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For me the highlight of 'Concert for George' was I'll see you in my dreams played wonderfully by Joe Brown. I must confess until recently I did not know much about Joes work apart from a few of his early 60s hits. So to investigate further I recently bought 'The Joe brown Story' a 50 track anthology. It arrived today and I'm listening whilst I type this. Sounds great!!! Some great instrumentals and a nice version of 'with a little help from my friends'.He has recently brought out a new CD called 'Down to Earth' and you can listen to 4 tracks on his my space site. I am also going to see him in concert at the end of march, so I shall let you know how that goes..

From Rob

Forgot to say regarding the 'The Joe Brown Story' - 50 tracks and only of these runs longer that 3 minutes!!!
Also there is a great version of 'Im Henery the eighth I am' recorded a few years before Hermans Hermits had a hit in the U.S with it.

From Rob

Joe Brown was and still is a great performer, it was he who was actually partly instrumental(no pun intended) in Hank Marvin acquiring the sound that became his own, he introduced to a some kind of pick up or something like that, that was a contributory factor in the Marvin sound.

He means nothing of course to US audiences.

Even back in early sixties when he was on package tours in UK with likes of Billy Fury, Marty Wilde his act was great, did a great guitar instrumental of All Things Bright And Beautiful, unusual choice for such an audience as it would be, though it always went down well.

Saw him last night in Halifax. He was magic!!! See link below for some pictures that I took.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.mclean57/index.html

Best Wishes from Rob

Excellent photos Rob, the guitar fans will love the shots.

Was the show well attended, last time I saw Joe he was on the tour with Marty Wilde and John Leyton, names that probably don't mean anything to guys/gals who frequent these pages but all those I have mentioned were around BTB(Before the Beatles)

Rob: These are terrific photos. Thanks for sharing them. What was the highlight of the show for you?

Thanks for the kind words, lads!!!

Roy, the theatre was about three quarters full with mainly the rear stalls being empty. It was a noisy crowd and gave Joe a great show of appreciation between songs. I have never been to this theatre before. It is perfectly proportioned, with a great view and superb acoustics from my seat in the circle. I will certainly visit again when the chance arises.

Peter, the whole show was fantastic. Joe has a great band. Same as on 'Concert for George' if you have seen that, but with the inclusion of his son peter on guitar & vocals. Joe played a great chunk from his new CD 'Down to Earth' plus lots of sixties tracks and two tracks that he performed at 'Concert for George' which were
'thats the way it goes' and 'I'll see you in my dreams' this last track is my wife’s favourite and she had to wait for the encore before Joe played it. Song highlights for me included an instrumental that I cannot remember the title of, Darktown strutters ball (his first Uk hit) and all the tracks from his new CD. I have just got it this week and have played it non stop. All in all in was a memorable night.

On the subject of guitars, the one that Joe is using on photo 6 and others was given to him by George Harrison for his 50th birthday. Its a 4 stringed job (I know nothing about guitars, can you tell?).

Best wishes from Rob

Not being a guitar expert, i may only suggest this instrument on photo #6 and some others looks like dobro, but those i've seen had 6 strings, so i cannot be sure. The instrument on photo #7 looks like dobro with 6 strings (as far as i can see, there are 6 pegs on it). He also uses mandolin and some nice acoustics and electric. And something that looks like ukulele (photo # 39). And violin!
(don't beat me too hard if i'm mistaken - as i said, i'm not an expert...)
Great pics, btw.

Here's one I am sure Joe will have played

Live too


http://download.yousendit.com/2D31275A30CA3784

Sheena, never heard of a dobro till today, you learn something new everyday!!! (I'm certainly no expert)

Roy, no that one was not played, I have that track on a B side of single somewhere. I think the A side was 'Thats what love will do'

Here is a link to Joes myspace page where you can listen to some tracks from his new album and I have just noticed that guitar crops up on the cover of his latest CD

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=86588190

from Rob

Thanks, Roy. Great energy on that track. I appreciate you making it available.

Thanks for the additional information, Rob. It certainly sounds like a "must see" act.

Even at 67 you can’t keep a good man down, as the saying goes.

Joe Brown, one of Britain's first pop stars, has just kicked off his 50th anniversary tour. He talks to Helen Brown of the Daily Telegraph about being supported by the Beatles, the day he upset Johnny Cash, and how he was almost in the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jh ... own131.xml

Also at Butlins, Brown began the pub-act trend of attaching horse brasses to his guitar strap. "It came about because the entertainment officer asked if anybody could ride a horse. I told him my grandfather was a trick rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. So he made me riding instructor. Anyway, while I was in the stables, I noticed the brasses hanging up, and I sewed a few to the strap. And that night, when all the geezers were getting up on stage attacking us, as they always did, I could crack them on the head with it. I took a load of teef out.

For a YouTube clip of those Joe Brown teeth cracking horse brasses see……
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwDHI1JJ ... re=related

For a list of tour dates and venues see…..
http://www.joebrown.co.uk/tourdates/tourdates.asp

And finally, for Robert Mclean [rob_mac]…..Joe Brown and ukelele closing the Concert for George with “I’ll See You In My Dreams”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mu8D69uxA0

Check out Joes myspace at

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... D=86588190

to hear new versions of his original sixties tracks 'a picture of you' , 'darktown strutters ball' & 'sea of heartbreak' .

From Rob

Just realised that the link to the photos I refer to in an earier post does not work any more. they can now be viewed here.

http://uk.geocities.com/robmclean2002

From Rob