Peter Head
Peter Head (born Peter Beagley), is an Australian rock musician, pianist, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work with the progressive rock band Headband from February 1971 to 1974. He then formed The Mount Lofty Rangers with Bon Scott, best known for his time as the lead singer of AC/DC, on lead vocals.[1]
For the British swimmer, see Peter Head (swimmer). For the British civil and structural engineer, see Peter Head (civil engineer).Early years[edit]
Peter Head began playing piano professionally at the age of 13 with "Adelaide's first rock'n'roll band," Johnny Mac and the Macmen as well playing to accompany showgirls at the infamous Hindley Street institution, La Belle, after school. Throughout his teens, he continued piano lessons from a variety of well-known jazz pianists such as Bobby Gebert and Roger Frampton and played modern jazz. He also played many shows accompanying a young Johnny Farnham and Doug Ashdown.[2]
At 17, he attended art school and opened his own art gallery for a short time with his wife. He relocated to London at age 19, working and touring with a reggae band run by Boz Burrell (Bad Company) and moonlighted in various bands and loose formations in a music scene alongside artists such as Georgie Fame, Alan Price, The Foundations, and King Crimson.[2]
Stage and screen[edit]
Head was the resident Piano Bar artiste for five seasons at the Adelaide Festival Theatre and was Musical Director for a wide array of plays including Young Mo and Hamlet on Ice.
While touring with Young Mo, Head and script writer Rob George collaborated on bushranger musical Lofty – An Epic From The Annals of Country Rock, which was staged in 1977 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide. He was Musical Director, composed the score and performed (with a five piece Mount Lofty Rangers). An original Bon Scott composition, "I've Been Up in the Hills Too Long", was featured.
In 1978, Head wrote the music for children's musical Fun and Games which was staged at the Arts Centre. Head toured nationally as Musical Director for the hit Robyn Archer musical, A Star is Torn. He composed soundtrack music for Bob Ellis' 1992 film, The Nostradamus Kid and for Les Patterson Saves The World. Head had a cameo role as "The Beggar" in Aden Young's 2007 short film The Rose of Ba Ziz.
King Of The Cross[edit]
Head moved to Sydney in 1980, performing regularly at Kinselas and Kings Cross nightclubs such as Round Midnight, the Bourbon & Beefsteak, Paradise and Springfields, both solo and with regular musical cohorts Doug Williams, Wendy Saddington, Lucky Starr and Jeff St. John. Head's King of the Cross recording was inspired by his years working in the Cross, and is rumoured to be based on Abe Saffron. "Well, the Cross is good, every time you walk down the street there at least ten stories come into your head, all those weird and wonderful people" he explains.[14]
Working with his family[edit]
Head has collaborated with three family members: daughter Loene Carmen, son Joshua Beagley, and granddaughter Holiday Sidewinder.
He features on Carmen's 2009 album It Walks Like Love and has played alongside her opening for artists such as Kinky Friedman, The Handsome Family, Renee Geyer and in the band Slow Hand, which featured the "duelling keyboards" of Head and organ player Johnny Gauci (2000–2005).[16]
In 2013 Head and Carmen independently released album The Apple Don't Fall Far from the Tree, a "charming smoky blues romp driven by Head's bar-room piano." It includes original tunes "Old Hands" and "Songs Don't Care".[17][18]
Head played in Carmen's bands Automatic Cherry and Honky Tonk Angels (for which he also acted as Musical Director and assembled the band).
His son, Joshua Beagley, is a disco funk guitarist, composer, studio producer and DJ. His bands include Confection, Professor Groove and The Booty Affair and Swoop. Beagley contributed guitar to the King of the Cross recording.
Head is responsible for suggesting the name for granddaughter Holiday Sidewinder's band, Bridezilla. The three generations (Head, Carmen and Sidewinder) performed together for the first time with Songs of Sydney, a Creative Festival event held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2009 in Sydney.
Other work[edit]
Head also features on Finnish band Exception to the Rule's 2010 debut album, High And Low.