Born on this day ...

[Ruby]

Dave Pegg was born on this day in 1947, in Adcocks Green, Birmingham, England. By the time he was 21, he’d been a part-time member in bands who supported the Spencer Davis Group and The Moody Blues, played in another one with Robert Plant and John Bonham, and caught the attention of Ralph McTell and Dave Swarbrick. He’d also switched along the way from lead, to bass, upright bass and mandolin before settling back on the bass in The Beast with Cozy Powell, followed by a stint in a blues quartet. When Fairport Convention’s incumbent bass player left the band in 1969, they gave Pegg a call, and that was that – for a while – the next ten years, in fact. During his tenure with FC, he also contributed to albums by other artists, notably Nick Drake, John Martyn and Ralph McTell. 

Known for his melodic bass playing, he stood in for an ill John Glascock on Jethro Tull’s Stormwatch tour and after Glascock’s passing was invited by Mr Anderson himself to join them permanently, his first recording with the mighty machine being Broadsword and the Beast. He stayed with JT for fifteen years, during the last five of which Fairport Convention also came back to life so he must have been a busy and slightly confuddled boy! Somehow he managed to hold down both jobs which is quite miraculous really, espeically given Ian McCrusty's reputation, but he eventually chose to commit to FC and they still make appearances, I believe. 

From Broadsword and the Beast ….