A MUSICIAN who played on the same television programme as The Beatles has put pen to paper to tell his story of his time in the music business in the 1960s.

Haddington's Peter Kerr was part of Scotland's top jazz band, Clyde Valley Stompers, who played not only throughout Britain but also toured Germany.

The 74-year-old, who played clarinet, has spent the last two and a half years re-tracing his musical footsteps as he looked at his time firstly with the county-based Hidden Town Dixielanders before he went on to become a key part of the Clyde Valley Stompers.

He said: “It’s something I have never really been tempted to do because I kind of felt nobody would be interested. But I’ve had pressure on me for a long time to do it because there is a story there and there are still a lot of people around who appreciate that sort of music.”

Mr Kerr, of Chalybeate, gave up his job with the civil service to become part of the music world – a decision he admits he does not regret in the slightest.

He added: “It was – and still is – a young man’s game.I was only in my early 20s and it was very, very hard.

“We were on the road incessantly and there were only 50 miles of motorways in those days, so it was a tough life but good fun.

“The fun came in the playing and everything else and the hardships were forgotten about.

“Jazz bands were not in it for the fame or fortune but just the pure joy of playing the music.

“I think, to this day, if I could set the clock back I would do it all again.”

The working title of the 110,000-word story is Don’t Call me Clyde! after a television producer called him Clyde ahead of a television show in Southampton.

Meanwhile, the group’s final television appearance would come on Thank Your Lucky Stars, which was shown on ITV from 1961 to 1966.

Peter, who produced the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards' international chart-topper, Amazing Grace, the biggest-selling instrumental ever, recalled how the Clyde Valley Stompers had performed on the same show as The Beatles in February 1963.

But it was not The Fab Four who caught the attention of young women but instead Billy Fury, who had 26 top 40 hits between 1959 and 1966.

He added: “A few weeks later, the next time I saw The Beatles, they were live in New York with a limo each and thousands of fans.”

The Clyde Valley Stompers – who were dubbed the most travelled jazz band in Britain – would later split up due to financial disagreements, with only Mr Kerr’s former Knox Academy classmate Jim Douglas still alive.

Mr Kerr, who has also written a series of hugely successful books about his time growing oranges on the Spanish island of Majorca, as well as a fiction series following detective Bob Burns, was hoping to see the book published later this year. He said: “I think writing non-fiction is more difficult than fiction, without a doubt. Just for the simple fact you have got to stick to the facts and make sure you have got them right.

“I had to do quite a lot of research about details and general facts and figures of the time. We did a lot I had forgotten about!”