Gerry Conway obit

Gerry Conway RIP

 

He was not on the list.

The well-travelled folk/rock drummer Gerry Conway (Fotheringay, Pentangle, etc.) has died at the age of 76. Linda Thompson announced the sad news on Facebook a few minutes ago. He was a fine musician and appears on quite a few albums in my collection.

He was best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and as a member of Fairport Convention from 1998 to 2022. Conway worked extensively as a session musician and was married to vocalist Jacqui McShee, the singer of the band Pentangle, of which Conway was also a member.

Conway was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk on 11 September 1947. He attended secondary school in London where he played drums in various school bands. At the age of 13, he was offered a place in the Chico Arnéz Orchestra, but his parents would not permit it. Leaving school at the age sixteen, he went to work at EMI Records, before joining one of their signed bands playing Caribbean music. For about a year, in 1964, he worked with Alexis Korner. In 1968 he joined Trevor Lucas in the band Eclection and worked with Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention in the band Fotheringay.

In the 1970s, he was the drummer for the band Fotheringay as well as for Eclection, other members of which included Kerrilee Male, Georg Kajanus [as George Hultgreen], Michael Rosen and Trevor Lucas. In their early years Steeleye Span also drafted in the services of Conway, who was a friend of the band. Conway played on their now-classic song "Dark-Eyed Sailor" and several others from their first album, Hark! The Village Wait (1970), which also featured contributions from Dave Mattacks, who Conway later replaced in Fairport. His studio works also include the debut solo albums of Sandy Denny and Shelagh McDonald, and appearances on albums by Wizz Jones, John Cale, Jim Capaldi and others. He was also one of the drummers on Whatever's for Us, the debut album of Joan Armatrading in 1972.

He toured and recorded as a member of Cat Stevens' band for six years and was a consistent member of the close knit backing band throughout the mid-1970s, including on the albums Teaser and the Firecat and Catch Bull at Four. When Stevens gave up his pop music career at the close of the decade, Conway performed on Daydo; the short-lived solo album of singer-songwriter Alun Davies, another long-term member of Stevens' band. During the 1980s, Conway also toured and recorded with Kate & Anna McGarrigle.

Conway joined Jethro Tull for their album The Broadsword and the Beast and also played on their Grammy Award-winning album Crest of a Knave.

Although he appears on none of his studio albums, Conway was a member of Richard Thompson's live band for several years in the 1980s, appearing on the tours for the albums Hand of Kindness, Across a Crowded Room and Daring Adventures. Some songs from these sessions appear on the compilations Watching the Dark and Live at the BBC.

Conway played drums in Fairport Convention from 1998 to 2022, taking over from Dave Mattacks and occasionally played for Pentangle. After 2006, Davies re-joined Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam. Conway also played alongside Alun Davies in a side project called "Good Men in the Jungle", featuring Davies' daughter, Becky Moncurr.

Conway died on 29 March 2024, at the age of 76, having been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2022. Founding member of Fairport Convention, Simon Nicol, said of Conway: "Wonderfully patient and wise, infuriatingly tardy (!) but always ready and eager to play, and blessed with his own inner calm and solidity, I'm going to miss him more than I can say." Former Fairport member Iain Matthews said: "Gerry is gone and I don't know how I feel, except intensely sad. I knew him less than many [in the Fairport circle] but we went wayyy back. He played incredibly on my first solo album, If You Saw Thro' My Eyes... pure Gerry Energy and spirit." Writing on his Facebook page, Yusuf/Cat Stevens said, "Sadly my great old drummer, Gerry Conway just passed away. What a lad, and what ingenuity and style. May God grant him the beautiful reward of peace everlasting.