The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #34106   Message #3655473
Posted By: maeve
31-Aug-14 - 05:49 AM
Thread Name: Anyone know about Steve Benbow?
Subject: RE: Anyone know about Steve Benbow?
I don't see a link to his obituary, so here it is:
****************
Obituary
Steve Benbow
Folk guitarist whose collaborators ranged from Ewan MacColl to Spike Milligan

    Derek Schofield            The Guardian, Thursday 30 November 2006        

Steve Benbow, one of the most sought-after guitar accompanists of the early years of the modern British folk revival, and also a fine singer, has died after a heart attack, aged 74. He made over 25 albums, and accompanied singers such as folk revival founders Ewan MacColl and AL Lloyd, as well as Rolf Harris and Long John Baldry (obituary, July 23 2005).

Benbow was an inspiration to younger players. Davy Graham, whose guitar style affected those of Eric Clapton and Paul Simon, credits him as a primary influence: Benbow introduced him to Moroccan music he had heard while in the forces. Graham told the Guardian last year: "What he taught me was that you should never get stuck in one mode or style."

Indeed Benbow was never aligned to any of the sub-genres of the folk revival. Neither a traditionalist nor a promoter of leftwing causes, primarily he was an entertainer, performing a range of music from blues to jazz to popular English and Irish folk songs. Striving for an easy-listening appeal, his repertoire became less suited to the increasingly sophisticated folk-music enthusiasts and he found it difficult to regain that audience.

Nevertheless, Benbow made his mark on a wider audience through radio and television, starting with the radio programme Guitar Club in 1957, followed by regular slots on Saturday Skiffle Club and later Easy Beat. His skill as a guitarist led to a Scottish television series, Plectrum, where he demonstrated his style to aspiring young musicians. In the early 60s he presented Have Guitar Will Travel on Radio Luxembourg, the only folk singer to have his own show. In 1963 he co-starred in a London stage show, Spike Milligan Meets Steve Benbow, at the old Lyric Theatre, which led to a television series the following year, Muses with Milligan. He also fronted the television series Barndance and for a while presented BBC radio's Housewives' Choice. George Martin produced a series of novelty singles for him and he wrote a regular column in Melody Maker.

Born in Tooting, south London, Benbow and his family moved to Surrey, where he attended Reigate grammar school. His first musical influences came from his father, who listened to Jimmie Rodgers and Latin American music.

After leaving school, Benbow was a cowman on a Devon farm before joining the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in 1950, which took him to Egypt. He started as a mule breaker and dog handler, but soon became an interpreter: he spoke Arabic, Italian, French, Greek and Mauritian Creole. During five years in the forces he learned to play the guitar, making his broadcasting debut as a singer on the Forces Radio Network.

Back home, Benbow embraced a London music scene that included skiffle, jazz and folk. He joined a traditional jazz band whose leader, Dave Kier, introduced him to Ewan MacColl; Benbow accompanied MacColl on records and to a youth festival in Moscow, where he met the City Ramblers. He later became a regular performer at Russell Quaye's Skiffle Cellar in Greek Street, London.

Benbow recorded two solo albums before forming the Steve Benbow Folk Four, including Jimmie MacGregor, who later teamed up with Robin Hall to perform regularly on Cliff Michelmore's television programme Tonight.

In 1960 Benbow appeared with others including Shirley Collins and Bob Copper on a trio of albums produced by Peter Kennedy of the English Folk Dance and Song Society for HMV: A Jug of Punch, Rocket Along and A Pinch of Salt. This led to the HMV releases of two of Steve's best-known albums: Steve Benbow Sings Admiral Benbow (the name of a well-known folk song) in 1962, and I Travel the World in 1963. He continued to record during the 60s, but rarely on labels that adequately promoted the albums. His 1966 album, Songs of Ireland, originally on Bulldog, is still available on the Smithsonian Folkways label in the US. After several more albums in the early 70s - one of them with his long-standing friend Denny Wright, who had been Lonnie Donegan's guitarist - Benbow largely retired.

He never lost his passion for music, and from 1988 played twice a week at the Brewery Tap in Brentford. A new recording, Don't Monkey With My Gun, was released in 2003, but he was reluctant to travel away from home to perform because of his large collection of animals, including goats, chickens and a donkey. For several years he suffered from heart problems, which in 2005 prevented him sharing a Londonconcert with Davy Graham. His wife Sandie survives him.

ยท Stephen George Benbow, singer and guitarist, born November 29 1931; died November 17 2006
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/dec/01/guardianobituaries.obituaries