Northumbrian Blues: The Lost World of Big Pete Deuchar Vol. 1 (1933–60)

17/10/2025

Northumbrian Blues: The Lost World of Big Pete Deuchar Vol. 1 (1933–60)
by Colin Harper

Peter Deuchar (1933–88) was the biggest character on the Tyneside jazz scene of the mid-50s – a fearless personality who made things happen, a black sheep from the upper classes, a ladies man, a leader, an adventurer, the heir to millions, the founder of a band that outlived him. On the cusp of 40, in 1972/73, Deuchar cycled the world entirely solo, ‘because it’s there’ – a two-wheeled George Mallory breaking records and keeping his demons at bay.

That same year, his protégé Mahavishnu John McLaughlin was conquering America with a sound light years away from the music they’d once played together in the Professors of Ragtime while still being some sort of jazz. John would fondly recall his old band in interviews. The name, he said, tells its own story. Deuchar’s story has never been told before now – a singular human interest tale, from Dickensian beginnings in a dysfunctional mansion in deepest Northumberland to founding a jazz club on Newcastle’s seediest street and undertaking a pilgrimage to the source of the music, when it was still possible to meet on the street people who had played with Buddy Bolden.

This volume brings to life a time and place at the edge of memory, Britain in the 1950s, its youth curiously obsessed with the music of New Orleans at the turn of the century. A time when the banjo was god.

*

Colin Harper is the author of six acclaimed books on music history, including Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British folk and blues revival (Bloomsbury, 2000) and Bathed in Lightning: John McLaughlin, the 60s and the Emerald Beyond (Jawbone, 2014). The one episode of McLaughlin’s early career that Colin ran out of time to fully pin down during the research for Bathed in Lighting was the Professors of Ragtime – what were the dates? What was the music? And who was this intriguing sounding character ‘Big Pete Deuchar’?

In his spare time, Colin kept pulling at threads, found the dates through forensic paper research and found, in California, Pete’s charismatic younger half-sister Sally. The lens came into focus and a fascinating tale revealed itself – parts of which perhaps only Sally, alone in the world, now knew. Within months of her interview, Sally unexpectedly passed on.

In 2017, Colin published Echoes From Then: Glimpses of John McLaughlin 1959–75 – a book of additional chapters and new research for McLaughlin diehards, including a 10,000-word chapter on the Professors of Ragtime: September 1959 – June 1960.

The trouble was, Colin had already accumulated compelling material relating to the extraordinary life of Pete Deuchar from before and after this short period. What would he do with it? Write another book, of course. Actually, it will be two books, of which Northumbrian Blues is part one – a standalone volume, even if volume two is never written – ending with a revised telling of the Professors’ tale, this time with contributions from John McLaughlin himself, whose gratitude to Big Pete remains to this day.

No knowledge of Deuchar, Tyneside or the 1950s world of jazz in Britain is required – dive in and enjoy a richly painted portrait of driven man with anti-establishment tendencies and a bizarre family background in a hurry to find things, do things, go places and shake off the mediocrity of the conventional world around him.
Colin Harper works mostly in academic proofreading and vintage music box set curating these days. This is his first book in eight years – and a limited edition. Don’t miss out!

Praise for Bathed in Lightning:

‘A vivid portrait… Harper’s book not only does the subject justice, but is also an indispensable guide – the best yet written – to the Brit jazz scene in the 1960s…’
Stuart Nicolson, Jazzwise

‘A celebration of a dues-paying twilight world that is now on the verge of passing out of living memory. Harper’s treatment leaps from the page… perceptive and authoritative… forensic detail… Essential reading…’
Sid Smith, Prog

‘This is a labyrinthine work… How Colin Harper had the mental tenacity to string together the disparate threads of music from the decades he covers is difficult to comprehend – but he pulls it off without ever being dull… An epic work by anyone’s standards.’
Joel McIver, Record Collector

‘Exhaustive and insightful… meticulous… leaves no stone unturned… a remarkably detailed account [and] an absolute must-read…’
Bill Milkowski, Down Beat

‘A revelatory work of scholarship, written with a professional historian’s rigour…’
Trevor Hodgett, Rock’n’Reel

‘Plaudits to Colin Harper for fantastically detailed research… [He] writes with great immediacy and a tone somewhere between the old Melody Maker and the work of Ian MacDonald… A book for anyone interested in British music of the period.’
Brian Morton, Jazz Journal

‘Colin is more than just a well-researched author; he has a real ability to evoke atmosphere and ambiance. It’ll take time to finish, but it’ll be well worth the time invested.’
John Kelman, All About Jazz

3