A Life In Music: Dave Pegg - a bass player with serious history

'One of the world's top bass players - within my price range'

Dave Pegg has played Bass with one group for half a century: the excellent Fairport Convention. Fairport have one of the most tumultuous histories in British Folk-Rock. But, like many groups that survive that long, they have a spectacularly loyal following, and that now means that they are on a more stable footing than at any time in their history.

But before Fairport, there was Rock, gigging five nights a week in the effervescent 60s Birmingham pubrock scene, a stint with the legendary Ian Campbell Group, and the not insignificant matter of 15 years holding down the bass chair with Jethro Tull.

In the podcast, one thing struck me forcibly - when Dave describes the 1970 band as getting really good, really fast. I think this illustrates that statement perfectly. Just look at Peggy go!




Peggy, as everyone calls him, has a stock of anecdotes... catching a Bjork show with Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin in Sydney, Australia, or booking the 83 year-old Petula Clark for Fairport's Cropedy Convention. He has an encyclopaedic memory, and can reel off the names of obscure bands he cut his teeth with back in the day.  A great man to pass time with over a pint.

This is a companion blog piece to go with the Dave Pegg Lives in Music Podcast. You can jump to all the podcast episodes here - there are 17 other Lives in Music available right now - or scroll down to listen to the embedded player on this page. 

Links

Fairport Convention
Ian Campbell Folk Group wiki
Dave Pegg wiki
Jethro Tull

Lives in Music

The Lives in Music series celebrates people who have spent a lifetime in music. They may be famous; they may be people who have spent their lives working in the background for the love of it. They all have stories. Lives in Music is a Radio To Go production.

The intro and outro music in this series comes from the great bass player Mike Hatton, who you can hear interviewed in series 1, here. 'Everything Changes' is included in his excellent 2019 album 'Bassic Salvation'.

Published in Series 2  (series 1 episodes listed here)

1 - Brian Travers of UB40
2 - Ricky Cool
3 - Mark 'Foxy' Robinson of the CBSO
4 - Roy Adams
5 - Gavin Monaghan of Magic Garden studios 
6 - John Mostyn
7 - Stewart Johnson: taking UK Country back across the pond
8 - Dave Pegg
9 - Roy Willams (JB's, Little Acre, Weapon of Peace, Robert Plant)
10 - Simon Duggal (Simon & Diamond, Apache Indian, Shania Twain, Desi Beats)

The Podcast

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