Pete Brown

Pete Brown on being a snob

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:19:26 +0000

Pete believes that if you are in a state of readiness, when good ideas come along you will grab them. He enjoys being very social and takes buses and trains wherever he goes, which means he’s always meeting new people. And Pete’s hardly snobby; you have to “keep it real” with everybody he tells t5m.

For Pete, an idea for a song can come from a subject that you like or a random sentance could even come to mind. “I can go from line one to line two, or dialogue one to dialogue two…or even the other way around!”, Pete tells t5m. Peter also explains that he’ s not interested in the commercial hook but good ideas that lead to interesting sequences…and we quite agree!

Creativity not commerce

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:12:52 +0000

Pete makes it clear that he won’t produce just for the sake of money or just to occupy himself, instead he wants to do something that can occupy himself, and a project that he can make a committment to. He has to like the people he works with, either as people, or musically. And finally, it also has to be in a genre that he is interested in such as R&B or rock ‘n’ roll.

Pete makes it a point not to get into the engineering side of things, although he does know how to. The only time he will touch the board is when he wants to turn the volume up or down. Pete tells us that he likes to work with people who are willing to listen to his ideas and that it’s all about mutual respect. The most important thing is to listen to each other.

A low point

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:06:19 +0000

Pete was distracted and angry by the destruction of the skilled labour force, and the bringing in of “scabs”, he told t5m. At the time he was managing the band Back to Front who were incredibly musical, but they were struggling to get a record deal. The band eventually broke up and he began feeling guilty that he didnt have any musical training.

He realised that he wanted to go back to his R&B roots and he began a partnership with Phil Ryan. He also branched out into cinema which was a bad time too… because there was no British film industry!

Pete Brown on meeting Martin Scorsese

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:05:17 +0000

Pete had the great opportunity of meeting award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Pete told t5m. Pete was a true film buff and he could recite every movie script by heart. So, he got himself an agent and starting writing scripts despite most of them not being made. However, he liked the idea of writing a script, either in collaboration or on his own, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. People began telling him to write books, but he hated the idea of writing a book, he would rather go out to a gig.

A short film script would take him three weeks to write and one week to re-write. Eventually, Pete tells us, he sold a lot scripts and made a lot of money!

Getting noticed

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:47:28 +0000

Pete had already written a couple of songs for Cream, British blues-rock band, and was contacted by Graham Bond whose organisation was falling apart. He was asked by Graham to write a few songs for his ailing band, Pete agreed, and sent him a tape of the music and his own singing voice. On hearing the tape, Graham asked Pete to join the band and Pete reluctantly agreed…pretty sure that he couldn’t sing! He got together an amazing band, and recorded the hit song ‘We look good on paper’ which caught the attention of Blackhill Enterprises who knew Pete as a poet. They offered him a record deal with EMI and he formed his first band ‘The Battered Ornaments’.

His good friend Jack Bruce and he already had chemistry through writing for Cream, and decided to work together Brown wrote the lyrics for Bruce’s first album ‘Songs for a Tailor’ and it was the beginning of a 36 year friendship…

Peter Brown on segregation in jazz music.

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:45:45 +0000

Most black musicians at the time were outsiders in a society they desperately wanted to be a part of, Peter tells t5m. It was obvious that they weren’t getting their dues, and as a result they adopted a humorous attitude which masked darkness and suffering. This prompted some musicians to get into drugs, but others used it to their advantage by becoming a hip figure in order to sell music.

George Shearing, the blind British pianist went to the USA to promote his new record, which became a huge success, during which apartheid was still prominent. He always toured with black musicians and he was told that this would not be very good for his career. In response, he said “I can’t see who they are, as long as they play the thing right, I don’t care!”

Jazz hands

t5m — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:36:12 +0000

Pete Brown, lyricist, poet, and musical producer was brought up in a “claustrophobic” jewish world where they thought everyone was the enemy. But he didn’t share their perspective, he felt like he belonged in the world and people were just that. People. He was desperate to get out of this cocoon, he told t5m.

He went along with it for a while, and attended faith school in London. He then heard jazz music for the first time which became his obsession and he wondered where it stemmed from. His father was musical but he didn’t put it into practice whereas Pete had a good ear for music. The music spoke to him about individuality, he had never come across anything like that before, and it helped destroy the stereotype that came from his “paranoid” background.

In his eyes, black people were Gods. They could produce music that no-one else could. It was incredible music compiled to a fantastic standard, not only by improvising but by also playing the fixed things. They had an unbelievable talent, he told t5m.