The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #174470 Message #4230443
Posted By: GUEST,Max
21-Oct-25 - 03:56 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: F. Smythe, D. Billington & V. Berry
Subject: Folklore: F. Smythe, D. Billington & V. Berry
Dear Mudcat Community While working on the biography about Royston Wood - and especially working on the part of the book that chronicles the Young Tradition - I chanced upon three names that have been associated with the folk club scene of the early 1960s. Unfortunately, hardly anything is known about the three people.
- Frank Smythe - an amateur folk singer, and later a music journalist; no more information about him since 1967.
- Diane Billington - who allegedly sang songs like 'My Johnny Was A Shoemaker' as a duo with Heather Wood before she even met Peter and Royston
- Val Berry - Royston said he sang as a trio with her and Paul Marsden long before the YT were started. At the time when Les Cousins was on, it appears that Val was Rod Stewart's busking companion.