Richard ‘Rockpile’ Jones, Ol’ 55 Voice Of Looking For An Echo, Dies

Wilbur Wilde has announced the death of Richard ‘Rockpile’ Jones, the founding Ol’ 55 guitarist and vocalist whose distinctive falsetto helped make Looking For An Echo one of the enduring Australian rock’n’roll revival recordings of the 1970s.

by Paul Cashmere

Richard ‘Rockpile’ Jones, founding guitarist and vocalist with Australian rock’n’roll revival band Ol’ 55, has died. The news was announced by his former bandmate Wilbur Wilde, who paid tribute to Jones as “a true original” and remembered some of the best moments of his career as being on stage with him.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of Richard ‘Rockpile’ Jones,” Wilde wrote on Facebook. “A true original and a much-loved member of Ol’55, Rockpile was the unforgettable voice of ‘Looking for an Echo’, a song that still resonates with audiences today.”

Wilde added, “Some of the best moments I’ve had on stage have been with Rockpile. He always wowed audiences (and all the chicks!).”

Wilde ended the tribute simply: “Vale Rockpile. Thanks for the music and the memories.”

No cause of death or further details surrounding Jones’ death have been publicly given in the announcement.

Jones was 74. Born in 1952, he was one of the musicians at the heart of Ol’ 55 from its earliest days, initially playing rhythm guitar and singing in the Sydney covers band Fanis. Fanis had formed in Sutherland in 1972 with Jones, Patrick “Meatballs” Drummond, Jimmy Manzie and Geoff Plummer among its members. When music journalist Glenn A. Baker became involved as manager in 1975, the group was reshaped, Peter Brian became Frankie J. Holden, Nick Aitken became Wilbur Wilde and Fanis was renamed Ol’ 55 after the Tom Waits song.

The band’s first Ol’ 55 performance was at the Grange Disco in Pitt Street, Sydney, on 4 July 1975. The group quickly established a distinctive identity, combining 1950s rock’n’roll clothing and imagery with strong vocal harmonies, theatrical presentation and a mixture of old favourites and original material.

Jones became one of its most important singers. Although Frankie J. Holden was initially the frontman and lead vocals were shared among the members, Jones increasingly became the principal voice of Ol’ 55 as the line-up changed. His high falsetto and wide vocal range were particularly distinctive. By 1977, after Holden and Wilde had left, Jones and Manzie were sharing lead vocals, with Jones taking an increasingly prominent role.

That voice was heard most memorably on “Looking for an Echo”, Ol’ 55’s 1976 recording of the song written by American songwriter Richard Reicheg. The song reached No. 9 on the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart and became one of the band’s signature recordings. Jones did not write the song, but his vocal performance became inseparable from the Australian version.

Jones was also the voice of other Ol’ 55 recordings, including “C’mon Let’s Do It”, which reached No. 24 in 1977, and he shared lead vocals during the band’s move towards a more contemporary sound on “(Feels Like A) Summer’s Night”.

Despite being central to the sound and stage identity of Ol’ 55, Jones was not one of the band’s principal songwriters. Most of the original material was written by Jimmy Manzie. “On the Prowl”, “Skateboard Thrills”, “Stay (While the Night Is Still Young)”, “(Feels Like A) Summer’s Night” and “Time to Rock ‘n’ Roll” are credited to Manzie, while “(I Want A) Rockin’ Christmas” and “C’mon Let’s Do It” were co-written by Glenn A. Baker and Manzie.

Jones and Patrick Drummond remained committed to the original rock’n’roll direction when tensions developed within Ol’ 55 over the band’s move towards power pop. The two guitarists eventually left the original line-up and retained the rights to the Ol’ 55 name, rebuilding the band with new members. That version continued into the early 1980s and produced another national hit with a cover of Lou Christie’s “Two Faces Have I”, which reached No. 15 in 1980. Ol’ 55 eventually folded in 1983.

For Jones, however, the end of the original run was not the end of Ol’ 55. He continued performing, including with subsequent versions and reunions of the band. In 1982, he reunited with Holden, Wilde, Manzie and Plummer as The Fives for the Mushroom Evolution concert celebrating Mushroom Records’ 10th anniversary. Further Ol’ 55 reunions followed, including appearances in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Jones was also involved in the 2001 Ol’ 55 recording Should’a Been Here Yesterday.

A 2016 Ol’ 55 anthology, Time To Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Anthology, again highlighted Jones’ importance to the band’s recorded legacy, describing the collection as showcasing both songwriter Jimmy Manzie and Jones’ distinctive vocals. The original members also continued to reunite for special performances, with Jones still appearing alongside Holden, Wilde and Drummond decades after the band’s first success.

Jones leaves behind a recorded legacy tied particularly strongly to a song he did not write but made his own. “Looking for an Echo” remains the clearest reminder of what made Ol’ 55 different: the music was built around old-fashioned rock’n’roll, but the voices, personalities and chemistry belonged unmistakably to the Australian musicians who performed it.

For Wilbur Wilde, the loss is also personal. “Some of the best moments I’ve had on stage have been with Rockpile,” he wrote.

For anyone who heard Ol’ 55 in their 1970s prime, the memory is likely to be the same. The voice of Rockpile Jones is preserved every time “Looking for an Echo” plays.

Watch the 2016 Noise11 Ol’ 55 interview: