PETER MILLER

Peter Richard Miller [1] was born in Norwich on 26 May 1942 but has lived in San Francisco since 1972. He got the bug for rock ‘n’ roll at the age of 15, when he first heard Chuck Berry in the movie Rock, Rock, Rock. Miller then sold his train set and bought a second-hand Spanish guitar, forming his first band, The Norvitones (Jul59-Dec59) [2], with friends at The King Edward School, Nch. The band soon became The Offbeats (Dec59-Jun61) [2] and were one of Norwich’s earliest pre-beat pop bands. In June 1961, Miller was approached by Peter Jay of Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers (Jul61-Oct65) [2]. Jay’s band had formed a year earlier and were turning professional for a summer season starring Tommy Steele at his father’s Windmill Theatre, GY. Pop mogul Larry Parnes (1929-1989), who co-managed Steele, had hired The Britannia Theatre, GY for a series of Sunday Specials. The Jaywalkers had auditioned for the opening slot, and Parnes pulled no punches when he said, “Get yourself a good lead guitarist.” Miller played his first professional gig with them on 23 July 1961 at The Britannia Theatre, GY, supporting Georgie Fame, Billy Fury and Joe Brown. The band played several Larry Parnes package tours without actually signing to him - see Jaywalkers. In 1961 the group impressed Dick Rowe, head of A&R at Decca Records, and he signed them. The group were paired with the label’s latest production talent Joe Meek (1929-1967). Miller, an already budding songwriter, had a keen interest in the technical side of the business and says he learnt a lot from watching Meek and others at work. In September 1962, Miller was called upon to play on the Marty Wilde single Ever Since You Said Goodbye, which would become his first commercial output in October 1962. The Jaywalkers had little chart success after their debut release Can-Can 62, which reached No 31 in the national chart in November 1962 but did produce a further eight singles on Decca and Piccadilly, respectively. The group toured constantly between 1961 and 1965, and Miller left them around September/October 1965, saying in one interview about the band’s constant touring, “It has left me physically drained.” In October 1965, he released his first solo single Baby Have I Got News for You, as Miller, on Columbia Records. The session band, according to Miller, contained members of The Herd, including Frampton and was recorded at RG Jones, Morden Studio, home of The Oak Record label. Geoff Moss, bassist with The Jaywalkers said, “We all knew Pete (Miller) wasn’t happy, except Jay. Pete outgrew what the band was doing very early on; he had a lot of ideas. We also knew that he had been working on his own material. Things then came to a head, and I think I left first, and it wasn’t long before most of the originals had gone.” Despite lots of live work offers, among them an invitation to tour as Jerry Dorsey aka Englebert Humperdinck’s guitarist, Miller settled back in Norwich and began to work on the back catalogue of tunes he had built up during his touring years. In March 1966, the split of Norwich band The Emperors saw Miller put together The Fuzz (Jul66-Oct67) [2] with its remaining members. It was this band that produced the demo of Cold Turkey. The track was allegedly handed to Columbia in 1967, who felt it was too ‘Out there’ for a single release. Taken on by Camp Records, a subsidiary of Polydor, the single was released under the Big Boy Pete mantle in February 1968. “I was absolutely furious. They didn’t ask my opinion or get authorization to use the new name. They then suggested I do a promotional tour, and I refused point blank and told the executives to find themselves another Big Boy Pete to do their dirty work, which they did. I eventually agreed to continue to write, perform, and produce the records under this name, and the record company reluctantly agreed to employ a touring stand-in. A German video exists of the stand-in, lip-syncing to the record on the Beat Club TV show. I don’t know what his name was - never even met him,” says Pete. This event would later and humorously make it hard for Miller to claim that the record was actually his [3]. Today, the track is arguably considered one of the first UK psychedelic songs. The Fuzz split when Norwich band The News (Oct66-Jan67) [2], previously playing as The Continentals, pulled in Miller to keep the group afloat. Signed to Decca in February 1966, the band were running out of steam. They made it to Christmas 1966, but an aborted tour of Germany saw the end of the group in January 1967. Miller’s live work fell back on his involvement with The Washington Club 400 House Band (Feb67-Jun69) [2], a group that ran under many pseudonyms between late 1966 and mid-1969 - see Paul Saint Trio, The / Peter London Duo, The. The venue was a small den of iniquity on the outskirts of Norwich, renowned more for its strippers and gambling than its music. Miller was quoted at the time as saying, “the local music scene is so sick, this is the best job around.” Meanwhile, ex-News bassist Harvey Platt joined him at the Washington 400 Club in March 1969 and from there, they resumed as The News, although only in a residential capacity. The group sent out copies of The News’ singles and Big Boy Pete’s Cold Turkey to entice booking agents from abroad to take on the band. The group were offered gigs out in Thailand. Miller comments, “On July 3rd, 1969, four dishevelled, sweaty, disoriented, sparkling non-entities alighted at Don Muang airport, Bangkok and were efficiently escorted around customs and into a waiting Mercedes limousine. Now we’re talkin’!” The News continued to play in Thailand until July 1970. Miller recorded hundreds of tracks at his home studio in Margetson Avenue during his time in Norwich (Sept65-Jul69). Many of these were his own compositions, either performed by a randomly pulled-together group of local musicians or by an established local band. Miller would also record local groups who wanted to make a demo. In 1996 David Wells, the owner of the British archival Tenth Planet Records, started to rub the lamp of Miller’s submerged past, resulting in the release of many previously unheard and forgotten works from his back catalogue.

The break also allowed Miller to indulge in a recording project called Music From Little Flint (Mar68-Mar69). While living in a flint cottage in the village of Fritton, he pulled in local musicians to record an album of his compositions. These recordings eventually saw the light of day on his own .22 record label in 1974.

Discography:
For Offbeats, Jaywalkers & The News discographies
see respective groups.
 
7Act Have You Wished b/w Sea, Sand and Sunshine udat

AS: Miller
7Act The Girl with The Castle b/w Baby Have I Got News for You
Oak Records RGJ190 [r] ??/??/65
7” Baby I Got News for You b/w Girl With The Castle
Columbia Records DB7735 [r] 29/10/65
AS: Big Boy Pete
7” Cold Turkey b/w My Love Is Like a Spaceship
Camp Records 602005 [r] 02/02/68
Polydor Records 59.174 [r] ??/??/68 (Germany)
Amy Records 11.114 [r] ??/04/68 (USA)

NB: Post-sixties, Pete Miller has released an extensive catalogue of releases as an artist, producer, composer and musician. Much of his pre-sixties back catalogue has also now been made available. Visit Pete’s website for more details.

Mediography:
City pop song writer - with a contract H&N EEN 27/06/66 [p]

Website: bigboypete.com
 
NB: [1] [1] In Neil R. Storey’s book The Little Book Of Norwich, published by The History Press in 2015, he confused Peter Richard Miller with Peter Jay and created Peter Jay Miller. This information has now been erroneously added to Wikipedia. In summary, Peter Jay was born in Southgate on 29 January 1944 and moved to Great Yarmouth in his youth with his show business family. He attended Norwich City College in 1960 and there helped form The Jaywalkers. Peter Richard Miller was born in Norwich on 22 May 1942 and attended The King Edward School, Nch. There he formed The Norvitones / The Offbeats. In June 1961, Miller was poached by Jay for The Jaywalkers. Miller left The Jaywalkers around October 1965. [2] Dates in brackets next to bands in bold refer to Pete Miller’s time in the band, not the band’s duration. [3] In 2012 Pete said, “First I was Peter Miller, then Buzz Miller, then just Miller, then Big Boy Pete, then just Buzz. It’s not surprising there’s some conjecture as to who I really is.”

Trivia: Some articles report that Pete Miller/Big Boy Pete has been inducted into The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. We wrote to them to get confirmation, and they replied saying that although they were aware of him, he had not been officially inducted. Pete is aware of the error and puts it down to once being included in one of the their exhibitions depicting the top fifty of psychedelic artists of all time.


 
Discography: 50s & 60s
For Offbeats, Jaywalkers & The News discographies
see respective groups.
 
7Act Have You Wished b/w Sea, Sand and Sunshine udat
7Act The Girl with The Castle b/w Baby Have I Got News for You
Oak Records RGJ190 released ??/??/65

AS: Miller
7Act The Girl with The Castle b/w Baby Have I Got News for You
Oak Records RGJ190 released ??/??/65
7” Baby I Got News for You b/w Girl With The Castle
Columbia Records DB7735 released 29/10/65

AS: Big Boy Pete
7” Cold Turkey b/w My Love Is Like a Spaceship
Camp Records 602005 released 02/02/68
Polydor Records 59.174 released ??/??/68 (Germany)
Amy Records 11.114 released ??/04/68 (USA)

COMPILATIONS APPEARENCES
(SB)CD Secret Agent Sounds - Spectre DD0118 95/(SB)
CD 21st Century Surf Sounds - Swept Away ORA1007 95
(PM)12” The Story Of Oak - Baby have I got news for you (Demo Version) reissued on CD Wooden Hill WHCD007 99/CD Perfumed Garden III - Baby have I got news for you        /CD English Freakbeat Vol III - Baby have I got news for you      89/            (As Miller)
1960s Credits as Composer or Guitarist:
7” Ever Since You Said Goodbye - Marty Wilde
Phillips Records 326546 released ??/10/62 (G)
Phillips Records - Minigroove 45 (Ireland) 1962
12” Spectre & Solitaire - Sounds Orchl
Piccadilly Records 38016 65 (C)
7” Stop! - The Knack
Polydor Records 602005 1966 (C)
7” The Baby Song - Boz
Columbia Records DB7735 1966 (C)
7” Rumpelstiltskin - The Magic Lanterns
CBS202250 1966 (G)
7” Stop! - Dan et Vanny
Barclay Records 71080 1967 (G)
7” Playboy - Freddie & The Dreamers
Columbia Records DB7929 1968 (C)

Mediography:
City pop song writer - with a contract H&N EEN 27/06/66 (P)

 
Notes:

As one paper truly exclaimed a criminally neglected artist

The mid ninties retro-digital craze has rejuvinated interest in Petes work and he has been enjoying a rebirth in his lost and un-released recordings. There’s no desputing the fact that after over forty years that whatever disguise Pete Miller decides to wear his authentic style is much in demand.

Solo Discography:

Actd Have You Wished b/w Sea, Sand and Sunshine [  ]6?

Actd The Girl With The Castle b/w Baby Have I Got News For You  Oak RGJ190[  ]65

7” Baby I Got News For You b/w Girl With The Castle Columbia DB7735[  ]65

(As Pete  Miller (& The Wild Cats) 12” MUSIC FROM LITTLE FLINT ~                   .22 Recs TT2201[  ]74

12” Pre CBS ~ Pre CBS/Bad Girl/Goin’ Up The Jungle/The Shape I’m In/Rude Boy/Ubangi Boy/I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself/Ride With The Angels/Not So Long Ago/High Noon/High School Daze/Why Did It Have To Be You/Go Away/The King Of Beretania/Rhyadda .22 Recs TT2202[  ]81

12” ROCKIN’ IS MY BIZNESS ~ Bip Bop Boom/Flame Of Love/Claudine/Hurtin’ Inside/Quicksand/Guess Things Happen That Way/Sunglasses After Dark/My Heart Is Achin’ For You/Rosalie/It’s Driving Me Crazy/Everybody’s Got A Baby But Me/It’s Late .22 Recs TT2203[  ]86

(As Pete(r) Miller) 7” Cold Turkey b/w Spaceship  Camp 602005[  ]

12” Rockin’ Is My Bizness ~ Bip Bop Boom/Flame Of Love/Claudine/Hurtin’ Inside/Quicksand/Guess Things Happen That Way/Sunglasses After Dark/My Heart Is Achin’ For You/Rosalie/It’s Driving Me Crazy/Everbody’s Got A Baby But Me/It’s Late .22 Recs        [  ]86

12” SUMMERLAND ~ Where did it go?/The In Things/Time Has No Meaning/Time & Time Again/Forget Me Not/Who Cares about the moon/Soho solitaiire/Sweet talk town/Peter pan/Willow tree/Antionette/Fiesta time/Listen girl/Oh miss Halliday Tenth Planet TP030[  ]97 reissued on CD by Gear Fab     [  ]99

/          (As Big Boy Pete) 12” HOMAGE TO CATATONIA ~ Sheer Lunacy/Crococgators/I Am Seldom 21/Knit Me A Kiss/1,500,000 Volts/Captain Of My Toy Ballon/John Clery/Paranoia/Chinaman/Music Created By Dust/A Dog Called Doug/The Procession/The Candleman/The Treacle Dance Tenth Planet TP026[  ]96 & reissued on CD Dionysus BA1123[  ]98/

12” RETURN TO CATATONIA ~ ‘Twas Not So Short Ago/Me/Summerland/Nasty Nazi/The Raid/Creosote And Cream/Crystal’s Tune/Strontium Ninety Nel/Convercircles/The Day Stares Straight Back/Henry Nut (Part Two)/Hung-Up/Sums/The Shelter Tenth Planet TP035[  ]98 & reissued on CD Gear Fab GF139[  ]99

CD PSYCHO RELICS - Baby I Got News For You (The Demo)/Flying Solo/Farewell Welfare/London American Boy/She’s The Only Woman/Sweetmeat/Listening to the wind/Freeloader/There is a town/shiralee (part one)/Shiralee (part two)/A light in the sky/Have you wished?/Blue Dan/The Mother Seeds (Land of Schlimpf & Whatzit) Bacchus         [  ]99

CD WORLD WAR IV...A Symphonic Poem - Oveture/Movement 2, Largo/Movement 3, Transience/Movement 4, Echelon/Quietus/Finale Gear Fab Recs     [  ]00.

(As Shig & Buzz) CD Double Diamonds ~ Lost Train/Cavalier/Run/Lost In The Shadows/The Bold & The Brave/Bigfoot/Memphis Stardust/Swept Away/Rattlesnake/Sweet December/Vindaloo  Mai Tai Recs         [  ]95/CD GOOD LUCK CHARM -                           Sheena Recs MCE38[  ]96

COMPILATIONS APPEARENCES OF MILLER/PETE,R MILLER/BIG BOY PETE/SHIG & BUZZ.

(SB)CD Secret Agent Sounds - Spectre DD0118[  ]95/(SB)CD 21st Century Surf Sounds - Swept Away ORA1007[  ]95

(PM)12” The Story Of Oak - Baby have I got news for you (Demo Version)    [  ]  reissued on CD Wooden Hill WHCD007[  ]99/CD Perfumed Garden III - Baby have I got news for you     [  ]  /CD English Freakbeat Vol III - Baby have I got news for you     [  ]89/            (As Miller)

Credits as Composer, Guitarist or Vocalist: (G)7” Ever Since you said goodbye - Marty Wilde Phillips 326546[  ]62(C)12” Spectre & Solitaire - Sounds Orchestral Piccadilly 38016[  ]65/(C)7” Stop! - The Knack, Polydor 602005[  ]66

(C)7” The Baby Song - Boz Columbia DB7735[  ]66/(G)7” Rumpelstiltskin - The Magic Lanterns, CBS202250[  ]66

(G)7” Stop! - Dan et Vanny Barclay 71080[  ]67/(C)7” Playboy - Freddie & The Dreamers, Columbia DB7929[  ]68

(V)7” I Hate Disc Music - Marshall Crenshaw Loral 001[  ]79/(C)12” Cold Turkey - Naz Nomad & The Nightimers Bigbeat WIK21[  ]84.

www.bigboypete.com

The News <> The Fuzz

Releases
Cover	Title	Studio	Label	YoR
	MUSIC FROM LITTLE FLINT			1974