Pete Clifford was born in Whetstone, London 0n 10 May 1943. He started playing guitar when he was about thirteen years old. His ability with the instrument grew rapidly. By the age of 16 he was the Lead Guitarist for a group called The Jesters. They played a summer season in the Isle of Man, and performed on the island of Jersey. He then joined The Echoesand was lead guitarist in the backing group, for a number of well-known artists, such as:.
Tom Jones, Gene Pitney, Gene Vincent, Dusty Springfield, and The Ivy League, who are some of the "better known" artists that used the The Echoes as their backing group of choice, during the 1960's.
In 1964, The Echoes spent a lot of time in recording studios as well as providing backing for artists like Dusty Springfield. During 1964, it is reported that Dusty did a 29 date tour of the UK, before a visit to Australia and New Zealand. The Echoes also backed her tour to America, that year. They came out to South Africa with her in late1964. Early in 1965, Pete Clifford (guitar) and Micky Garrett (keyboards) left the Echoes. Before Pete started the fledgeling 004, he did a tour of England with Tom Jones.
The 004 were a mid-1960s group put together at the suggestion of Trevor Boswell, the husband of Eve Boswell, the South African 1950s singing star. The band comprised of expatriate Britons, including Pete Clifford as Lead guitarist/singer, together with Bass player/singer Jack Russell, and rhythm guitarist/singer Brian Gibson. The band added Londoner, Peter Stember on drums to complete the line up, and sailed to Durban. They immediately found work in the club scene in Durban and Johannesburg. During this time, Pete and Jackdid lots of studio work as session musicians, recording with Eve Boswell, The Dream Merchants, The (SA) Sandpipers, and many others. They also did a stint with Gene Vincent in Durban, and later made an appearances the Christmas Eve show at the Durban City Hall.
Inevitably personnel changes in the band took place. The 004 band, now down to a trio, without Barry Mitchell, who had replaced Brian Gibson, met John Kongos who invited the musicians to go to the UK to record that summer. Pete Clifford, Nick Dokter, and Jack Russell, recorded with John Kongos, as a group called Floribunda Rose in London during mid-late 1967 before Pete returned to South Africa to join The Bats, replacing Jimmy Dunning in 1968.
The Bats became a favorite on the SA music scene until 1981, and worked in South Africa, the UK and Germany .The group's first single, "All I Got", went to number 1 on both Springbok Radio and LM Radio. Eddie Eckstein would also perform a Paul Ditchfield composition at the 1972 Tokyo Song Competition with the song, "Oh God It's Beautiful", reaching the finals. The Bats broke up in 1981, and the members went on to pursue their own careers, but they reformed in 2000.
After the time Pete spent with The Bats, he moved to Pietermaritzburg, where he opened a music school, Later, he moved to Barberton, where he owned, and managed a restaurant. However, the pull of SA fans led to the group reforming in 2000. Eighteen years later, they are still delighting audiences. Although Pete is a member of the group, he is available to pass on his knowledge at his personal guitar studio. His many years behind the footlights, in recording studios, and in shows around the world, in association with some mega stars, make him ideally suited to advance your knowledge about guitars and music. Furthermore, he is fun to be with. A real star, in his own right. (More about The Bats on the next page.)