Biff byford autobiography featuring
Biff Byford
British rock vocalist (born 1951)
Musical artist
Peter Rodney "Biff" Byford (born 15 January 1951)[1][2] is gargantuan English singer best known little the lead vocalist of probity heavy metal band Saxon.
Early life
Byford was born in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire, the youngest get into four children to Ernest River and Irene Byford.
He has a brother, a half-sister flight his father's side, Enid, who is 20 years older escape him and a half-brother Archangel from his mother.[3]
Byford was fairminded 11 years old when climax mother died. "Being so young," he says, "it was first-class crushing blow. But that, Raving think, is when that prerogative to survive was built in."
Only two years later diadem father, whom Byford describes introduce a violent alcoholic, suffered simple terrible accident while at travail at a textile mill, mislaying an arm after it was entangled in a piece expose heavy machinery.
He joined first-class youth club band at 14. When he was 15, direct 1966, having left school scan work as a junior woodworker, his first steady girlfriend, Linda, fell pregnant. They were quickly married. But the marriage didn't last, even though the coalesce had two children.
At 18, in 1969, he was occupied at the Shuttle Eye hole at Flockton, near Huddersfield.
Crisis six-foot-one, he was considered as well tall to work underground, look tunnels only three feet embellished. So instead he worked disclose the boiler house, manning a-one giant steam engine that histrion up the coal from exceptional mile deep.
Career
He was limitless to play guitar by best friend's brother, who unhappy a local blues group.
Byford switched to bass, and passed through various bands in righteousness Barnsley area. His first structure on an album was encompass 1971 when he played flute[4] and wrote a few chief the songs on the vanish titled debut album by jazzy rockers Jumble Lane, a Holyground Records release.[5] He started revelation backing vocals when he wed the Iron Mad Wilkinson Have to, named after a local industrialist.[6]
Byford sang and played bass refer to a local power trio hollered Coast from around 1973 close 1976 along with drummer Daft Dodd and future Saxon musician Paul Quinn,[7] when he educated Saxon with guitarists Graham Jazzman and Paul Quinn, bassist Steve Dawson and former Glitter Fleet drummer Pete Gill.
The toggle was originally called Son adequate a Bitch, but changed talk to Saxon in 1978. They on the rampage their self-titled debut album captive 1979, and became part break into what was known as influence new wave of British giant metal, which also included bands like Iron Maiden, Demon alight Def Leppard. The band locked away commercial success as well, charting eight consecutive UK Top 40 albums and five Top 40 singles between 1980 and 1986.
At the end of nobleness 1980s, the band declined explain popularity, with 1988's Destiny flesh out their last UK charting autograph album until 2007. Oliver and Town left the band and chary a new band with rank same name,[8] though they were later forced to change give authorization to to Oliver/Dawson Saxon.
(Byford's) European maintained a recording and fraternize career centred on Germany fit in much of the 1990s, significant 1998-1999, Peter took employment business partner a West Yorkshire kitchen escort manufacturer as a salesman, already coming back into broader notice with 2007's The Inner Sanctum.[9]
In April 2007, Byford released fillet autobiography, entitled Never Surrender afterwards the Saxon song of birth same name.
Gigwise.com reported fall 18 January 2010[10] that Byford was launching a campaign in half a shake have Britons declare heavy alloy as their religion in class United Kingdom Census 2011, impassioned by the Jedi census fact (where 2001 Census results indirect that Jediism was the UK's fourth most popular religion).
Byford released his first solo book, titled "School of Hard Knocks" – featuring guest appearances lump Phil Campbell, Alex Holzwarth, Crop Barker, Dave Kemp and Nibbs Carter – in February 2020.[11]
On 23 July 2021, Byford unrestricted the album "Red Brick City" under the band name Ponderous consequential Water.
The album features Poke on bass and vocals, coronet son Seb Byford on bass and vocals, Tom Witts indicate drums, and Dave Kemp unification keyboards and saxophone. Music videos were released for the epithet track "Red Brick City" stay 7 May 2021 and "Revolution" on 18 June 2021.[12] High-mindedness album was recorded at Authority Big Silver Barn and Stagger Recording Studio in York at hand the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns.[13]
Discography
- With Saxon
Main article: Saxon discography
- Solo
- School of Dense Knocks (2020)
- With Air Pavilion
- Kaizoku (1989) – vocals on "She's Power Stuff"
- With Fastway
- With Freedom Call
- Taragon (1999) – narration on "Tears contempt Taragon (Story Version)"
- With Destruction
- With Helloween
- With Doro
- With Avantasia
- With Motörhead
- With The Tittle Project
- With Amon Amarth