Pete Overend Watts

Peter "Pete" Overend Watts (13 May 1947 – 22 January 2017) was an English bass guitar player and founding member of the 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople.

Pete Overend Watts
Overend Watts performing with Mott the Hoople, reunion gig, Hammersmith Apollo, October 2009
Background information
Birth namePeter Overend Watts
Born(1947-05-13)13 May 1947
Yardley, Birmingham, England
Died22 January 2017(2017-01-22) (aged 69)
GenresRock, hard rock, glam rock
Occupation(s)Bass guitarist, vocalist, record producer
InstrumentsBass guitar, acoustic guitar
Years active1969–2017
LabelsChrysalis, Island, Vertigo
Associated actsMott the Hoople, British Lions

Early life

Watts was born in Yardley, Birmingham, on 13 May 1947.[1][2] He moved as a child to Worthing, Sussex, and then to Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, where he started learning guitar while at Ross Grammar School.[3] His middle name, Overend (which initially he did not use), came from that of a family ancestor.[3]

Career

Watts began playing the guitar at the age of 13[4] and by 1965, he had switched to bass guitar,[4] and became a professional musician alongside Mick Ralphs in a group, the Buddies, that played in German clubs.[3] The group later became the Doc Thomas Group, and then Shakedown Sound, before finally changing their name to Silence and settling in London in 1969.[3] The group then added singer Ian Hunter, became Mott the Hoople,[5] and, taking the advice of manager Guy Stevens, Pete Watts adopted the stage name Overend Watts.[3][4] Following the departure of Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson from the band, in 1974, the remaining members of Mott the Hoople recruited relative unknowns Ray Major, on guitar, and Nigel Benjamin, on vocals.[6] The name was abbreviated to Mott and a further two albums, Drive On (1975) and Shouting and Pointing (1976), were recorded with this line-up, before Benjamin quit.[6]

Watts continued, with Dale "Buffin" Griffin, Morgan Fisher and Ray Major, in the Mott successor British Lions, recruiting former Medicine Head member John Fiddler. They released the albums British Lions, which reached No. 83 in the US (1977), and Trouble with Women (1982).[6] He later became a record producer, producing albums for artists including Hanoi Rocks[6] and Dumb Blondes.[1]

Watts's bass of choice was a white Gibson Thunderbird, one of which was later sold to Wishbone Ash bassist Martin Turner.[7]

Later career

In January 2009 it was confirmed that Watts and the other original members of Mott the Hoople would reform for three 40th anniversary reunion concerts in October 2009.[8] The reunion at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London, England was extended to five shows due to popular demand.[9]

In August 2009 American rock music group Mambo Sons released their double album Heavy Days featuring a song in tribute to him entitled "Overend Watts".[10]

In November 2013 Mott the Hoople again reunited, with Martin Chambers[5] once again sitting in (for an ailing Buffin) on drums, for a series of UK gigs in Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester, before concluding at the o2 in London.[11]

Before his death in 2017 Watts finally completed his solo album that he had been promising to deliver to his legion of fans for the past decade plus. In keeping with his legendary witty humour, he decreed that as the album would be released after his passing it would not be called “She’s Real Gone” as planned but changed to “He’s Real Gone.”[12]

Death

Watts died, on 22 January 2017, from throat cancer, at the age of 69.[2][4]

Publication

Watts was known for his long-distance walks. His book The Man Who Hated Walking was published in 2013.[5][13]

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gollark: .geese geese but yellow
gollark: .geese 16k render

References
  1. "Pete Watts". AllMusic. 13 May 1949. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  2. "Mott the Hoople bassist Pete Overend Watts dies aged 69". BBC. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  3. "Overend Watts Bio". MotttheHoople.com.
  4. "Mott the Hoople bassist Peter Overend Watts dies, aged 69". The Guardian. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  5. "Mott The Hoople bassist, Overend Watts, dies". Music News. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  6. "Passings: Pete Overend Watts of Mott the Hoople (1947–2017)". VVN Music. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  7. "Martin Turner". forbassplayersonly.com.
  8. "Mott the Hoople 40th anniversary reunion shows". Music-news.com. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  9. "Mott The Hoople". Mott The Hoople. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  10. "Mambo Sons Original Rock & Roll Music!". Mambosons.com. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  11. "Peter Overend Watts, bass guitar player in Herefordshire band Mott the Hoople, dies aged 69". Hereford Times. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  12. http://www.angelair.co.uk/?tcp_product=overend-watts-hes-real-gone
  13. "The Man Who Hated Walking". www.wymeruk.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
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