Crispian St. Peters

Crispian St. Peters belonged to a group of mid-1960s performers who, like We Five—the act from which he borrowed one number—seemed to distill the spirit of their time in standout recordings yet proved unable to advance beyond it. Psychological difficulties, unfortunate scheduling, and erratic stylistic choices kept him from progressing past the two major successes that defined his career.

Robin Peter Smith entered the world on April 5, 1939, in Swanley, Kent, England. During the early 1960s he performed with the trio Beat Formula Three until manager Dave Nicolson identified him as a potential star, supplying both the stage name Crispian St. Peters and a fresh folk-rock approach. His opening singles—an energetic, harmonium-driven piece titled “At This Moment” and the forceful, old-fashioned love song “No No No”—generated no public or critical response. He next interpreted Sylvia Fricker’s composition “You Were on My Mind,” the same number Ian & Sylvia had written and We Five had converted into an American success; St. Peters’ slightly more restrained and introspective reading, whose opening line carried an almost Elvis-like delivery, appeared in a rush at the close of 1965 and initially drew little notice before slowly climbing to the British Top Ten by mid-1966.

Once the track registered, the usual wave of media scrutiny followed, and St. Peters’ extravagant self-promotional remarks drew immediate attention: he asserted that he had composed eighty songs superior to any work by John Lennon or Paul McCartney and later portrayed himself as a vocalist superior to Elvis Presley, more alluring than Dave Berry of “The Crying Game,” and more dynamic than Tom Jones. Later that year “The Pied Piper” ascended into the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic; its catchy refrain, driving rhythm, and flute accents appeared to encapsulate the brightness of the pre-psychedelic period. No further hits materialized, a circumstance attributable in part to the backlash against his declarations, which included the peculiar claim that the Beatles “are past it.”

His output also veered unpredictably between buoyant folk-rock and darker ballads. At times he evoked an ambitious competitor to Tom Jones, yet on “Your Love Has Come” he adopted a stratospheric register reminiscent of an aspiring Tiny Tim. Folk-rock leanings alternated with pre-Beatles British beat material such as “Jilly Honey,” whose honking sax (or possibly fuzz-bass) ornamentation clashed with prevailing trends. He did display judgment by cutting a rocked-up treatment of Phil Ochs’ “Changes,” but overall it remained unclear whether he aimed to emulate Tom Jones, half of Peter & Gordon, a pop-styled Donovan, or a mid-1960s version of Marty Wilde.

In 1968 he shifted toward country material without notable results. The 1970 collection Simply…Crispian St. Peters gathered many of his earlier recordings, and he made occasional appearances on England’s 1960s nostalgia circuit. A severe stroke struck in 1995, yet he persisted in songwriting and continued live performances through 1999 before declaring his retirement two years later. Crispian St. Peters passed away at age 71 at his Swanley residence on June 8, 2010.