Jimmy Bain

Rock musician Born: December 19, 1947; Died: January 1, 2016

JIMMY Bain, who has died of lung cancer aged 68, enjoyed a highly successful decades-long career at or near the summit of international rock music.

The talented bass guitarist, songwriter and producer, who was born in the Speyside village of Newtonmore, worked in studios, wrote material and sometimes toured with an eclectic list of performers, including Kate Bush, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, John Cale, The Scorpions and Gary Moore.

However, he was at the peak of his multi-instrumental powers (he also played keyboards and lead guitar on occasions) with the band Rainbow in the mid-1970s and with Dio during the 1980s, rejoining the latter in 2000.

The former had been founded by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and Bain had major composing credits on Rainbow Rising, a seminal album that went platinum in America and set a benchmark for hard rock.

Bain also played on Rainbow’s live album, which has been re-released in several formats over the years. His reputation assured, he then formed his own band Wild Horses, which released two albums and toured several times; live gigging and the interaction with music fans was something from which Bain derived huge satisfaction.

But when his ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio came calling, Bain joined the American front-man and co-wrote several songs on Dio’s debut LP, Holy Diver. It became a critical and commercial success, selling more than one million copies in America and 60,000 in the UK. Bain played and co-wrote on three more studio albums by the group until 1981, and he rejoined it at the turn of the Millennium to play on Magica, issued in 2000, and Killing the Dragon in 2002, again touring widely.

Before forming Last in Line in 2013, Bain had played in the Hollywood Allstarz, featuring several heavy rock exponents from several bands.

Last in Line was virtually a re-creation of Dio, featuring Bain, Ulster guitarist Vivian Campbell, new American vocalist Andrew Freeman and Vincent “Vinny” Appice on drums.

Bain’s ability as an accomplished electric bassist was known from the very early 1970s when playing in Inverness and Edinburgh.

It is said that it was his reputation that drew Ritchie Blackmore to the then-legendary London Marquee Club, in Soho, to see him perform with his Scottish band, Harlot, a visit that clinched Bain’s joining Rainbow.

Bain’s parents and younger siblings had emigrated to Vancouver in the late 1960s, but he elected to stay to attempt a career in rock music.

With his slim figure, long curly hair and fashionable clothing, Bain looked every inch of how a 1970s rock star should appear.

After a dalliance with Caroline Barber, the eldest daughter of then Chancellor of the Exchequer Tony, he met a young Lady Sophia Crichton-Stuart, daughter of the Marquis of Bute.

The couple wed in 1979 and their daughter Samantha Ella Bain was born in early 1981. But the couple divorced in 1988, with Samantha Ella being brought up by her mother. Bain never re-married.

Throughout his lengthy career, he took his music seriously, with regular band rehearsals to try to ensure a “tight” stage show being the norm.

Regular touring schedules threatened to take their toll and Bain was the first to admit that drinking to excess could be a problem, although he believed his live performances were never adversely affected.

In 1985, he played a major role in setting up Hear ‘n Aid, a one-off collaboration of hard-rockers that he brought together to raise money for famine relief in Africa, co-writing the title track Stars.

It included members of Judas Priest, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Blue Oyster Cult and others. Bain and his Belfast-born band-mate Vivian Campbell had felt representation by hard and metal rockers was low in Band-Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas and in US for Africa’s We Are the World, so decided to do something about it.

But contractual issues between the different record labels delayed its release by six months, lessening its impact. Later, Ronnie James Dio said that Bain’s and Campbell’s original concept had raised in excess of $1 million (£689,000).

Bain’s long-term drummer colleague Vinny Appice said of his old bandmate: “Jimmy was a trouper. He gave his all to the band, to the music he loved and to the fans.”

At the time of his death, Bain had embarked on the four-day Hysteria on the High Seas Cruise, featuring several bands led by rockers Def Leppard.

It was to have been a prelude to a major international tour by Bain’s Last in Line to mark the release of their debut album Heavy Crown, on Thursday. Two singles from it, Blame It On Me and Starmaker, have been released as a tribute.