Once again, the Beverley Festival (Folk, Acoustic, Roots) manages to scoop up one of the top names on the British music scene.
This year they have headlining the Finale Concert on the Sunday night (17th June) the legendary Rock and Roll artist Joe Brown. He will be singing a mixture of his old hits when he comes to Beverley along with some of the more recent numbers in his repertoire.
Most people thought that they knew Joe Brown but some were surprised when they listened to “ More Of The Truth“, Joe’s recent album where songs by U2, George Harrison, Paul Kennerley, Gallagher & Lyle and a single written by his daughter Sam Brown and Charlie Dore sat alongside Joe’s own Rock, Country & Gospel compositions and arrangements - not what you might expect to hear from one of Britain’s original Rock and Rollers.
It was half a century ago in 1958, as Lonnie Donegan was ruling the charts with ‘Rock Island Line’, that Joe joined his first band, the Spacemen Skiffle Group.
1960 was the year the Spacemen became Joe Brown And The Bruvvers and the hits began to roll in, starting with ‘The Darktown Strutters Ball’ and reaching a crescendo in 1962/3 with ‘A Picture Of You’, ‘It Only Took A Minute’ and ‘That’s What Love Will Do’. During this time JOE was headlining British tours that featured Del Shannon, Dion, the Crystals… and an up and coming band called the Beatles.
He starred in the long running West End musical “Charlie Girl” in 1965 and has since appeared in “Sleuth” and 1985’s “Pump Boys And Dinettes” which he directed and took on tour. And there were films – “What A Crazy World”, “Three Hats For Lisa”, “Spike Milligan Meets Joe Brown” and “Mona Lisa” with Bob Hoskins. Not to mention regular TV and radio appearances, including three series of “The Joe Brown Show” on ITV and presenting BBC Radio 2’s “The Rock Island Line”, “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, “Let It Rock” and “Joe Brown’s Sunday Roast” either side of the new millennium.
Since the new millennium Joe has been confounding people’s expectations of him on a regular basis. In 2002 he appeared at the Glastonbury Festival and endeared himself to the latest generation of rock fans. Later that year he won a brand new world-wide audience with his show-stopping appearance at “The Concert For George”, staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall in tribute to George Harrison with a stellar cast of musicians.
Latterly Joe has continued to break box office records and gain new supporters throughout the last 4 years of his touring – earlier this year in 2012 being no exception with sold out shows throughout his tour.
Joe is, without doubt, a one off, a compelling and unique performer with a rare and singular track record, an extraordinary talent and truly enduring Rock Legend – catch him while you can.
Published on 04 May 2012 by Wayne Feltham
