Thanks for the info Mick. I'd failed to pick up that they had a website and am now tempted to invest in the biography some time.

My own feeling towards Alan Smethurst is that while some of his songs are sort of "samey" in style, he has been badly under-rated over the years. It seems to me that he tends to get classed as some sort of "Norfolk hick" (even though he wasn't born there) who wrote one or two novelty songs when his words can be quite thoughtful and reflective. In that sense, I consider him to have been someone who I class as a folk singer/songwrigher even though that opinion would seem to be unfashionable.