Dave Peverett

Dave Peverett
Dave Peverett during a concert.
Background information
Born	(1943-04-16)16 April 1943
Origin	Dulwich, South East London, UK
Died	7 February 2000(2000-02-07) (aged 56)
Genres	Rock, blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1968–2000
Labels	Bearsville, Columbia
Associated acts	Foghat, Savoy Brown
Notable instruments
Gibson Box Guitar, Gibson Les Paul

David Peverett or Lonesome Dave (16 April 1943, in Dulwich, South East London - 7 February 2000 in Orlando, Florida) was a British musician. He is best known as the original singer and rhythm guitarist of Foghat, which he founded following his tenure in Savoy Brown.

Early years

Peverett was an avid fan of the blues and of blues-based rock and roll, and mastered these forms while performing. In the formative pre-Beatles early Sixties, he was the vocalist and lead guitarist of The Nocturnes, which included his brother John Malcome Peverett (later to be Rod Stewart's road manager, before becoming a Baptist pastor in the USA) on drums, and Brixton neighbor Al "Boots" Collins (later to be editor of tourist magazines in the West Indies and Middle East) on tenor sax. The Nocturnes achieved London popularity as a pub & club band and provided backing for other performers at a recording studio in Soho. Then, after a brief tour with Swiss blues band, Les Questions, Dave joined Savoy Brown as a rhythm guitarist, eventually also taking over as lead singer and adding the nickname Lonesome, for reasons cited below. After five albums with Savoy Brown, he decided to pursue his own path, taking drummer Roger Earl and bassist Tony Stevens with him.

The beginning of Foghat

The new project took form with the addition of lead guitarist Rod Price in 1971. Peverett decided to call the new band Foghat (thought by some, mistakenly, to be a pun on the F word); this was actually a nonsense word he had made up as a child while playing Scrabble with his brother John. He used his new word to create Junior Foghat, an imaginary childhood playmate who became an alter ego and therefore the genesis of the "Lonesome Dave" persona that he was to employ as a performer. Foghat soon recorded their first, self-titled album for Bearsville Records, with Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmunds each producing tracks. With the success of an early single, a cover version of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You", their debut release soon went gold.

Foghat success

This would be the first of many gold and platinum albums for Peverett. In 1974, Foghat released two gold albums, Energized and Rock & Roll Outlaws. Their first platinum album, Fool for the City, was released in 1975, producing three hit singles: the title track, "My Babe", and "Slow Ride". Fool for the City featured Nick Jameson on bass, temporarily replacing Foghat bassist Craig MacGregor. Jameson also toured with Foghat in support of the album.

Peverett performing

In 1976, with the return of MacGregor, they began touring even larger venues, and recorded another gold album, Night Shift, followed by the highly successful 1977 live album Foghat Live album. Their next album, Stone Blue, was again certified gold.

Reunion and death

At the encouragement of Rick Rubin, Peverett reunited with the original Foghat line-up in 1993, beginning the first of several tours. He continued to write and record songs not only for Foghat, but also for a wide variety of projects, until his death from cancer in February 2000. He even embarked on what would become his final tour after receiving months of intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Peverett died in an Orlando, Florida hospital on 7 February 2000 as the results of complications from cancer.^[1]

Discography

With Savoy Brown

• Getting to the point (1968)
• Blue Matter (1969)
• A Step Further (1969)
• Raw Sienna (1970)
• Looking In (1970)

With Foghat

• Foghat (1972)
• Foghat (1973)
• Energized (1974)
• Rock & Roll Outlaws (1974)
• Fool For The City (1975)
• Foghat Live (1976)
• Night Shift (1976)
• Stone Blue (1978)
• Boogie Motel (1979)
• Tight Shoes (1980)
• Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce (1981)
• In the Mood for Something Rude (1982)
• Zig-Zag Walk (1983)
• Return of the Boogie Men (1994)
• Road Cases (1998)

References