As anyone lucky enough to spend some considerable time in the company of Terry Uttley, a bass player – and for many years now, a leader – of British pop rockers SMOKIE, will tell you, this little man with a big heart has a lot of not-too-tall tales to tell. Sentimental but accurate, they’re snippets of his life many know only by his songs, warm smile and dignified demeanor. But now this story is out in more accessible and compact form – as a book titled “Smokie: Life Beyond Alice” and written with full cooperation of its subject by Tom Balaam.
The book’s available for purchase now. So it was logical to ask Terry about the background of its creation. And that’s what he says:
“I’ve been writing it for years but either got too busy to continue or re-wrote it so, when Tom Balaam approached me to do it with me, I jumped at the chance, and so the process from then took 18 months to complete.
It’s not a kiss and tell book, there’s only a few small things about Alan Silson, as he loved the thought of it. It was to be about the stories that I would tell friends every time I returned home from a tour but then, as time went by, more personal things came into it.
I can breath now it’s actually on sale. I’m glad I did it and there is nothing in it to offend anyone.”
