Stu Pevitt
1952 – 2009
A Dedication……
To the memory of Stu Pevitt who passed away on 6th January 2009 aged 56 years.
A loving & devoted father to Emma & Vicki
Lead Vocalist, Artist & lifelong friend & inspiration.
Paul Jones Radio Show Dedication Monday February 9th 2009
Going To Germany (The Purple Gang)
& Paul’s Tribute to Stu
Throw Down The Sword
The Grumpy Old Men
from the cd
‘Time To Reflect’
© 2004
Sunset Over The Mersey
The Purple Gang
from the cd
‘Empty Head’
© 2000
GREEN LEATHER MIND
Some people think of love
Some people think of heather
But your mind is different
You think of green green yeah green leather
People get death on their minds
Some are scared of rain
But not you baby well fine
Cause you you got a green leather brain
You got a green leather mind babe.
© 1970
~ The Broken Link ~
We little knew that morning
That someone was to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly
In death we’ll do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you did not go alone
For part of us went with you
The day you were called back home.
You left us peaceful memories
Your love is still our guide
& although we can not see you
You’re always by our side.
Our friendship chain is broken
& nothing seems the same,
But as we are called one by one
The chain will link again.
Stuart Pevitt
Obituaries…………
Alex Gunningham
The Guardian, Thursday 22 January 2009
Stuart “Pev” Pevitt, who was the lead singer of rock band ‘The Purple Gang’
My friend and colleague Stuart “Pev” Pevitt, who has died of cancer aged 56, was a well-known figure on the Manchester music scene.
After he became lead singer of the notorious psychedelic rock band the Purple Gang (of which I was the manager) in 1999, his reputation as a vocalist and harmonica player spread across Europe
Stuart was an unorthodox frontman for a rock band and was inventive in his presentation of songs. He often stood stock-still so that the audience could more clearly see his vaudevillian facial expressions.
He fully embraced the rock-theatre style pioneered by Screaming Lord Sutch and incorporated many outlandish props. When performing the song Granny Takes a Trip, he would vanish from the stage during an extended instrumental introduction and reappear dressed as a crazed grandmother, in grey wig and floral dress.
With Stuart in the Purple Gang, bookings from eastern Europe (where Granny Takes a Trip, banned by the BBC on its release in 1967,
was widely bootlegged) were plentiful. Successful stadium tours were interspersed with low-key pub dates in Cheshire. The diverse range of musical styles embraced by the Purple Gang (rock’n’roll, rhythm’n’blues, country, folk, jug-band jazz, bluegrass and more, in a two-hour set) made the band hard to pigeonhole, but gave Stuart the opportunity to exercise his wide vocal range and incorporate musical parody and impersonations into his delivery.
Commercial success seemed imminent for the Purple Gang in 2003 when a single, Sunset Over the Mersey, entered the pop charts in Bulgaria and Hungary. Stuart’s wry sense of humour disguised the difficulties caused by regular fallow commercial periods and his brittle health.
He was born in Sale, Cheshire, and educated at Bramhall junior and Hazel Grove secondary schools. He worked for many years
as a textile designer and latterly as a dealer in antiques and collectibles. However, it is for his musical gifts that he will be remembered.
Stuart was a dedicated family man and is survived by his brother John, his ex-wife Rachel and their two daughters Emma and Vikki.
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 00.01 GMT on Thursday 22 January 2009.
