He played bass for The Shadows until April 1962 when he began his career as a solo artist.
He played clarinet as a teenager and later built a four-string double bass that he played with a local jazz group.
He was awarded with the Fender Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 for helping to make the bass guitar popular in Britain.
He was the only child of Bill and Winifred Harris.
He played in bands with Cliff Richards in the late 1950s.