Can we return for a moment to Greg's original query about the identity of the "Cockney Leadbelly"? Perhaps we might get closer to identifying this mystery man if we knew whether he accompanied himself on a twelve-string guitar (as Leadbelly did on the original recording of "Rock Island Line").

In the very early 1960s, 12-string guitars were very rare on this side of the pond. As far as I recall, the first imports from the US began appearing in British musical instrument shops in 1963 - round about the time the Rooftop Singers had a hit with "Walk Right In". Before then, I can remember seeing only three used in folk clubs.

One was played by Rory McEwan, a singer of Scottish folk songs with a strong interest in the blues, who had travelled extensively in the US probably bought his instrument there. It seems unlikely that anyone - even a recently arrived American - would have mistaken Rory for a Cockney.

Another belonged to Cyril Davies, who played in blues bands with Alexis Korner and Long John Baldry before his tragically early death. I believe Cyril's 12-string was specially made for him by Tony Zemiatis. If Cyril ever frequented MacColl's Club, his reputation as a "hard man" would probably have deterred anyone there from challenged his right to sing Leadbelly songs.

The third 12-string I heard during that era belonged to Alec Davidson, a Londoner equally comfortable singing American blues and country music or British songs and ballads. I was told that Alec became so inspired by Leadbelly's guitar playing that he wrote to the great man's widow asking for the vital statistics of his Stella 12-string, and that a friend who was a skilled woodworker used this data to produce an instrument which sounded reasonably authentic.

Of these three suspects, Alec sounds the most likely to have been the "Cockney Leadbelly". If he's still around, maybe someone who knows him could ask if he remembers the incident?

Wassail!