Marshall Amplification plc - Jack of All Musical Trades

Jack of All Musical Trades

James Charles Marshall, the founder of Marshall Amplification, was born on July 29, 1923 in the English working-class town of North Kensington. At the age of five, he was diagnosed with tubercular bones, a condition that can leave the bones fragile and hypersensitive to pressure. As a result, he was confined to a full body cast in a local hospital for all of his childhood. When he emerged from the cast nine years later at age 14, Marshall rejected the idea of working in his father's fish-and-chips shop, opting instead for better paying jobs in local factories. At the same time, he took up tap dancing and singing and was soon performing in local music halls almost every night of the week. He later told Rick Maloof, "I was earning as much money at 14 as any adult." Ineligible for military service during World War II, Marshall sang with a jazz septet. When the group's drummer went off to the war, Marshall was persuaded to take his place.

It was a fateful decision. By the end of the 1940s, he had become one of the United Kingdom's top singers and drummers. During the 1950s, he began to teach drumming, in particular drumming for the upstart rock and roll music that was beginning to capture the imagination of young people in England. His lessons attracted so many students that Marshall was soon making more money as a teacher than from all his other work combined. By the end of the 1950s, Marshall had given up performing altogether to concentrate on teaching. In July 1960, he opened a drum shop, Jim Marshall & Son, in suburban London. The shop was an immediate success. He already had a loyal clientele composed of his drum students, some of whom would soon play a critical role in sixties rock. His drum students soon began to introduce him to guitarists. Drummer Keith Moon, for example, brought in Pete Townsend and bass player John Entwhistle, the three of whom, along with singer Roger Daltrey, would soon form The Who. Townsend began to badger Marshall to add guitars and amplifiers to his stock. "We'd prefer to come to you than go to West End where we're treated like absolute idiots," Townsend told Marshall. Marshall added guitars and basses to his stock and was soon catering to the burgeoning London rock scene.