He was a guitarist and singer-songwriter born in Portstewart, Northern Ireland.
While still a teenager he became a member of the showband The Skyrockets in Enniskillen. In 1964 he co-founded Gene and the Gents with other Skyrockets members but eventually joined the band The People in Portadown. They were signed up in 1967 and after changing their name to Eire Apparent they went to London and toured with groups that included Amen Corner, The Move, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pink Floyd.
He went back to Ireland and joined Sweeney’s Men but returned to London to work with Joe Cocker’s backing group, The Grease Band, and would become the only Irishman ever to have performed at Woodstock.
In 1970 he appeared on the original recording of Jesus Christ Superstar and in 1972 he was invited by Paul McCartney to join Wings. He is remembered for his guitar solo on “My Love”. After leaving Wings after “musical differences” in 1973 he recorded a solo album, performed in concerts and did session work with artists such as Marianne Faithful, Ronnie Lane, Frankie Miller, Spooky Tooth, Donovan and Eric Burdon among others.
He moved back to Ireland after suffering a hand injury and before long formed a new band. After several years he appeared with a Polish band in 1998, recording an album and touring with them. He wrote and recorded the song “Failed Christian” which was later covered by Nick Lowe.
He is remembered for the line “I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time” after the song “Money” on the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon.
He had a heart attack in 2012 and several years died in 2016 in Ballywindell, Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, when he was 72 years old.
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