The ShadowMusic Web Community

Not sure that Brian Bennett would post it, if it wasn't fact. Tony is a friend who can see Brian's posts, but us onlookers can't. This is what Tony posted on 12th February,
"Another sad loss today, and he is another ex Cliff band member who now joins the 'February Club' Australian Kevin Peek passed away today, I don't know anything about it I just read it on Brian Bennett's FB page. Kevin was around in my early days with Cliff, a gentle giant a tall soft spoken man, played beautiful acoustic guitar on some of Cliff's recordings. On I'm Nearly Famous I believe it was Kevin playing the acoustic guitar on the song Such Is The Mystery. I posted a photo a few days ago of me up in the woods near or in his back garden in Perth (he had a party for Cliff and the band) pretending to fire a stick/gun. A lovely man he was also a founder member of the group Sky. RIP Kevin Peek."

Seems that Kevin Peek has indeed died

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/inter ... 2einz.html

The huge sums of money involved in the recent fraud cases may have something to do with the "low profile" nature of this

All very sad

Dick.

So it's true.

Very sorry to hear this. I saw sky live twice (81 and 83) and they were brilliant. Kevin was nothing less than phenomenal. So sad the way things went for him.

RIP.

Just received confirmation from Peter Lyster-Todd. Kevin died on February 11th.

Very sad. I shall be listening to sky2 later.

R.I.P.

I, too,would like to send out my condolences to Kevin Peek's family. Everything that has been said in this thread is exactly what was on my mind this past week. I am amazed, but yet comforted, that so many of us could have been thinking the same thing, without having spoken with each other until now.

I'd like to post the following two videos of Kevin Peek, and to say that they are from Sir Cliff's TV show. Perhaps Kevin's greatest musical accomplishments were with Sky.

Rest in peace, Kevin James Peek.

Respectfully,
Donna



A solo by Kevin Peek, playing Norwegian Wood. Starts shortly before 2:00 mark. He plays both a classical acoustic guitar and a Telecaster.

P.S. The following article has what would appear to be a recent photo of Kevin Peek. "Recent" meaning more recent than the clip from the 1975-ish Cliff Richard show that I posted. I certainly do not wish to dwell on what the article says, but simply to share with you the photo. RIP Kevin.

Sincerely,
Donna

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/m-fraud-accused-has-brain-cancer-case-may-be-dropped/story-e6frg13u-1226565992071?sv=6cafb4506e0d49aa38ad9812ff41af0f

Very sad news for me.

I used to go and see his various bands play almost every weekend from late 1964 to about late 1967 here in Adelaide, South Australia (Kevin was a local lad)

He was incredibly talented as a musician, and acknowledged as the best player around back then. (As a young lad learning guitar, I learnt more from watching him than having any music lessons or reading tutor books. He always had a group of younger players standing watching him closely at his gigs..)

He was on a par with people like Big Jim Sullivan and Tommy Emmanuel in my opinion- he could and did play everything...pop, rock, blues, jazz,country and Chet Atkins style fingerpicking and Shadows and other instrumental material, even heavy rock stuff like Hendrix, and he was also later a superb classical player. I understand John Williams had tremendous respect for his ability, when they played together in Sky, and as John was/is about the finest classical guitarist after Segovia died, that was a great accolade.

I won't comment on the circumstances of his sad passing, I'd prefer to remember him as a wonderful musician who influenced and taught me so much.

RIP Kevin.

"The most gifted and under-exploited guitarist I know." John WIlliams, 1979, on Kevin Peek.

Says it all really...

Well I was never a fan of Sky in the slightest but acknowledge that Kevin Peek was indeed a fantastic guiyar player. Released at least one brilliant solo album.

A nice memory highlight for me was seeing Kevin, with Alan Tarney on standup bass and Trevor Spencer on drums (they were billed then as The Kevin Peek Trio), playing live on a local TV variety show here in about 1966...they played Dave Brubeck's 'Blue Rondo a La Turk', with Kevin playing the piano and sax parts fingerstyle on an amplified nylon string Gibson Bossa Nova guitar...wow!

(He always played fingerstyle with a thumbpick back then, usually on a Gretsch double cutaway Nashville 6120 or a Country Gent, or a plain sunburst Strat, usually through a Vox AC30, later with a Marshall stack, then with a Telecaster, and later a Klira Gold with a built-in fuzz unit(a German Country Gent style guitar)

As well as jazz, Atkins picking and pop and rock and r'n'b stuff, his then band (Johnny Broome and the Handells (!), with Alan and Frank Tarney and Trevor Spencer) would also play quite a few instrumentals during their gigs, even in the mid '60's- Shads, and Duane Eddy tunes mainly..

Last time I saw him with Sky, he used a Gibson L5S solid and an Ovation nylon string classical electric.