Iconic Archived News

Nigel Schofield reviews Peggy's 60th

There are certain musical events that pass into legend – gigs which people feel a need to claim they attended, even if they didn’t! Throughout the Saturday evening of 3 November 2008, one had a sense that one was attending just such an occasion.

That evening, Dave Pegg brought the audience in Birmingham Town Hall an astounding array of the fellow musicians, classic bands and far-reaching musical genres which have formed part of his fascinating career. At times, it was like being a drowning man having someone else’s life flash before your eyes.

The first half of the evening was a chronological career overview. It began, surprisingly in an evening full of surprises, with Peggy accompanying Paul Saunders in full medieval costume, playing Windybag on the hurdy gurdy. Paul acted as MC throughout the evening – with costume changes.

Next was the Brumbeat boom of the early 1960s with a band which Peggy never played with but always wanted to – The Moonrakers, represented by original members John Carter on vocals and guitar and Martin Barre on lead guitar. Martin would crop up in a more familiar guise later – as would Gerry Conway and Phil Bond. They provided a medley of beat-band favourites – Livin’ Doll, His Latest Flame, Three Steps To Heaven and Oh Boy. PJ Wright then joined Peggy for It Doesn’t Matter Anymore from their duo album, the song matching the era perfectly.

The Brum blues scene was represented by The Crawdaddies with Dave Peace and Peggy on lead guitar from the original band with Gerry Conway (whose stage hours was beaten only by Peggy on the night) and Matt Pegg on bass. Then The Ugleys took the stage with Steve Gibbons on vocals and Roger Hill on guitar. The Ugly Blues was the chosen song and Steve’s performance featured memory lapse and a fit of giggles.

With a recreation of The Exception proving impossible, Peggy opted to represent a parallel activity as Roger Hill was joined by Ric Sanders to provide a Hot Club take on Sweet Georgia Brown which truly swung.

Rock’n’roll, pop, beat, blues, jazz – as PJ remarked this was beginning to seem like “a thousand years of unpopular music." And so to folk.

There were many 'Wow!' moments that night, but one of the greatest was Ian Campbell teaming up with Dave Swarbrick and Peggy once more for a moving and apposite version of The Old Man’s Song.

Of course, Peggy is best known as a member of Fairport which is where we went next: a version of Dirty Linen from Full House, Peggy’s first album with the band. Peggy and Swarb were joined by Jerry Donahue, Simon Nicol and Gerry Conway who also revived The Hen’s March/ Four Poster Bed from Angel Delight. All these years on, its compact two-bar solos still brought laughter from the audience. From Fairport past to Fairport present as Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders took the stage to deliver a rocking Wait For The Tide To Come In.

The demise of Fairport at the end of the 1970s saw the rise of Woodworm Records, whose output was represented by Steve Ashley, backed by Fairport, for Feeling Lazy from The Family Album, one of the first Woodworm releases.

There could have been no other way to round off the first half than Jethro Tull – Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Peggy and Doane Perry on drums. There was even a guest appearance by Peggy’s original Tull costume! Bourree and Locomotive Breath were perhaps not the most startling of choices but the performance was astounding with Anderson in full one-legged flautist mode. The second song was enhanced by the inclusion of two more Tull drummers, Gerry Conway and Clive Bunker, with Maartin Allcock on piano.

After the interval we returned for a set which featured solo artists with whom Peggy has worked and all were on absolutely top form. David Hughes was first with a specially written tribute to Peggy, full of wry humour. Then Steve Tilston with a classic Here Comes The Night followed by the song he wrote for and about Fairport, Over The Next Hill.

Rather than just recreate a Peggy and PJ performance on this special occasion, the duo chose to expand to a four piece with Gerry and Matt for a rocking Donegan’s Gone (the duo's version of Linseed Memories would also feature later in the set, with Matt on bass and Tiny Tin Lady on backing vocals).

Next, we moved into line-ups which filled more of the stage. For Dance With Me, Anna Ryder was joined by PJ, Maart, Simon, Gerry and her daughter Oonagh on harmony vocals. To the swelling list of musical genres covered, add Country Rock.

For the first time in the evening, Peggy allowed himself time off stage, handing over the bass to Maart as Tom Leary was joined by Chris and Ric with Simon on guitar for a high speed Feast Of Fiddles medley.

Then Simon introduced Beth Neilsen Chapman who was joined by two of her band for her song Free. She then moved to the piano to introduce the song she sings on Box of Pegg’s – Sandy Denny’s Solo: Peggy returned to contribute his distinctive bass and Swarb and Jerry provided fiddle and guitar. The performance was spellbinding, a real high spot in a night of gems – one knew just how aware of memories of Sandy everyone on stage was at that moment.

Dan ar Bras came on to play both the songs he donated to Peggy’s box set: first was his tender and distinctive bilingual version of Rising for the Moon, the perfect choice within the set, and then his rocking instrumental Forces du Mal.

Ralph McTell was next and he gave us great versions of his songs Maddy Dances (which I hadn’t heard in years) and Weather The Storm.

Last up was The Dylan Project featuring Steve Gibbons and their medley of Like A Rolling Stone and Twist and Shout was a fitting climax to an astounding night.

Only the encores remained. Steve Ashley returned to lead Fairport in his song Best Wishes. And finally, during extra time generously allowed by Town Hall management, it was everyone on stage for Meet On The Ledge.

It was quite a night – but then it has been quite a career. On and off stage, a splendid time was had by all.

Happy Birthday Peggy!

Kevin Smith has supplied us with a selection of photographs of Iconic artists at Peggy's Birthday Bash – click on the 'Galleries' link in the panel on the left.

There is a further selection of photographs on the Shrodinger's Cat website and the site also hosts a video clip of Meet On The Ledge.

Story published 10 Nov 2007