A tribute to my brother Peter Baylis - "Pete the Feet" - also known as Boogie in the West Midlands.
Born in Nottingham, Pete set his sights on a musical career after his music teacher encouraged him to use his natural gift to entertain people with his remarkable talent.
We had a piano in the house for as long as I remember. It was the place my mother put her ornaments on, until Pete came along. It wasn't long before he was playing Coronation Street, Crossroads and many more TV tunes after only hearing them a couple of times.
His career began in the early seventies, when he appeared in the first ever Nottingham Festival at the age of fifteen, and a year later he joined The Houndogs, a touring Rock'n'Roll band. By the time he was nineteen, he was playing on a cruise ship based in Nassau, Bahamas, touring the Caribbean.
When he returned to England, he went on to play for many regional bands touring the circuit, including the Honeydrippers in 1980, featuring the legendary Robert Plant on vocals. When Robert decided to pursue a solo career, Pete did the same and concentrated on his piano work. This led to appearances on the National Lottery show, Big Breakfast outside broadcasts and for RTL in Germany and Antenna 3 in Spain.
He returned home to Nottingham after summer seasons in Weymouth, a place he had always had fond memories of since childhood days. He composed Weymouth Concerto, a piece he had been working on for over 20 years which he recently finished, and has since been uploaded to YouTube. A documentary chronicling Pete’s musical story, produced by Nick Cairns, is being finalised at present and will be available to view in the near future.
Pete played in many establishments around Nottingham; The Hippo Cub, Waltons Hotel, Grand Central Diner, The Hand and Heart and award winning restaurant Piere Victoire to name but a few.
I personally saw Pete play on many occasions and was always amazed by his versatility; he was able to play any tune in any style. My overriding memory is not only listening to his playing, but also seeing at the joy on people's faces as he played.
Whether he played to two or many he loved to entertain. Pete’s party piece was to play from underneath the piano, and with the help of shoes and feet played many a tune to the delight of his audience.
Pete had a great send off on Wednesday 21st March at Bramcote Crematorium and afterwards at The Navigation.
He had specified the musicians to play, which included Last Pedestrians, Wholesome Fish, and many from Colin Staples Blues Night, who all turned up to provide a true Nottingham tribute to an extraordinary musical talent. During the wake, many of Pete’s fellow musician friends came up to me and expressed their views of how good he was; the highest accolade a performer can get is those received from fellow musicians.
Rest in peace Pete - from brother Stuart.
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