Characteristic Picture by Harry Herd
With Fairport Conference, Nick Drake, and Jethro Tull, Dave Pegg, who’s affectionately generally known as “Peggy,” has carved out an incredible legacy on bass. “I used to be actually lower out to be a bass participant,” Pegg tells ClassicRockHistory.com.
“My favourite sort of music is singer/songwriter stuff,” he says. “I simply like to accompany songs, and I’ve had a good time doing that. And I’ve performed with some nice folks, so I’ve managed to be on stage and play behind them and do some fantastic issues.”
Be it with Fairport or Jethro Tull, Pegg’s outlook on music has been, and stays, easy: “We simply went round having a good time,” he says. “We simply went out and performed music. What can I say? That’s all we did!”
Pegg caught with Jethro Tull till the mid ‘90s, earlier than leaving to affix a reformed Fairport Conference. He’s remained since, choosing up session work as he sees match. Past that, Pegg is grateful for the life music has afforded him.
“I don’t actually have any regrets,” he says. “I’ve had a very good time taking part in music. Fortunately, I’ve gotten away with it up till now, and nonetheless am. It’s been that means because the age of 18! [laughs]”
What are your earliest reminiscences of music in your life?
My earliest reminiscences of music are listening to my daddy play the accordion and sing within the church choir. I obtained concerned within the church choir, and that’s what obtained me concerned in music within the first place.
When did the bass enter the image?
I began as a guitarist, influenced by Hank Marvin and The Shadows. They had been heroes, after which I found rhythm and blues. I carried on taking part in the guitar and performed in numerous R&B bands in Birmingham, after which I switched to bass after I went for an audition with a bunch known as The Uglies.
I didn’t cross your audition as a result of there was a man there known as Roger Hill, Birmingham’s finest guitarist, and he obtained the job. However then, on the best way out of the audition, the lead singer stated, “Our bass participant is gone. Do you play bass, Dave?”
I went, “I’ve by no means performed bass, and I don’t have one…” He stated, “Properly, our outdated bassist is promoting his…” So, I purchased his 1962 Fender Precision bass for £70, which was some huge cash in these days, and I’ve performed it ever since. I like taking part in the bass.
What was the native Birmingham music scene like, and the way did it form you?
Birmingham was improbable within the late ‘60s, with a great deal of bands. My major influences on the time had been The Spencer Davis Group, with Steve Winwood, an unimaginable performer. We had bands like The Moody Blues, and it was a really energetic membership scene, so I obtained concerned.
I obtained to play with fantastic folks, like John Bonham, the drummer, who was considered one of my finest associates. Bless him. We solely did about 12 gigs, and we by no means did the second half of the present as a result of we’d at all times been instructed off for being too loud. [laughs]
It was principally Bonzo… the drum equipment was so loud. However that’s the sort of scene I grew up in, Birmingham, very pleasant. Everyone knew all people else, and there have been a great deal of nice musicians coming by means of.
How did you find yourself in Fairport Conference?
I ended up in Fairport Conference as a result of I went to see them on my twenty first birthday in Birmingham. And Ashley Hutchings, the unique bass participant, left the band after that evening. After which, Dave Swarbrick, who was a fiddle participant in Fairport on the time, requested me to affix. However I needed to go to an audition, and fortuitously, I obtained the gig.
What did you deliver to the band on bass?
Properly, they had been all very severe after I joined them, and I feel once we began going to the pub after which, the truth is, my main declare with Fairport is that I taught all of them to drink. [laughs] Life in Fairport within the ‘60s and ’70s was improbable.
I imply, all of us lived on this place within the nation… there have been 13 of us dwelling there, just one rest room, and all of us had lengthy hair, and a few of us had youngsters. My daughter Steph Pegg was there with us.
And actually, she’s on the primary on the sleeve of the primary Fairport album I performed with, which is named Full Home. That’s her within the backyard with the remainder of the blokes within the band and it was it was it was a really, …. it was the ‘60s, so we had been all younger, filled with vitality, and free spirited for positive.
Richard Thompson was within the band again then. What was he like?
Richard was an unimaginable guitarist. Even then, you can inform that he was destined to go solo. He produced such an incredible physique of labor, and we at all times thought of him the group chief, though he would by no means declare to have been on the time.
However all of us revered his opinion on stuff in the best way that we prepare songs and issues like that. He was, in our opinion, the boss of the band. We knew when the time got here for him to go away Fairport… there was no resentment.
It was onerous for us to lose him for positive, however we knew that he had such a capability to jot down songs. To include all of it, to include his skill and what he needed to do exactly within the band was an excessive amount of, actually. He needed to go and select his personal means. I imply, we liked Richard, and we nonetheless love taking part in with him. He’s a improbable guitarist up there with the most effective of them.
What led to your working with Nick Drake?
Joe Boyden was the supervisor and was additionally producing Nick Drake. He requested me to play on Nick’s album, Bryter Layter. Nick got here as much as this hovel that we lived in, which I used to be telling you about earlier, and rehearsed. We labored on the album, which is considered one of my favourite albums of all time. It’s a improbable album. However whereas engaged on it, as a result of he was so introspective, we by no means knew whether or not Nick was completely happy or not.
Within the late ‘70s, you joined Jethro Tull.
Fairport had cut up up, and I’d heard that Jethro Tull had been in search of a bass participant. And Ian Anderson knew about Fairport Conference, and actually, in 1970, we performed three nights on the Fillmore West in San Francisco collectively after I was in Fairport Conference. So, I feel he was conscious of what I’d completed with the band, however I feel I’ve obtained away with it as a participant in Jethro Tull.
Why is that?
It wasn’t the sort of music I used to be used to. It was rather more advanced than the stuff that Fairport had been doing. I stayed with Jethro Tull for 15 years as a result of it was an unimaginable band to play with. Ian was an unimaginable performer, and I like this songwriting and the musicianship. The truth that all people within the band was simply such improbable gamers, like Martin Barre, a improbable guitarist, and all of the musicians that I performed with Tull… it was a beautiful interval for me.
Ian is understood to be troublesome. What was it like being in a band with him?
Properly, he’s an extremely skilled man. He takes all the things very severely, and he works so onerous at it. It wasn’t onerous for me, actually, as a result of I simply appreciated having a boss, which was one thing that I’d by no means had earlier than within the music enterprise.
Every little thing he did was actually thought out, and it was simply amazingly put collectively. He obtained an terrible lot of respect from the musicians who performed with him, which is one thing that’s improbable for a band chief.
Your time within the band was notable for numerous shifts in sound all through the 80s, and an notorious second the place Jethro Tull beat out Metallica for a Grammy.
Sure. We went in all types of instructions within the ‘80s. [laughs] And yeah… we obtained the Grammy, beating Metallica, that was a really unusual factor! Actually, we thought it was a joke once we had been nominated for a Grammy. The report firm by no means bothered to ship anyone to the ceremony in Los Angeles.
It’s important to purchase tickets. It’s fairly costly to go to a Grammy dinner. There was no person there to characterize us, so when it was introduced that we’d gained the onerous rock class, Alice Cooper picked up the award on our behalf, one thing I personally thanked him for lately.
Clearly, classifying Jethro Tull as “onerous rock” or “heavy metallic” is a stretch. How do you look again on that Grammy?
I’m extremely happy with it. It’s on my fire shelf the place I dwell after I’m within the U.Okay. It got here as a shock, after all. And I don’t assume Metallica had been too completely happy as a result of they’d an terrible lot of T-shirts printed saying they had been Grammy award winners. So, all they may do was use them to wash their automobiles, which I’m positive they’d plenty of. [laughs]
What led to your leaving Jethro Tull within the ‘90s and ultimately rebooting Fairport Conference?
Properly, I stayed with Jethro Tull for a very long time, however after we did the Underneath Wraps album, we did a couple of extra, however Ian was shedding his voice, and it turned very painful. A few of the gigs that we did weren’t like they was. We needed to change the set checklist to include the truth that he was actually struggling together with his voice.
It was so tragic, actually, as a result of it was such an necessary a part of the present, and we’d hold altering the keys and dropping them down a couple of semitones or a tone; they didn’t sound the identical, and it turned painful to hear. Ian did his finest, however I imply… he actually struggled.
Was Ian upset with you leaving?
I don’t assume Ian was upset with my leaving as a result of he knew that Fairport Conference was sort of my factor. So, we didn’t half on combating phrases, because it had been. I’m nonetheless on good phrases with Ian.
You’re nonetheless at it with Fairport Conference and appear to be busy. What’s subsequent?
I’m very happy with nonetheless with the ability to exit and tour, of all the things that Fairport Conference has achieved. And my son, Matthew, has picked up the bass and turn into an achieved participant. He’s been taking part in with Procol Harum for a few years because the unhappy lack of Gary Brooker. So, I’m very happy with him, and the truth that Fairport can nonetheless exit and make folks pleased with music, which is what it’s all about.
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An Interview With Dave Pegg Of Fairport Conference & Previously Of Jethro Tull article revealed on ClassicRockHistory.com© 2026
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