Peter Miller (musician)
Encyclopedia
Peter Miller also known as "Big Boy Pete", is an English
singer, songwriter, recording engineer
and record producer
. Born in Norwich, he has lived in San Francisco, California
, United States
since 1972. He is a veteran of the 1960s English pop music
, starting out with a rock & roll band called the Offbeats, who recorded an EP in 1958, and joining the beat group Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers in 1961. He has toured with The Beatles
, The Rolling Stones
, and most of the rest of the British Invasion
. He released one of the first English psychedelic
songs ("Cold Turkey") which placed his name in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
. A copy of "Cold Turkey" sold for £250 at Sotheby's
Rock and Roll auction in London.
His 1965 record "Baby I Got News for You" on Columbia Records
is also a sought-after collector's item. David Wells, owner of the British archival Tenth Planet record label
has released four album
s of Miller's 1960s music. They have also been released by Dionysus Records and Gear Fab Records
in the US
. His recording studio
in San Francisco recorded the early San Francisco punk scene
. Miller is also the founder and CEO of the Audio Institute of America, an online recording engineer school which has taught thousands of students from more than 130 countries around the world.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer, songwriter, recording engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. Born in Norwich, he has lived in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
since 1972. He is a veteran of the 1960s English pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, starting out with a rock & roll band called the Offbeats, who recorded an EP in 1958, and joining the beat group Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers in 1961. He has toured with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, and most of the rest of the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
. He released one of the first English psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
songs ("Cold Turkey") which placed his name in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
. A copy of "Cold Turkey" sold for £250 at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
Rock and Roll auction in London.
His 1965 record "Baby I Got News for You" on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
is also a sought-after collector's item. David Wells, owner of the British archival Tenth Planet record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
has released four album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s of Miller's 1960s music. They have also been released by Dionysus Records and Gear Fab Records
Gear Fab Records
Gear Fab Records is an independent record label based in Littleton, Colorado. It specialises in the reissue of psychedelic, garagefolk music and rock from the years 1965 to 1972....
in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in San Francisco recorded the early San Francisco punk scene
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
. Miller is also the founder and CEO of the Audio Institute of America, an online recording engineer school which has taught thousands of students from more than 130 countries around the world.
Discography
- 1958 Introducing the Offbeats - Peter Miller & the Offbeats (EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) Magnegraph Records (Lead Guitar/Songwriter) - 1962 "Ever Since You Said Goodbye" - Marty WildeMarty WildeMarty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...
(singleSingle (music)In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
) PhilipsPhilips RecordsPhilips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
326546 (Lead Guitar) - 1962 "Can Can 62" / "Redskins" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
11531 (Lead Guitar) - 1963 "Totem Pole" / "Jaywalker" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Decca 11593 (Lead Guitar)
- 1963 "Poet and Peasant" / "Ooh Lala!" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Decca 11659 (Lead Guitar)
- 1964 "Kansas City" / "Parade of the Tin Soldiers" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Decca 11840 (Lead Guitar/Vocal)
- 1964 "If You Love Me" / "You Girl" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Decca 11917 (Lead Guitar/Vocal)
- 1964 "Where Did Our Love Go" / "Caroline" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Piccadilly 35199 (Lead Guitar/Vocal)
- 1964 "Tonight You're Gonna Fall" / "Red Cabbage" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Piccadilly 35212 (Lead Guitar/Vocal)
- 1964 "Kansas City" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
: Ready Steady Go!) Decca 4577 (Lead Guitar/Vocal) - 1965 "Parchman FarmParchman Farm (song)"Parchman Farm" is the title of a number of songs about Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm, a hard time prison because of the Trusty system which was later outlawed....
" / "What Two Can Easily Do" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Piccadilly 35220 (Vocal/Lead Guitar) - 1965 "Before The Beginning" / "Solitaire" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (single) Piccadilly 35259 (Lead Guitar/Songwriter)
- 1965 "The Entertainer" / "I Count the Tears" - The News (single) Decca 12356 (Lead Guitar)
- 1965 Spectre/Solitaire - Sounds OrchestralSounds OrchestralSounds Orchestral was a British studio-based easy listening group, assembled by John Schroeder with Johnny Pearson in 1964.-Career:John Schroeder had worked with Johnny Pearson previously over at Oriole Records, producing Johnny Pearson's first solo album. Moving to Pye, Schroeder was quick to...
(albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
) Piccadilly 38016 (Composer) - 1966 "Girl with the Castle" - Peter Miller (single) Columbia 7972 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1966 "Stop!" - The Knack (single) PolydorPolydor RecordsPolydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
602005 (Composer) - 1966 "The Baby Song" - Boz (single) Columbia 7735 (Composer)
- 1966 "Rumpelstiltskin" - The Magic LanternsThe Magic LanternsThe Magic Lanterns were an English pop rock group formed in Warrington, Lancashire. They formed in 1962 as The Sabres, playing locally in Manchester and changing their name a few years later. They signed to CBS Records after releasing the single, "Excuse Me Baby", which charted briefly in the UK in...
(single) CBS 202250 (Lead Guitar) - 1967 "Stop!" - Dan et Vanny (single) BarclayBarclay RecordsBarclay Records is a French record label founded in the mid-1950s by Eddie Barclay under the alias, Edouard Ruault. Eddie Barclay also founded the Riviera label in the early-1950s....
71080 (Composer) - 1966 "Cold Turkey" / "My Love is Like a Spaceship" - Big Boy Pete (single) CampCamp RecordsCamp Records was a record label based out of California in the 1960s that specialized in producing anonymous gay-themed novelty records and singles, mostly sold out of the backs of beefcake magazines....
602005 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer) - 1968 "Playboy" - Freddie and the DreamersFreddie and the DreamersFreddie and the Dreamers were an English band who had a number of hit records between May 1963 and November 1965. Their stage act was based around the comic antics of the 5-foot-3-inch-tall Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying. The group remained active...
(single) Columbia 7929 (Composer) - 1974 Music From Little Flint - Pete Miller (album) .22 Records TT2201 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1978 "Can Can 62" / "Totem Pole" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (compilation album: The Joe Meek Story) Decca 19076 (Lead Guitar)
- 1979 "I Hate Disco Music" - Marshall CrenshawMarshall CrenshawMarshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
(single) Loral 001 (Backing VocalistBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
) - 1981 Pre C.B.S. - Peter Miller (album) .22 Records TT2202 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1983 "Can Can 62" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (compilation album: The Decca Originals Volume 4) Decca TAB65 (Lead Guitar)
- 1983 "Can Can 62" - Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers (compilation album: Twenty One Hit Wonders) See For Miles RecordsSee For Miles RecordsSee for Miles Records is a British record label which distributed some of the records of Dandelion Records on CD in the 1990s. The name hints both to its owner Colin Miles and The Who's "I Can See for Miles."...
CM124 (Lead Guitar) - 1984 "Cold Turkey" - Naz Nomad and the NightmaresNaz Nomad and the NightmaresNaz Nomad and The Nightmares was a one-off project featuring the members of British punk and gothic rock band The Damned.Naz Nomad and The Nightmares released one album entitled Give Daddy The Knife Cindy in 1984. The album was packaged to look like the re-issue of a 1967 soundtrack album to a ...
(album track) Bigbeat WIK21 (Composer) - 1986 Rockin' is My Bizness - Peter Miller (album) .22 Records TT2203 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1989 "Baby I Got News for You" - Peter Miller (compilation album: English Freakbeat Volume 3) Archive International AIP10048 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1995 "Double Diamonds" - Shig & Buzz (single) Maitai DD0103 (Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1995 "Spectre" - Shig & Buzz (compilation album: Secret Agent Sounds) Maitai DD0118 (Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1995 "Swept Away" - Shig & Buzz (compilation album: 21st. Century Surf Sounds) Orange ORA1007 (Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1996 "Good Luck Charm" - Shig & Buzz (single) Sheena Music MCE38 (Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1996 Homage to Catatonia - Big Boy Pete (album) Tenth Planet TP026 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1997 Summerland - Peter Miller (album) Tenth Planet TP030 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1997 Homage to Catatonia - Big Boy Pete (album) Bacchus Archives BA1123 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1998 Return to Catatonia - Big Boy Pete (album) Tenth Planet TP035 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1999 "Baby I Got News For You" - Peter Miller (compilation album: The Story of Oak Records) Wooden Hill WHCD007 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1999 "Baby I Got News For You" - The Bristols (track from - Tune In with...) Damaged GoodsDamaged Goods (record label)Damaged Goods is a British independent record label and online shop.- History :Damaged Goods started in 1988 from a living room in east London.Ian Damaged called it DamagedGoods. The first release was a re-issue of the 1977 single by Slaughter and the Dogs, "Where Have All the Bootboys Gone?"...
193CD (Composer) - 1999 "Me" / "Nasty Nazi" - Big Boy Pete (single) 3 Acre Floor Records 3eeAC05 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1999 "Psycho-Relics" - Big Boy Pete (single) Bacchus Archives BA 1137 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 1999 Return to Catatonia - Big Boy Pete (album) Gear Fab Records GF-139 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2000 Summerland - Pete Miller (album) Gear Fab Records GF-147(Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2000 World War IV... A Symphonic Poem - Big Boy Pete (album) Gear Fab Records GF-157(Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2001 World War IV... A Symphonic Poem - Big Boy Pete (album) Comet Records GFC-414 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2002 London American Boy - Big Boy Pete (album) Raucous RecordsRaucous RecordsRaucous Records is a British record label focusing on rockabilly, psychobilly, rock and roll, and surf music. The label has released albums such as "Between The Polecats" by The Polecats, "Rock 'n' Roll Fever" by Jay Chance, "Rockabilly Express" by Gary Setzer and Barry Ryan, "The Lost Album" by...
RAUCD-105 (Vocal/Lead Guitar) - 2002 Big Boy Pete Treats - The Squires of the Subterrain (album) Rocket Racket Records RRCD-209 (Composer/Producer)
- 2002 Strawberries on Sunday - The Squires of the Subterrain (album) Rocket Racket Records RRCD-210 (Co-Producer)
- 2003 Great British Rock 'N' Roll and Rockabilly Collection - Vol. 3 - Big Boy Pete (compilation album) Raucous Records RAUCD-120(Vocal)
- 2004 The Margetson Demos - Big Boy Pete (album) Gear Fab Records GF-206 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2005 Rock-Ola - Bonney & Buzz (album) Double Crown Records DCCD-20 (Lead Guitar/Composer)
- 2006 The Perennial Enigma - Big Boy Pete (album) Angel AirAngel AirAngel Airlines, trading as Angel Air, was an airline based in Bangkok, Thailand, which was operational between 1997 and 2006.-Fleet:Over the years, Angel Airlines operated the following aircraft types:...
Records SJPCD-224 (Vocal/Lead Guitar/Composer) - 2007 Rock It Racket - The Squires of the Subterrain and Big Boy Pete (album) Rocket Racket Records RRCD2112 (Vocal/Lead Guitar)
- 2007 Seasonal Favorites Vol.2 - Big Boy Pete (compilation album) Double Crown Records DCCD28 (Vocal/Guitar)
- 2008 Bang It Again! - Bonney & Buzz (album) Double Crown Records DCCD29 (Guitar)