CHIPS CHIPPERFIELD REMEMBERED
The Beatles Anthology
The Festival MarqueeSaturday 12th - 10am to 8pm
Danny Boy: In Sunshine & in Shadow
plus: Making of Beatles Anthology(10mins)
The Phoenix CinemaSaturday 12th - 9pm
UB40: CCCP - Live in Moscow
The Hillgrove HotelSaturday 12th - 10.30pm
Peter Joseph Chipperfield, Chips to us all, was born in a colliery house in the mining community of Hetton-le-Hole, Co. Durham in 1942.
He spent his young life on a country estate in North Yorkshire where his father was a chauffeur. At 11 years old, he won a scholarship to Richmond Grammar School and in 1959 moved to Londonwith his family.
His workng life began in Harrods advertising dept. and his introduction to the music business came when he went to work for the Record Mirror, a pop music paper circulated in the early 60’s.
He was involved in the early days of Ronnie Scott’s world famous jazz club and in the ensuing years at the club, he worked with many of the jazz greats including, Roland Kirk, Dizzy Gillespie, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Tubby Hayes and Stan Tracey.
He managed artists, amongst others an innovatitve 50 piece jazz orchestra,
Keith Tippett’s Centipede. His work also included setting up the Ronnie Scott Agency reperesenting George Melly and others.
During this time he made many connections in the entertainment world and was involved in bringing major acts to perform in London.
He left Ronnie’s in ‘76, to manage rock and pop bands, and from there to the fledgling music video production industry. He set up his own company which made videos for stars such as Marvin Gaye and Barbara Streisand.
Invited to join music giant EMI in the 80’s, some of his most notable work
included the famous documentary on the Beatles, as well as others on
Jimi Hendrix,UB40, The Who and Elizabeth Taylor, which helped to create a prestigious international reputation with 2 Grammy Awards and an Emmy nomination to his credit.The most notable of these, was a Grammy for the hugely successful Beatles Anthology series, produced with Neil Aspinall of Apple Corps.
His other work included fascinating documentaries on the song Danny Boy and the amazing tap dancers, The Nicholas Brothers.
He moved to West Kerry in the late 1990’s and in 2000 married filmmaker
Michaela Connelly. Together they brought major projects to locally based companies including the U2 ‘Joshua Tree’ documentary.
Chips loved this part of the world, the outdoors, the elements, the many wonderful friends he made.
Birdwatching was amongst his passions, and even in the 70’s at a time he was fully embracing the rock and roll lifestyle, his weekends would often be spent ‘twitching’ on the Norfolk Broads or in Pembrokeshire.
Adrian Chipperfield
Chips’ Filmography
Pet Shop Boys: Pop Art - The Videos (video) - Producer (video "Suburbia") 2003
Festival Express (documentary) - Thanks 2003
Classic Albums: Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (video documentary) - Series Consultant 2001
Indians' Sacred Spirit (video documentary) - Producer 1999
Hendrix: Band of Gypsys (video documentary) - Producer 1999
Classic Albums: Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (video documentary) - Series Consultant 1999
Albums: The Who - Who's Next (video documentary) - Producer 1999
Tina Turner: Girl from Nutbush (video documentary) - Producer 1993
Pet Shop Boys: Videography (video) - Producer (video "Suburbia") 1991
It Couldn't Happen Here - Production Executive 1987
Television (video short) - Producer (video "Suburbia") (archive footage) (uncredited) 1986
Photo courtesy of Apple Corps Limited
