Having just read through the letters in this thread I am writing to thank all of you for your interest in, and support for, my Bert Lloyd biography - oh, and patience! It's taken me many years of research, reading, listening and interviewing. Then as many years making some sense of all the material that I'd accumulated. EFDSS librarian, Malcolm Taylor's initial idea for an EFDSS 70,000-ish word biog soon outgrew its remit, and continued to grow until it ended up at over a quarter-of-a-million words, by which time we realized that it was too large for the EFDSS to handle alone. Thanks to the enthusiasm and foresight of Pluto's Ann Beech, and the remarkable response from folk enthusiasts around the world, Pluto Press decided to publish it. Then we had a year of going through the manuscript to try and cut it down to a more manageable size without losing the initial feel of the book. Eventually we managed to take out some 35,000 words (which was almost a book in its own right!). Then there was weeks and weeks of proof-reading, corrections, and creating a large bibliography, index and, of course the textual notes.
Not having realized what we'd let ourselves in for we had planned a book launch (the first one!), only to find that there was still a huge amount of work to do. But it was a great event .
Anyway, now it's all done and dusted, and all those patient people (and a couple of impatient ones) should by now (or very soon) will have the book that they ordered (and many paid for) at the first 'launch'.
The second, and final launch, is taking place at Cecil Sharp House on Thursday 31 May from 7.30. p.m. where I'll give a small chat and there will be music from myself and Rattle on the Stovepipe (songs I got from Bert given a Rattle interpretation), Frankie Armstrong (one of Bert's favourite singers), Martyn Wyndham-Read and Irish Bishop (Oz songs), Hylda Sims (of 1950s Skiffle Cellar fame) with her revived City Ramblers Skiffle Group, Tom Paley, John Foreman (The broadside King), Eddie Armer (harmonica wizard), and others..

The bar will be open, the books will be there, there will be good music covering all areas and time periods of Bert's life, and a chance to catch up with old friends (before we all snuff it). So if you can possibly make it, please come along, and have a chat and let me thank you personally. If you wish to sing, say or play, we'll try and find space and time for you.

I hope you find the book worth the wait.

There is a new Bert website at where over the next months and years I will be putting some of the material that didn't get into the book - letters, song lyrics, transcribed folk and tall-tales from Bert's repertoire, photos, articles and a Bert Q&A and general forum section, also an updated version of my Bert bibliography which originally appeared back in the 1986 collection 'Singer, Song and Scholar'.


Best wishes to you all - Dave

Dave