Forefather of rock n roll gear and sound, Jim Marshall died at the age of 88 on April 5 2012.
The "Lord Of Loud" and the man behind Marshall amps passed away in a hospice in Milton Keynes. As legend has it, Marshall was inspired to make and sell amplifiers by the Who's Pete Townshend. According to Sky news his son Terry Marshall stated the following after Marshall's death " 'He got cancer toward the end of last year, and had surgery for that, and it came back. He was in a terrible state the last five or six weeks. He's in a much better place now.' Not surprisingly tributes have been flowing for the man that was not only a living legend an pioneer of sound but a generous philanthropist having been awarded and OBE in 2003 for "services to the music industry and to charity".
The Marshall website published the following statement, "It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall. While mourning the Guv’nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life.
Jim’s ascent into the history books as ‘the Father of Loud’ and the man responsible for ‘the Sound of Rock’ is a true rags-to-riches tale. Cruelly robbed of his youth by tubercular bones, Jim rose to become one of the four forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar as we know and love it today to be born. The ground breaking quartet also included the late, great trio of Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover – together with Jim, they truly are the cornerstones of all things rock.
In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes.
While the entire Marshall Amplification family mourns Jim’s passing and will miss him tremendously, we all feel richer for having known him and are happy in the knowledge that he is now in a much better place which has just got a whole lot louder!
Rest in Peace & thank you Jim.
Your memory; the music and joy your amps have brought to countless millions for the past five decades; and that world-famous, omnipresent script logo that proudly bears your name will always live on."
Slash also paid tribute via twitter “The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening. R & R will never be the same w/out him. But, his amps will live on FOREVER!”
Bass player for Motely Crue Nikki Sixx also tweeted " R.I.P. Jim Marshall. You were responsible for some of the greatest audio moments in music's history and 50% of all our hearing loss......"
Paul Weller made a tribute to Jim Marshal on U.K station's Radio Four's Front Row programme last Thusday. When asked by the presenter what he thought "it "was about the sound Jim Marshall created, Weller responded " Well theres two things really, one was the was just the amount of volume and level you could get out of them " Weller's response to his own 40 year old Marshall amp " Its probably at least 40 years old and it still sounds fantastic, its just got a really sweet sound you know, it's got levels, it's got cut to it, but it's also got a certain sweetness to it . For me it's exactly the right amp, it's the right thing for the job and I don't think anyone has really particularly improved upon it to be honest."
