Background
Morton was born in Leicester, England on July 30, 1964, and was educated at Countesthorpe Community College where he spent most of his time in the music block learning guitar and playing new wave and punk songs.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Pete Morton
Edit ProfileCareer
He was lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist in his two school bands: The Mafia, and Tone Deaf. He left school at 16 in 1980. lieutenant was during this summer that he discovered folk music, when hearing a friend"s father playing a Buffy Sainte-Marie record.
This had a profound effect which led him to buy an acoustic guitar and learn songs from early 60s protest singers.
He started busking and visiting folk clubs, travelling around the United Kingdom and Europe. He began learning traditional songs as well as writing his own songs mainly of social commentary.
Morton signed to Harbourtown Records in 1987, a label started by Gordon Jones and Bob Thomas of Scottish Folk Band, Silly Wizard. His first album, Frivolous Love was met with high critical acclaim, of which The Guardian called him "a revelation" and was voted the most promising newcomer by FRoots magazine the year after.
His second album,, was also positively received and he was referred to in a review by FRoots, as one of the best the British roots scene has produced in living memory.
The first album he released on Civil Defense was Mad World Blues (1991). Throughout the early nineties Pete toured extensively with Roger Wilson (fiddle, vocals and Guitar) and Simon Edwards (Button Accordion and vocals) throughout Europe producing a powerful and unique rocky-folk sound and recorded a double Civil Defense of this collaboration on Harbourtown Records: Self Destructive Fools. Courage, love and Grace (1994) brought his songwriting back to public attention.
He followed this with a collection of traditional songs on the Civil Defense. In 2007, he left Harbourtown Records to re-work his most requested songs with the album Napoleon Jukebox (2007), followed a year later with Casa Abierta (2008).
This was a collection of songs in ten different languages, of which he had a teacher for each song, and the album was partly in aid of the Gambian schools trust.
lieutenant was produced with Simon Squire in Crewkerne, Somerset, England. was a Civil Defense of original songs, produced by Dawson Smith. He has also performed as the dancer and singer, Geoff Chaucer Junior – a comedy character, performing A Random History of Rock n Roll in Middle English throughout the United Kingdom. According to fRoots, Morton "is amongst the best that the British roots music scene has produced in living memory.".
