Pete Wingfield

English keyboardist Pete Wingfield has done session work with numerous rock, blues, and R&B acts, among them Freddie King, Jimmy Witherspoon, the Hollies, and Van Morrison, as well as being a member of the Olympic Runners. A fixture within the music industry -- especially in England -- from the early to mid-'70s, his fame before the public has derived from his fine single "Eighteen with a Bullet" for Island in 1975. While it only reached number 15 on both the pop and R&B charts the week of November 11, 1975, "Eighteen with a Bullet" was actually number 18 with a bullet on the pop chart. It was also a charming, expertly bit sung of falsetto soul. Wingfield was born in Liphook, Hampshire, England in 1948. He was a devotee of American R&B and soul music, and learned the piano as a boy. His interest in soul music was sufficient to lead him to an early career as a music journalist while still in his teens, founding one fanzine devoted to soul music and publishing articles on the subject in other, established magazines. He also led a group called Pete's Disciples and attended Sussex University, where he and fellow students Paul Butler (guitar) and John Best (bass) later teamed up with local teacher Chris Waters (drums) to form the blues band Jellybread. In addition to playing all of the keyboards in the band, Wingfield handled most of the signing, and they had enough confidence in the worth of their work to record an album for their own Liphook label, which became, in effect, their demo for the Blue Horizon label, which signed them in 1970. Despite good reviews, the group didn't enjoy enough success to justify a continued effort, and Wingfield left in 1971 -- by that time, he'd played sessions with ex-Yardbirds guitarist Top Topham, and one-time blues bandleader Graham Bond,...