Crispian St. Peters

 

   Crispian St. Peters, the British pop singer of the ’60s best known for his hit “Pied Piper” and his version of “You Were on My Mind.” St. Peters died of cancer in Kent, England on June 8, 2010. He was 71. St. Peter’s had suffered a major stroke in 1995 at age 56, but continued to write songs (200 in law) and up until 1999, he traveled the world on tour. He announced his retirement from the music industry after he was hospitalized several times with pneumonia in 2003. He suffered from a series of health problems including a stroke and emphysema.

    Born Robin Peter Smith in Swanley, Kent he learned guitar, and left school in 1954 to become an assistant cinema projectionist. He performed in several relatively unknown bands in England throughout the 1950s.
     He signed with Decca label in 1963 and hit the big time in 1966 with "You Were On My Mind" which was first recorded in 1964 by the Canadian folk duo, Ian & Sylvia, and a hit in the United States for We Five in 1965. That song was followed by "The Pied Piper", which became forever known as his signature song, and it became a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.  The Pied Piper was co-written by Artie Kornfield, later an organizer of the concert at Woodstock.