Jim Lea

James Whild Lea (born 14 June 1949, the Melbourne Arms Pub, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England) is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in the English rock band, Slade. Lea was the nearest thing Slade had to a trained musician. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first musical love was the violin. He attended Codsall Comprehensive School - now... more

James Whild Lea (born 14 June 1949, the Melbourne Arms Pub, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England) is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in the English rock band, Slade. Lea was the nearest thing Slade had to a trained musician. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first musical love was the violin. He attended Codsall Comprehensive School - now Codsall High School. He played in the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra, and gained first class honours in a London music-school practical exam, before moving on to piano, guitar and finally bass guitar. He first played guitar, and then bass, in the schoolboy group 'Nick and The Axemen', then went for auditions for a local band, 'The N'Betweens'. Drummer Don Powell, guitarist Dave Hill and vocalist Johnny Howells were already members, and when Noddy Holder joined soon after, the foundations for Slade had been laid. Howells later left the band.... less