Larry Gott

Larry Gott (born James Lawrence Gott, 24 July 1957 in Manchester) is a musician, primarily of the Mancunian band, James.He is also a designer.

Music

Within the band Gott mainly played guitar and provided backing vocals, but also keyboards and the flute on earlier albums. Prior to joining the band, he had been the guitar tutor for founder members Jim Glennie and Paul Gilbertson. He was later invited to join the band after Gilbertson's playing began to decline due to his drug problems, which eventually led to Gilbertson's sacking. Gott was to remain with James throughout the heyday of their career, forming part of what is considered to be the core nucleus of James, together with singer Tim Booth and bassist Glennie.

Gott announced his intention to leave the band in 1995, after the "Laid" / "Wah Wah" albums. According to the band's "Foklore" biography by Stuart Maconie he was exhausted from the pressures of touring and wanted to spend more time with his family. He stayed in close contact with the other band members during the following year, writing and recording most of the songs on the band's following album "Whiplash" effectively as a regular member. He went on to study Art and Design and subsequently pusued a career designing modern furniture. He also taught music lessons at colleges around Manchester, including Manchester College Of Arts And Technology.

Gott made two guest appearances on the band's so-called 'farewell tour' in 2001 at the MEN and Wembley Arenas. Following the band's apparent split, he started to work with bassist Glennie in low key, informal improvisation sessions.

During these intervening years, Gott also worked with Manchester maveric Edward Barton on an, as yet, unreleased album.

James reformed in January 2007, and Gott is very much at the centre of the reformation, reprising his duties as lead guitarist.

Design

Gott studied 3 Dimensional Design at Manchester Metropolitan University graduating in 2000.His work, similar to his guitar playing, followed the Kiss principle and found favour among the established design community. His "reaction recliner" won many plaudits and awards including the "Allemuir Award for Industry" and the prestigious "Blueprint Award for Creativity" presented by the renowned Milanese architect Mario Bellini at the 2001 "100% design" show at London Earls Court. An early prototype of this design resides in the permanent collection of the "Manchester City Art Gallery."

Another of Gott's award winning pieces, an outdoor chair and table set made from wire mesh, caught the eye of Sir Terence Conran and subsequently retailed in the Conran shops worldwide under Gott's brandname "MeshMan"