TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

So, an ‘autobiography’ is promised in time for Cropredy. What with this and Maart’s book, looks like I’ll get my “Woodworm Years” history after all! Or will I? Schofield’s down as co-writer for Peggy. Who’d like to start the speculation on whether this will be another cut n’ paste leftovers job, or an insightful look back at fifty years plus of an insider’s take on ‘The Business’. I should stress that I have not been interviewed for this, and so my rip-roaring story of how I gave him a fag outside the Colchester Arts Centre once will probably not have made the cut.

I saw the announcement of this on FB and then spotted the co-author credit and just thought "Oh dear." Expect an error strewn, superficial and fawning canter. It may be as well that Swarb is not around to see this. I hope to be proved wrong.

Nice cover though.

https://www.facebook.com/Fairportofficial/photos/a.118095884882783.17462.112360318789673/2487166271309054/?type=3

Just hope it'll be arramged chronologically, rather than thematically.  :)

My thoughts as well.  I'm much more excited about Iain's book tbh (although I'll probably give in and read this so Peggy and Nigel will get their cash and care not one jot...).  Someone else says they like the cover.  It made me wince....  :-\

Awful cover imo.

Jules

Why are so many peeps being so negative??
Is the heat getting too much for some of you?

Have you never heard the phrase... Don't Judge a Book by its Cover??

Stop it and behave!

sorry. yes, mum

Because we have read the works of Mr Schofield before, most recently the risible notes on the live album. It does not inspire confidence.

Hi Shane. Can I ask when this was as I go to the Colchester Arts Centre quite often as I live near Maldon in Essex

My first reactions were"not Schofield again!" and like Jules i think he could have chosen a much better cover.
I weep because I care.

Babbacombe Lee revisited tour. Cocker Freeman introduced me. There was some talk about not breaking into the alternate version of The Sailor’s Alphabet...  :)

When that pretty terrible Schofield-authored book about FC came out in 2013 and caused widespread disappointment and the final rift with Swarb, wasn't there a promise of a warts-and-all book (*not* Swarb's one) that was already in the works and would be coming out subsequently? I'm sure there was.

I saw a book on FC by Clinton Haylin at Cropredy based around the interviews he did for his Sandy book plus additional ones done in 2016. Can't remember its name as I bouggt IM's book instead, but a google ought to find it. But pre-Woodworm I suspect

There is a thread about it here somewhere. But yes, it only goes up to 1982 nd also covers Richard & Linda and the activities of other ex members during that period.

Published this year?

A couple of months ago. Only available direct from the author at the moment I think.

And at the Cropredy CD tent. £25 I think

Off the Peggy is £20.

The typeface is very small. I will read it next week under a strong lamp.

It certainly is small.
Given that the majority of readers are going to be of a certain age, you would have thought this might have been taken into consideration.

They'll have weighed it up against cost of paper and then dismissed the idea.

Jules

Could you skip ahead and see if there’s anything about the lyrics of Angel Delight? Asking on behalf of a friend.  [;-)

Hmm I picked it up at Croppers and got Peggy and Nigel to sign it but didn’t notice the size of the font! Extra hard for me as I’ve only got one eye and that one is a bit dodgy due to retinopathy brought on by having type 1 diabetes for over 46 years

It was, said Peggy.

The main concern being postage unfortunately...well over £10 as it is to Europe & £17 he said to the USA. Larger print meant even more pages, and thus even heavier!

Although I still love the feel of a proper book, when it comes to font sizes, Kindle is your friend!

Looking forward to some reviews when you lot have started reading it!

A Kindle / e-book version would indeed alleviate problems of postage and font size, if possible.  I'd get one, because postage to Australia would be worse again.

Reading it now, with good light...  interesting tales indeed.

Font is small though, but it packs a lot in, probably won’t be able to manage more than a chapter or two each day.

Started reading the other night, the chronology is certainly interesting. If ever a biopic is made about Dave Pegg it would have to directed by either Nolan or Tarantino.

I finished reading it yesterday.
I think it is a strange book.

Obviously some great stories in it and very interesting information.

But as someone who never was interested much in Jethro Tull I must say that part of Peggy’s career is very underrepresented. I would warn people who’d like to know about DP as a bass player in JT not to buy the book.

Also the founding of the new Fairport after Glady’s Leap or DM leaving or Maart leaving is almost  non existent in the book. Yes of course we know it happened but a little more background (not necessarily gossip though I would have liked that, too) would have been nice.

The divorce of course is treated with utmost discretion which I can accept, but still I would liked to have known a bit more about that Ellen who just appears out of nowhere in the middle of that US tour.

What really annoyed me was that there is no structure in the book, just conversation sometimes jumping from here to there without much editing.

For example, I very much appreciated to learn that RT was much more involved in Angel Delight than I would have thought but there was no need to mention that three or four times without going any deeper on how he was involved.

I think Nigel Schofield as an editor has failed completely there.

Maybe they wanted to get it out in time for the festival this year but I think they should have worked a lot longer on it.

Yes, I enjoyed reading it and it was interesting but it could have been so much better.

All very much IMHO of course….

That sounds like what I had feared.  I'll still read it if I can find a reasonably priced copy somewhere, but I'm in no hurry to do so at that rate.

There is a bit, mainly that they each wrote a bit about other members and not all of the lyrics were used.
I enjoyed the book..there are some minor gripes....there seem to be more and more typos as the thing progresses, and some repetitions, but it's worth a read. While off on my travels, I also read a biography of Hawkwind. It turns out that Dave Brock was going to go to the 1990 Cropredy, but ended up playing an event with his band where he got shot in the leg. There's no stories quite like that in Peggy's book, but there's a fun one when he decides to go and see a movie...

I think it was Mr Brock's birthday yesterday actually..77!  Bejesus...and Jet Black is 80 soon.  The world's gone mad...

Is the Pegg book chronological?  If so, how many pages in it, and when does it reach 1980?

Reports above suggest not.

Jules

That can't be true  :o

Yep it’s scary! He no longer plays gigs due to atrial fibrillation but designs furniture. The Stranglers are still going though still with Jean-Jacques Burnel and Dave Greenfield (both aged 66). Remember seeing them when I wasa student at University College Cardiff (as it was called then) back in 1980

The Stranglers were indeed excellent when I saw them back in May this year at Concert at the Kings in Wiltshire http://www.concertatthekings.co.uk/info/line-up/

If you bought Pimms at the Pimms bar spooley it may have been me that served you!

:-)

didds

It doesn't surprise me in the least - Jet was about 60 when they started.   ;D

Jules

'fraid I spent more time visiting the beer tent than the Pimms bar.

36 to be precise when The Stranglers started in 1974  :)

36 is about 60 when you're 15  ;D

 ;D  ;D

Precisely.

Jules

Hear, hear!

Also, thanks to Tom52 for the review.  :)

I've just finished reading "Off The Pegg" and largely agree with Tom's observations.  

There are some interesting stories included and some interesting ones that aren't. There's a degree of repetition and movement up and down the timeline reminiscent of John McLaughlin's zipping up and down the frets which can be confusing. I think a more thorough proofreader would have corrected some glaring grammatical and spelling errors that simply grated at times and detracted from the book. The structure is simply many conversations over several years almost verbatim.

The typeface is really quite small and given the audience, increasing it by a couple of points would have made it much more readable. Admittedly this would increase the pagecount, but editing out repetitions would take care of that.

A curate's egg, it is good in parts and I'd certainly recommend getting ahold of a copy to read, but don't expect any dark secrets to emerge. Peggy's affable but business-like nature shines out from every page.

I sent the following review off to the Australian Friends of Fairport a short while ago, and I'll share it here too.  :)  It all just kind of wrote itself in one go...

-----

“OFF THE PEGG: bespoke memories of a bass player”  Dave Pegg with Nigel Schofield.  Reviewed by Michael Hunter.

It’s generally considered the done thing to actually finish reading a book before giving it a proper review.  Consider this an improper one then, or perhaps more of a precis.

But there is so much to “Off The Pegg”, Dave Pegg’s long-threatened and finally released autobiography - 272 pages of quite small print - that I expect to take a while to get through it all, and it’s only fair to let everyone know of its existence and worth well before then!

Peggy either has an excellent memory or has kept lots of notes, for his descriptions of long ago events are quite detailed, to the extent that stories concerning the formation and career of earlier bands such as The Way Of Life become much more vivid and real to the reader, rather than just a vague footnote.

John Bonham as a bandmate in that group and a lifetime friend altogether also provides a lot of colourful stories, including around the time Fairport played the infamous LA Troubadour gig in 1970.  The fact Dave was in any condition to play at all is remarkable!

My only concern, though, is that giving away too much of any individual story would take away from the pleasure of reading it in Dave’s own words in the book.  Suffice to say, his friends who badgered him into finally getting it done, with the assistance and persistence of Nigel Schofield, were right in thinking there were too many tales that needed to be told.  

(Peggy was the guitarist in Jimmy Cliff’s band when the latter first arrived in the UK?  Cliff stayed at Dave’s parents’ house and used to descend the stairs on his hands?)

The fact it’s done in an entertaining way is another bonus.  The book is by no means chronological, and sometimes this can be a bit confusing, but it also makes it easier to dip in and out of the thematic chapters at will.  Nigel Schofield adds his own narrative throughout, but uses a different font to make clear who is saying what.

A later chapter deals with Fairport’s Australian connections, with a nice nod to the Aust Friends Of Fairport, and another story of an ill-fated hike in the Blue Mountains with Dave Swarbrick.

As opposed to the dramatic story from many years previously - hey, if the book can jump timeframes, so can I - when it seemed Peggy would be going to prison for an accident he didn’t cause, but being recognised as a member of the Ian Campbell Folk Group got him off.

See, this is what I mean.  So much to read, and trying to relate everything of interest would become a short story in itself.  Regardless, the distinct impression throughout, along with the humour, is that Dave has approached the story-telling with fairness and respect, and an ability to describe situations evocatively enough to make the reader feel they were almost there in so many different times and places.  I get the impression he is amazed to have fit so much into his life, too.

The story goes right up to 2017 and therefore Fairport’s 50th year.  He also mentions his recent hip operation - “My hip’s behind me now. Not literally of course, otherwise I’d be having words with my surgeon!”

The small print is unfortunate but also necessary to keep postage costs to a minimum, while not relegating too much to the book equivalent of the cutting room floor.  It would be handy if it came out as an e-book for the sake of easier distribution and font adjustment but I have heard of no such plans.

Sadly, the chance of Dave or Fairport touring Australia again appears to be remote as well.  But “Off The Pegg” can act as a reminder of the man, his life and his music.  Maybe we now need a bio-pic!  

The book is available directly from http://davepegg.co.uk/

I just read the book. I must say I am disappointed as most of the stories I have already heard. I was again really hoping for more coverage of the FC years from 87-95 which never gets covered especially the leaving of MAART and DM. I have heard many things over the years that have never been confirmed such as some kind of lawsuit launched by one of the members against Green linnet records to stop an album release in 1995.

Also I remember that FC broke up for 2 days in the states in I think NY in the Chris Leslie early years and Simon resigned for one day. No coverage on that. I also remember problems with full band touring in the states that got aborted long before Pegg puts into the timeframe of an acoustic tour, though that may have been the same incident.

I can't blame any of the band for not wanting to air dirty washing until such time as the band folds for good, or completely chages personnel....would you?

“In his own words, it’s all here”
Except it apparently isn’t.

It definitely isn't all there. Which I found unsurprising, as Chris says, but disappointing, nevertheless.

Much like the editing  ::)

I'm reading it at the moment.  Very disappointed by the editing - was it rushed, so they could have it out in time for Cropredy?

But the content is interesting in the main.

Exactly!
Enough empty bottles to preserve it until then...

I wonder what Swarb would have to say about it?

I guess we'll have to wait and see if his book ever comes out!

Honest reflections didn’t hold Tony Banks back...on the recent(ish) Genesis retrospective, he was sitting next to Peter Gabriel and the conversation lead to Lamb lies down on Broadway and Gabriel’s departure. “I didn’t think that the concept was any good” said Banks, whilst a stony-faced PG sat impassively....

Mr Banks didn't come out of that very well. Nor does he in previous interviews in books and articles, suggesting that he may be the reason there were three. I'm not sure I like to know all this falling out stuff.

This is a bloke who thought it was a good idea to call one project Bankstatement.

And....?

That's because he's clearly a massive knob end.

Jules

But a hugely talented knob end who has created some of my favourite music....  :-\

And how much should it matter? I think my enjoyment of, say, Firth of Fifth over all those years would have been severly diminished if I as I listened I was thinkng, "lovely piano bit here, but naah, massive knob end... here's the guitar solo - wow, this is mindblowing, and he's such an all-round nice guy...wow. Winding down now - oh no,  here comes the knob end with his tinkly wee piano piano again grrr  can he not take a hint? He's ruined it now..

Just sayin...

We've had similar discussions on this before (I think Ted Nugent started it!). I don't think personality or politics should spoil your enjoyment of a person or group's music but that's just my opinion!

I'm off to listen to Firth of Fifth again  ;D

Absolutely agree Bridg!

I didn't realise you knew Ted Nugent. I wouldn't have kept it so quiet if I knew him, you should have shouted it from the rooftops.
Anyway, what I say about Ted is, nobody who falls out with Piers Morgan can be all that bad.

Two loathsome blokes fall out. Big deal.

Reading this whilst on my hols. I pretty much echo what others have said; great stories but crikey, never has a book needed an editor so much. Much repeating (Peggy living in Cropredy near Swarb must have come up at least four times) and the non-sequential nature of the narrative really jars. A directors cut is required!