From touring the world with Paul McCartney to becoming Rod Stewart’s tour manager, the life of Stevie Farr has been one of unexpected and remarkable successes.
And now, for the first time, the Great Yarmouth man is sharing the ups and downs of his experiences of the music industry in the pages of a memoir.
Musician and tour manager Mr Farr will be publishing his book ‘No Money, But What a Life’ later this month.
The book opens with him seated around a table with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Martin, asking himself the question “how did a regular Watford lad get here?”
The 74-year-old said: “My inspiration for the book was the endless potential for pranks, accidents and disasters faced by touring musicians.
“From a power cut five minutes before show time, to the tantrums of some of the world’s top acts.
“It brought me into contact with some of the kindest and most famous artists in the world and many remain friends to this day.”
From 1952, after the death of his father when Mr Farr was aged just four, he experienced a troubled upbringing on a council estate and described himself as “heading for trouble”.
A chance entry into a naval school set him on the right path and on graduating he discovered music.
He bought a saxophone and throughout the 1970s and 1980s toured the world with the likes of Q-Tips, Adam Ant, and Paul McCartney, making a short film about it.
READ MORE: Adam Ant makes the crowd nostalgic at Latitude Festival
After decades as a gigging musician, in the 1990s he became a tour manager, supporting many top American acts through their travels and tantrums including top acts such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Rod Stewart, the Everly Brothers, The Temptations, and BB King.
He also worked on projects to provide entertainment for British troops stationed in places like Bosnia, Croatia and the Falklands.
Mr Farr lives between his home in Great Yarmouth and his second home in the hills of southern France with his partner, Sue.
- ‘No Money, But What a Life’ will be published by The Book Guild on January 28.
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