Wizz was born Raymond Jones in Thornton Heath on 25 April 1939 to Alice and Timothy A. Jones. His father survived three years of cruel slavery on the “Death Railway” in Burma. When he came home, Wizz’ mother had to explained that this strange man was his father. In 2005, Wizz recorded a song about that night and you can see him play it here with his own son, Simeon on the saxophone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNza5Bd-OCg
The night that my dad came home in 1945
The night that my dad came home, oh how my mother cried
She was washing my feet in a bowl by the fire
I must have been about 6 years old
A knock at the door, and that was the night no bedtime stories were told
The night that my dad came home, so lucky to be alive
Listed as missing in ‘42, oh how my mother cried
Out on the porch for an hour or more
Underneath the red, white and blue
Me waiting inside with the water now cold, I didn’t know what to do
The night that my daddy died in 1979
Oh how my mother cried
Thirty odd years in different jobs
He never seemed to settle down
Losing his money on the horses and dogs, and gambling all over the town
The night that my daddy died, in a hospital bed by the door
I was a man with an easy life, I never had to go to war
You could ask me for a photograph
He didn’t leave much for to show
Just the Burma Star in a tobacco tin and a broken radio
Wizz attended Oval School. His mother called him Wizzy after a Beano character Wizzy the Wuzz because at the age of 9 he used to perform card tricks. He went on to study at Selhurst Grammar School for Boys, where he felt out of his depth amongst the other boys, mostly from well-off professional families. After frequents absences due to migraines and physiotherapy sessions for curvature of the spine, he left school in 1955 with few qualifications. By then, the family already lived at 24 Oval Road and Wizz attended the drama section of the Sir Philip Game Boys Club.
Skiffle music was popular at the time and Wizz began to investigate its Black American roots. He bought his first blues record at Kennards – Hoogie Boogie, a 78 by John Lee Hooker. He and Mickey Borer (who lived opposite at 137 Oval Road) ran a copper wire across the street between their bedrooms so that they could “broadcast” records to each other. Wizz initially played the five-string banjo, because he saw it played by Jack Elliott and Derroll Adams, but then went onto the guitar in 1956. He was inspired to take up the guitar by hearing musicians such as Big Bill Broonzy, Rambling Jack Elliott and Muddy Waters play at The Roundhouse in Wardour Street, a club organised by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner.
By then Wizz was working at a warehouse in the City of London. One morning Ewan McColl was in the same carriage on his train from East Croydon station. Wizz knew him by sight from clubs in Soho and they started talking. He saw him regularly after that and found out that he lived in Park Hill Rise. Once he was invited to his house to meet Big Bill Broonzy himself.
The following year, Wizz formed a skiffle group called “The Wranglers” with Mickey Borer. Roy Hudd asked them to play at one of the Boy’s Club Concerts – their first ever gig. After that they played a regular gig every Friday night at The Leslie Arms (and sometimes at the Orchid Ballroom in Purley, the roller- skating rink in Brixton and at the Granada in Thornton Heat before an early Elvis Presley film). The Wranglers entered a nationwide competition, the winners of which would be given a record contract. They got through to the final heat, only to be beaten by a group called The Spacemen (whose star guitarist was Joe Brown). Each group that entered was given a consolation prize of a 78rpm disc of their performance. In The Wranglers case this was a cover of “Mind Your Own Business” by Hank Williams. When Mickey Borer left the band soon after to join Cliff Bennet and the Rebel Rousers, The Wranglers split up.
Wizz left Croydon in 1958/59, more or less kicked out of the house. He moved into a rented attic room in near Marble Arch and embraced the bohemian lifestyle of Soho. In April 1959 he hitched hiked to Cornwall and continued travelling for the next few years throughout Europe and Morocco, mostly with his girlfriend Sandy Westlake. They married in 1963 and had four children. Wizz continued to pursue a modest career as a guitarist. Although he enjoyed considerable success on the continent, he was less well-known in England, despite being mentioned as an important early influence on such guitarists as Eric Clapton, John Renbourn, Keith Richard and Ralph McTell.
Wizz’ final performance was on 28 February 2025 and he died less than two months later at the age of 86.
Sources
Croydon Street Directory 1955
Groom, C., 1998. Rockin’ and around Croydon. Wombat Publishing: 18-20.
Jones, W., 2015. Liner notes for “Life on the Road 1964-2014” CD (Sunbeam Records)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/30/wizz-jones-obituary
East Croydon Community Organisation 