angeles groups. He recorded his first solo album in 24 years, The Ballad of Liverpool Slim, and, in 2003, returned to play Liverpool’s Cavern Club. Since then, he has returned to play in Liverpool a number of times.
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