Peter 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 Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fai ...

Early life

Watts was born in

Yardley, Birmingham Yardley is an area in east Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Historically it lay within Worcestershire. Birmingham Yardley is a constituency and its Member of Parliament is Jess ...

, on 13 May 1947. He moved as a child to

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

, Sussex, and then to

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

, where he started learning guitar while at Ross Grammar School. His middle name, Overend (which initially he did not use), came from that of a family ancestor.

Career

Watts began playing the guitar at the age of 13 and by 1965, he had switched to

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, and became a professional musician alongside Mick Ralphs in a group, the Buddies, that played in German clubs. 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. The group then added singer Ian Hunter, became Mott the Hoople, and, taking the advice of manager

Guy Stevens Guy Stevens (13 April 1943 – 28 August 1981) was a British music industry figure whose roles included DJ, record producer, and band manager. He was influential in promoting R&B music in Britain in the 1960s, gave the rock bands Procol Ha ...

, Pete Watts adopted the stage name Overend Watts. Following the departure of Ian Hunter and

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

from the band, in 1974, the remaining members of Mott the Hoople recruited relative unknowns Ray Major, on guitar, and Nigel Benjamin, on vocals. 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. Watts continued, with

Dale "Buffin" Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1 ...

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

and Ray Major, in the Mott successor British Lions, recruiting former

Medicine Head Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums ...

member John Fiddler. They released the albums '' British Lions'', which reached No. 83 in the US (1977), and ''Trouble with Women'' (1982). He later became a record producer, producing albums for artists including

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accide ...

and

Dumb Blondes The Dumb Blondes were an English glam rock band. The band went through two line-ups, both featuring singer Jeff Hepting and bassist Pete Webb. The first line-up also featured current Def Leppard and Man Raze guitarist Phil Collen and drummer ...

. Watts's bass of choice was a white

Gibson Thunderbird The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson and Epiphone. Background and introduction The Gibson Thunderbird was introduced in 1963. At the time, Fender had been the leader in the electric bass market since their introdu ...

, one of which was later sold to

Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular albums included '' Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage'' (1971), '' Argus'' (1972), '' Wishbone Four'' (1973), ''There's the Rub'' (1974), and ...

bassist

Martin Turner Martin Robert Turner (born 1 October 1947) is an English musician best known for his time as the bass guitarist, lead vocalist and a founding member of the rock band, Wishbone Ash. Career Turner was with Wishbone Ash, known for their twin le ...

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. The reunion at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London, England was extended to five shows due to popular demand. 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". In November 2013 Mott the Hoople again reunited, with

Martin Chambers Martin Dale Chambers (born 4 September 1951 in Hereford) is an English musician, who is best known as a founding member and drummer of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing the drums with the group, Chambers sings backing vocals ...

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. 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.”

Death

Watts died on 22 January 2017 from throat cancer at the age of 69.

Publication

Watts was known for his long-distance walks. His book, ''The Man Who Hated Walking'', was published in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Peter (Musician) 1947 births 2017 deaths English bass guitarists English male guitarists Male bass guitarists English record producers Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Mott the Hoople members Glam rock musicians People from Yardley Deaths from throat cancer Deaths from cancer in England British Lions (band) members