John Goodsall

John Goodsall (born 15 February 1953) is a progressive rock & jazz fusion guitarist most noted for his work with Brand X, Atomic Rooster and The Fire Merchants. John Goodsall is currently touring with Brand X and performing with acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist James Bracken. Goodsall was born in Pennsylvania and has lived in Los Angeles, England, Milan and Minnesota. He began playing guitar at age 7. At 15, he became a professional musician and joined Carol Grimes' Babylon, with members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band, Juicy Lucy and Jon Hiseman's Colosseum. He then toured extensively, first with The Alan Bown Set, then with Atomic Rooster. For his stint with Atomic Rooster, he adopted the pseudonym "Johnny Mandala." After Brand X's 1979 world tour (the last with Phil Collins), Goodsall moved to Los Angeles and worked as a session musician and as a member of the band Zoo Drive (1980–1987) which included Doug Lunn, Paul Delph and Atomic Rooster drummer Ric Parnell (aka Mick Shrimpton of Spinal Tap). Goodsall also performed and/or recorded with Bill Bruford, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Adams, Toni Basil to name a few. In 1992, he also toured with bandmate Percy Jones and Ronnie Ciago, accompanying Swiss ex-Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz. The Fire Merchants released two albums, Fire Merchants and Landlords of Atlantis before Goodsall and Percy Jones re-formed Brand X as a trio in 1992 with drummer Frank Katz. Katz was in Jones' band Tunnels with whom Goodsall also recorded on their album Progressivity. This Brand X line-up released X-Communication and Manifest Destiny, which also featured Tunnels' midi-vibes player Marc Wagnon and some keyboards & composition by Franz Pusch. John Goodsall & Franz Pusch continue to work mostly in studio, recently on Franz's music with drummer Ronnie Ciago and Yes bassist Billy Sherwood. Pusch produced The Fire Merchants self-titled 1st album with Goodsall,Doug Lunn (bass) and Chester Thompson (drums).This trio was featured on Tamiya Lynn's album 'Silk' and other projects. Most of the keyboard/synthesiser sounds however in the Brand X & Fire Merchants trios were triggered by John's midi-guitar. In 1997 Brand X embarked on a 3-month tour of Europe & Japan as a quartet with John Goodsall, Percy Jones, keyboardist Kris Sjobring from Goodsall's L.A. based group Trancendental Medication, & drummer Pierre Moerlen from Gong. Later versions of this group released The X-Files and Missing Period, they played the west coast again in 1999 including a headline show at Progfest in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Goodsall has 2 daughters Germaine and Natasha. He played live with John Goodsall's Ghost Society in 2008. Recent albums featuring John Goodsall include Franz Pusch 'Only Visions' and Leon Alvarado 'Strangers in Strange Places'. John Goodsall continues to record on sessions for international projects in Japan, Germany, England, France, USA etc.