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or, "The Odyssey of a long-time 'British Rocker'..." 

A Tribute to all my "Comrades-in-Music" 
Music has been good to me, and I wanted to take an opportunity to give a brief overview of my guitar-playing “odyssey” – spanning over forty years – and also give my own special recognition and thanks to the people who’ve been part of this journey.
Promo Picture - 1981: See 'Photo Gallery'
Promo Picture -
Chicago, 1981
Being part of the music scene in Great Britain when the “British Invasion” was just beginning, I feel very fortunate to have “done the tours” of Germany and Europe when British Rock was being formed. But I also feel fortunate to have lived in the United States since 1966, and to have made music and raised my family in the Chicago-land area. Peter in Colorado - '02: See 'Photo Gallery'
On Vacation -
Colorado, 2002
This Web Site is dedicated to all the people - musicians, friends, family, and supporters - who have made it possible for a “long-time Rocker” from the Mother Country to ply his trade and keep the music going for as long as he has.

I also wanted to give some of my old “compadres” – my comrades-in-music – a chance to reminisce with pictures and song clips that they were part of. This is for all of us…

Part I: Born in Britain and hooked on Bill Haley…

I was born October 22nd, 1940, in Grange Road, Croydon, Surrey, England. Most people aren’t aware of it, but Croydon is a very large city to the south of London, and was home to some of the premier British guitarists and musicians that are now well-known in America and other countries.

I was born (prematurely, as I'm told) in the basement of my parent’s grocery shop during an air raid by the German Luftwaffe. (Of course, I wasn’t aware of that fact at the time, but maybe that experience had something to do with my becoming a musician; you never know…)

There was always music in the house; my father, two of my uncles and one of my aunts all played piano. I also had an uncle who ran a dance band on the south coast of England in the Sussex area.
However, I really didn’t get serious about music  until the early 'Fifties - when I first heard Bill Haley and the Comets on a record at a New Year’s party.

I suppose I wasn’t alone in this reaction, but I couldn’t believe the sound I was hearing. It was the electric guitar, although at the time I didn’t know what was creating that terrific sound.

From that point on I bought every record that had a guitar on it. Most of the records were worn out within a few days – as they were 78 rpm’s – and you had to replace the needle every time you played the record.

 Practicing in London: See 'Photo Gallery'
Practicing in London...
As you can imagine, it was a very slow process, playing and replaying again and again (and again and again and again…) at 16 rpm – slowing down the record so I could learn the solos.

And at some point I even learned how to tune my guitar. God only knows, it must have sounded bloody awful up to that point, and I formally apologize now to all the people who had to listen to it at the time!

Next: The London Years – Bands, Friends and Guitars in the ‘Fifties…


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