Peter Coe; saxophonist on "Got to Get You Into My Life"
Hyfler/Rosner
April 13, 2009
Peter Coe: saxophonist, bandleader and designer
For a short period in the 1960s, Peter Coe was one of the
most distinctive saxophonists in British pop music. He was a
member of Georgie Fame's Blue Flames, and contributed the
gritty tenor sax solo on the band's number one hit Yeh Yeh
in 1964, also playing on the band's follow-up chart-topping
single Getaway. Coe was prominently featured in the band's
live appearances, such as a recently issued DVD of the ITV
show Ready Steady Go, in which he takes an extended version
of his Yeh Yeh solo, drawing on the vocabulary of American
rhythm and blues, but also neatly echoing Fame's vocals.
He played on the Beatles' song Got to Get You Into My Life
on the Revolver album, and toured in packages with, among
others, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Martha and the
Vandellas. Withdrawing from the excesses of the pop
lifestyle in the mid-1960s, he continued a parallel career
as a graphic designer and illustrator, although he spent a
year as a big-band contractor and director for Polydor
Records in 1969-70.
Coe's greatest success as a bandleader, however, came with
the semi-pro big band he led at the Leather Bottle pub in
Wimbledon, South London, from 1975. As well as developing a
devoted local following, the group won the first national
BBC Big Band championship the following year by a wide
margin. Under the competition's arcane rules, the winner was
not allowed to defend the title the following year, but Coe
re-entered and won again in 1978. Told that he would now not
be able to compete again, he sent in an audition tape in
1981 under the name "Ceeporte Big Band" (a simple anagram of
Peter Coe) and promptly won the competition for the third
and final time.
Born in Cambridge, Peter Coe studied illustration at
Cambridge School of Art, but simultaneously worked on his
saxophone playing under the tutelage of Arnold Massey. He
spent his final art school years playing dance band
engagements all round the local area, including US service
bases, by night, and studying by day. He passed his exams,
but suffered a physical and mental breakdown afterwards,
subsequently regaining weight and his mental equilibrium by
doing his National Service in the Army, becoming a sergeant
instructor in the RAEC.
Immediately following his demobilisation, he became an
illustrator for the Ministry of Agriculture, but after four
years took his chance to become a professional saxophonist.
Through the unofficial dance musicians' labour market in
Archer Street, London, Coe met Johnny Simmons, whose big
band was resident at Butlin's Skegness camp, and he played
the summer season there. On his return to the London area he
embarked on a joint career as a freelance saxophonist and
graphic designer, going on to join Georgie Fame in 1963.
After deciding to focus on his design business in the early
1970s, Coe led an occasional jazz quartet in and around
London and the Home Counties, often working with the
talented and underrated pianist Tony Lee. He continued to
play as a freelance saxophonist during and after the period
he led his own big band in Wimbledon.
In 1987 Coe moved to Spain, playing for six years at Magnum's
Jazz Bar near Marbella with the pianist Chuck Gates, while
continuing to run his design business. He retired to
Cambridgeshire in 2000, although he continued to play
occasional jazz engagements. Away from music and graphic
design, Coe was keen on crosswords, completing the Times
puzzle every day since 1949 until the end of his life.
Coe is survived by his wife and daughter.
Peter Coe, saxophonist, bandleader and designer, was born on
November 21, 1930. He died on March 16, 2009, aged 78