Jim Cregan

Jim Cregan — bass and guitar on Family's final studio LP It's Only A Movie (1973), and a member of the band's last touring lineup — joined Family in the summer of 1972 as John Wetton's replacement, played the band's last fourteen months, and rejoined the 2013–2016 Family reunion shows alongside Roger Chapman, Rob Townsend and Poli Palmer. Born 9 March 1946 in Yeovil, Somerset, Cregan's pre-Family CV ran through Blossom Toes, Stud and the British psych-progressive circuit; his post-Family career took him through Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and a long-running association with Rod Stewart as bandleader, songwriting partner and co-producer.

Yeovil to Blossom Toes (1960–1969)

Born in Yeovil, raised in Poole, Dorset, Cregan picked up the guitar as a teenager and was performing in bands by fourteen. The Falcons at school, then the Dissatisfied Blues Band, and a brief 1967 stint with Julian Covay & the Machine alongside Dave Mason.

Later in 1967 he joined The Ingoes — the band that within months evolved into Blossom Toes, the British psychedelic group whose two cult-classic albums We Are Ever So Clean (1967) and If Only For A Moment (1969) bracketed Cregan's first meaningful international exposure. The We Are Ever So Clean sessions also placed him in the orbit of producer Giorgio Gomelsky (formerly of the Yardbirds) and the Marmalade Records roster — the same Marmalade that signed Poli Palmer's pre-Family band Deep Feeling.

Sessions and Stud (1969–1972)

Post-Blossom Toes Cregan moved into session work and a string of progressive-folk projects. He played on Julie Driscoll's 1971 self-titled album and Shawn Phillips' Second Contribution (1971), and contributed extensively to Linda Lewis's 1970s catalogue: Lark (1972), Fathoms Deep (1973), Not a Little Girl Anymore (1975) and Woman Overboard (1977) — Lewis being a regular Family circle collaborator who would later record with Palmer too.

In 1971 he co-founded Stud with John Weider (then leaving Family) and the Taste rhythm section of Richard McCracken and John Wilson. The band recorded three albums (Stud, September, Goodbye: Live at Command Studios) and built a particularly strong following on the German BASF label.

Family (mid-1972 – October 1973)

Cregan was the man who actually phoned John Wetton with the original Family offer — "Strangely enough the day I got back from America I got a call from a friend of mine (Jim Cregan) who asked if I wanted to join Family," Wetton later remembered. When Wetton decided to leave for King Crimson in mid-1972, Cregan stepped into the bass chair he had once recommended to someone else.

He played bass and second guitar across the It's Only A Movie sessions of spring 1973 (Knowle Hall and the Stones Mobile in Cornwall) and toured the band's final UK and European dates through autumn 1973. The 13 October 1973 Leicester Polytechnic show — the band's last — was Cregan's final Family gig until forty years later.

Cockney Rebel and Rod Stewart (1974–1989)

Chapman and Whitney continued their partnership as Streetwalkers after Family broke up; Cregan moved to Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, playing on The Best Years of Our Lives (1975), including the No. 1 single Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), then contributing to Timeless Flight (1976), Love's a Prima Donna (1976) and the live Face to Face (1977), plus Harley's solo Hobo with a Grin (1978).

The biggest chapter of his post-Family career began in 1977 when he joined Rod Stewart's band. Across the next thirteen years he served as Stewart's lead guitarist, bandleader, co-producer and primary songwriting partner, contributing to Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977), Blondes Have More Fun (1978), Foolish Behaviour (1980), Tonight I'm Yours (1981), Body Wishes (1983), Camouflage (1984), Every Beat of My Heart (1986), Out of Order (1988) and the production work on Storyteller: The Complete Anthology (1989), Unplugged…and Seated (1993) and Spanner in the Works (1995). He co-wrote the platinum singles Forever Young, Passion and Tonight I'm Yours — three ASCAP Awards for outstanding songwriting and a Grammy nomination for Forever Young.

Producer, songwriter, sideman (1990s–present)

Subsequent decades took him through producer credits on The London Quireboys' A Bit of What You Fancy (1990), Glass Tiger's Air Time (1993) and Roger Chapman's One More Time For Peace (2007); session and co-writing work with Mike Batt (Tarot Suite, 1979; Waves, 1980), Bruce Roberts, Rita Coolidge, Bernie Taupin's Farm Dogs (Last Stand in Open Country, 1996; Immigrant Sons, 1998), and Katie Melua (Call off the Search, 2003; Piece by Piece, 2005). The Rod Stewart partnership intermittently resumed for the late-period Storyteller and Unplugged projects.

He married Hollywood model Jane Booke and lived in Los Angeles for many years; on Steve Harley's BBC Radio 2 show in January 2004 he announced he had grown tired of LA and was relocating back to the UK. He maintains jimcregan.com as his ongoing public hub.

The 2013–2016 Family reunion

Forty years after the Leicester Polytechnic dissolution, Cregan was on the Family reunion lineup that reformed for two London shows on 1–2 February 2013 alongside Chapman, Townsend and Palmer. The reunion played the Rockin' The Park festival at Clumber Park on 16 August 2013 and continued with a limited run of dates through 2016. Of all the post-1971 Family members, Cregan and Townsend are the two who showed up for both the original and the reformed band.

Selected discography

With Family — It's Only A Movie (Raft, 1973) · 2013–2016 reunion shows

Pre-Family

• The Ingoes / Blossom Toes — We Are Ever So Clean (1967) · If Only For A Moment (1969)
• Julian Covay & the Machine (1967)
• Stud — Stud · September · Goodbye: Live at Command Studios (1971–1972)
• Sessions: Julie Driscoll Julie Driscoll (1971); Shawn Phillips Second Contribution (1971)
• Linda Lewis — Lark (1972) · Fathoms Deep (1973) · Not a Little Girl Anymore (1975) · Woman Overboard (1977)

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel

• The Best Years of Our Lives (1975), including Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) · Timeless Flight (1976) · Love's a Prima Donna (1976) · Face to Face (live, 1977) · Steve Harley Hobo with a Grin (1978)

With Rod Stewart (1977–1989, bandleader / co-producer / co-writer)

• Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) · Blondes Have More Fun (1978) · Foolish Behaviour (1980) · Tonight I'm Yours (1981) · Body Wishes (1983) · Camouflage (1984) · Every Beat of My Heart (1986) · Out of Order (1988) · Storyteller (production, 1989) · Unplugged…and Seated (production, 1993) · Spanner in the Works (production, 1995)
• Co-writes: Forever Young, Passion, Tonight I'm Yours (3× ASCAP Award; Grammy nomination for Forever Young)

Selected production / co-writing / sessions

• Mike Batt — Tarot Suite (1979) · Waves (1980)
• Bruce Roberts — Bruce Roberts (1978)
• The London Quireboys — A Bit of What You Fancy (1990, producer)
• Rita Coolidge — Love Lessons (1992)
• Glass Tiger — Air Time (1993, producer)
• Rod Stewart / Various — A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (1994)
• Farm Dogs (with Bernie Taupin) — Last Stand in Open Country (1996) · Immigrant Sons (1998)
• Katie Melua — Call off the Search (2003) · Piece by Piece (2005)
• Roger Chapman — One More Time For Peace (2007, producer)

Born: 9 March 1946, Yeovil, Somerset
Family tenure: mid-1972 – October 1973 · 2013–2016 reunions
Instruments: bass, guitar, vocals

Sources: Steve Harley BBC Radio 2 (January 2004); Jim Cregan official site (jimcregan.com); DMME interview (linked from same); "Faulty Towers" — John Bungey, MOJO (August 1996), in the Press Archive; John Wetton, My Own Time (1997); Discogs.