Davy Graham once told me that one of his early guitar influences was Steve Benbow (1931-2006) - not a name you hear much these days. A quick listen to some of the guitar work on Benbow's "Love Is Teasin'" - admittedly not an early recording of his - shows some resemblance of style.

Steve worked in the late '50s and early '60s with people like McColl, Lloyd Jimmie McGregor and Shirley Bland - also with the late John R.T. Davies, sax player with the original Temperance Seven and probably the greatest remasterer of 78rpm jazz records this country has ever seen. I haven't got much of Benbow on record, unfortunately, but he certainly had a reputation as a stylish guitarist. He had travelled extensively and spoke several languages, including Arabic.