Chris Spedding was born in
Staveley, Derbyshire, He was also invited to play on
Jack Bruce's first and third solo albums,
Songs for a Tailor (1969) and
Harmony Row (1971). He was a session player on
Harry Nilsson's breakthrough album,
Nilsson Schmilsson, recorded in London. In 1970, he played on the original recording of
Jesus Christ Superstar, and in 1971 he also played on
Pieces of Me by
Linda Hoyle and
Coming from Reality by
Sixto Rodriguez, who was later the subject of the 2012 documentary
Searching for Sugar Man. During 1972–74, Spedding played a central role in
Sharks, initially with ex-
Free bassist
Andy Fraser. When further hits failed to materialise, he subsequently became better known as a session guitarist, appearing and recording with
Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music,
Elton John,
Brian Eno, Jack Bruce,
Nick Mason,
Art Garfunkel,
Typically Tropical,
Katie Melua and
Ginger Baker, amongst others. His own album
Chris Spedding (1975) was produced by
Mickie Most. Spedding recorded a
version of the American singer-songwriter
Garland Jeffreys' song, "Wild in the Streets", on his own
Hurt album. The song has since been covered by the
Circle Jerks and is featured on ''
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland''. Spedding was the producer of the
Sex Pistols' first
demos, which were recorded on 12 May 1976 at London's Majestic Studios, where he had recorded his contributions to Eno's album
Here Come the Warm Jets and the Sharks track "Kung Fu". His live album,
Friday the 13th was released in 1981. Although both the album and live shows received positive reviews, King Mob announced that they were disbanding in September 2012. In June 2014 Spedding appeared as a special guest playing guitar with
Bryan Ferry at the
2014 Glastonbury Festival. In 2017 and 2019 he toured the US with Ferry. == Associate bands ==