Pete Sears

Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock music musician.

In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues.

He usually plays bass, keyboards, or both in bands.

Pete Sears played on the Rod Stewart albums Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells A Story (which was listed high in Rolling Stone 's top 500 best albums of all time), Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler.

He also played on the hit singles "Maggie May", and "Reason to Believe".

During this period, Sears toured the US with Long John Baldry blues band, and played with John Cipollina in Copperhead.

Sears was a session musician during the late 1960s, including recording piano with the blues band Steamhammer.

Steamhammer would back up the legendary Freddie King when he toured the UK.

The album, Fly on Strange Wings is considered one of the seminal British folk rock albums of the 1960s and is highly valued by collectors.

Around this time Sears teamed up with original Fairport Convention singer, Judy Dyble, and Van Morrison's Them organist, Jackie McAuley, to form the band Trader Horne.

His career as a professional musician began in 1964, touring the United Kingdom with the band Sons of Fred.

As well as playing British television shows such as Ready Steady Go and Thank Your Lucky Stars, Sons of Fred also recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London.

Pete Sears went on to play and record with many musical artists, including The Fleur De Lys in 1966, and the psychedelic underground band Sam Gopal Dream which featured guitarist Mick Hutchinson, Sears on bass and Hammond organ, and the Indian tabla player Sam Gopal.

Jimi Hendrix once sat in with the band at the Speakeasy Club in London.

Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell later asked Sears to play bass in a band he was forming while still playing with Hendrix in 1969.

In early 1969, Sears along with Terry Cox of Pentangle, Jeff Beck's drummer Micky Waller, James Litherland of Colosseum, John Wetton of King Crimson, and Pete York of the Spencer Davis Group, recorded a folk rock album with Marian Segal and Jade.

In the summer of 1969, Sears left Trader Horne just before they began recording.

Blue Cheer guitarist Leigh Stephens invited him to California for the first time.

Sears, Stephens, Micky Waller (drummer), and Jack Reynolds (singer) formed Silver Metre, recorded one album at Trident Studios in London, England, released on the National General label, produced by their manager, FM rock radio pioneer Tom Donahue.

After Silver Metre broke up, Sears returned to England to play on the Rod Stewart album Gasoline Alley.

Stoneground manager Tom Donahue recruited Sears in London, during their Medicine Ball Caravan (1970) European tour later returning to the Marin County with them to record their first album, also produced by Tom Donahue.

From 1970 through 1974, Sears returned to session work, including playing on Stewart's early British solo albums: Gasoline Alley, Every Picture Tells a Story including the hit singles "Maggie May" and "Reason To Believe", Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler.

In addition to playing for Stewart, he composed the brief instrumental "Lochinvar" on the Smiler album.

He also played bass with the Long John Baldry Blues Band on their first tour of the United States and played bass and keyboards with John Cipollina in the band Copperhead.

Sears left Copperhead just before recording their first album to work on Rod Stewart's Never a Dull Moment album in London, but mainly to join a new band Nicky Hopkins was putting together.

Hopkins, who was on tour with the Rolling Stones had rented Sears a house in Mill Valley, California until he finished with the Stones tour.

However, Hopkins was ultimately unable to form the band due to ill health and a dislike of the road.

Sears went on to co-produce, arrange the music and play on, Kathi McDonald's Insane Asylum album, using guest artists like Sly Stone, The Pointer Sisters, Nils Lofgren, Neal Schon, Aynsley Dunbar, and the Tower of Power horns.

He also co-founded a band called Sears, Schon, Errico with Neal Schon and Greg Errico, playing the Diamond Head Crater Festival in Hawaii, as well as several California shows.

Sears spent two weeks recording with Ike Turner at Ike's studio, Bolic Sound in Los Angeles.

Tina Turner was there one night and recorded vocals on some of the tracks they had recorded, including a version of George Harrison's song "Something" on which Turner changed the "she" to "he".

Sears joined the band Jefferson Starship in 1974 and remained with the group through the transition to Starship, before departing in 1987.

After leaving Starship he worked with bluesman Nick Gravenites, and many other artists including Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Maria Muldaur, Rich Kirch, Taj Mahal, and Mimi Farina.

In 1974, Sears joined Jefferson Starship, replacing Peter Kaukonen and switching back and forth between bass and keyboards with fellow multi-instrumentalist David Freiberg.

(1992 to 2002) he played keyboards in the Jorma Kaukonen Trio with Kaukonen and Michael Falzarano, and with Kaukonen, Falzarano, and Jack Casady and Harvey Sorgen in Hot Tuna.

Sears has played with many other musicians through the years, including Dr. John, John Lee Hooker, Leigh Stephens and Micky Waller in Silver Metre; Long John Baldry, Copperhead with John Cipollina, Jerry Garcia, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Levon Helm, Steve Kimock, Dave Hidalgo, Sons of Fred, Fleur de Lyse, Sam Gopal Dream, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Brown, Bob Weir, Los Cenzontles, Phil Lesh, Leftover Salmon, and Los Lobos.

Currently, he divides his time between the David Nelson Band, Chris Robinson and Green Leaf Rustlers, Zero, California Kind, Harvey Mandel, and Moonalice.

Sears has also written and recorded the original score for many documentary films, including the award-winning "The Fight in the Fields" – Cesar Chávez and the Farmworkers Struggle directed by Ray Telles and Rick Tehada Flores.

His most recent film, also directed by Ray Telles and co-produced by Ken Rabin, is called The Storm That Swept Mexico (2011) about the Mexican Revolution.

Sears was born in Bromley, Kent.