Patrick John King (1944 – January 25, 2022) also known as Speedy King, was a Scottish bassist, best known for his association with

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...

History

King was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1944 and raised in

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about north of Aberdeen, and north of ...

, Scotland. After attending Art College for a few years he turned his attention to music and played in several local bands in Aberdeen before moving to London. He played briefly with The Luvvers, the former

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

backing group before eventually joining a band called Trifle, which at one time became Lulu's backing group on occasion. After a stint as a croupier at the London Playboy club, King, between 1975 & 1976, joined the supergroup Shanghai, (which released two albums, in 1974 and 1976), featuring

Mick Green Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. Biogra ...

, Cliff Bennett,

Pete Kircher Peter Derek Kircher (born 21 January 1945, Folkestone, Kent) is a retired English rock/pop drummer. Between 1982 and 1985 he was a member of Status Quo, performing with the band at Live Aid and on the albums '' Live at the N.E.C.'' and '' Back ...

and Brian Alterman.Clarke, Donald (1989) ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Viking, p. 98 King also was engaged as a session musician, most notably on the early hits of

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

: "Love Really Hurts Without You", "Red Light Spells Danger", "L.O.D. ( Love on Delivery )" and others. King is best known as the bass guitar player for

between 1977 and 1982.Larkin, Colin (2007) ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Bish Bash Books; 5th concise edition, , entry for "Manfred Mann's Earth Band" King replaced founding member

Colin Pattenden Colin Roy Pattenden (born November 1947, Farnborough, Kent, England) is an English bass guitarist, chiefly known for his membership of Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Pattenden was taught guitar but learned to play bass from tuition books, chiefly th ...

, who left the band in 1977. He is featured on the albums ''

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...

'', ''

Angel Station ''Angel Station'' is the ninth album released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1979. Several line-up changes were made for this album. Ex-Wings drummer Geoff Britton replaced founding drummer Chris Slade and Steve Waller replaced g ...

'' and ''

Chance Chance may refer to: Mathematics and Science * In mathematics, likelihood of something (by way of the Likelihood function and/or Probability density function). * ''Chance'' (statistics magazine) Places * Chance, Kentucky, US * Chance, Mary ...

''. Although leaving the band in 1982, King retained close ties. From 1991 to 2013, he was the band's

lighting designer In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping ...

, until retiring to Olvera, Andalucía in December 2013. King devoted much of his time to photography and playing in a chirigota group – Los Mochuelos – as well as DJ in a local

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

band – El Clan del Sur. He became part of a duo – Pete and Peto (his Spanish nickname, which means dungarees, for an obvious reason) playing blues and rock standards.

Death

King died on January 25, 2022, from an illness.

References

External links

* 1944 births 2022 deaths British rock bass guitarists Manfred Mann's Earth Band members People from Fraserburgh {{UK-bass-guitarist-stub